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How often does PMR progress to GCA?

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Mar 29 2:47pm | Replies (115)

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@brazuca44usa

Hello @julie4868 I’ve been having all the GCA symptoms along with PMR. In July I went to the ER with an extremely headache on the left side of my temple, very sore scalp, I was feeling very ill. They did blood work and a CT Scan. My sed rate and C-Reaction came back slightly over the normal range and the doctor said I had some inflammation in my body but nothing to be concerned. The headache got a little better until the end of September and still too this date. I’ve seen my PCP about 4 times since, she keeps saying that if it was GCA I would’ve lost my vision by now. Well, my vision has been blurry on and off, so I told her and she referred me to an ophthalmologist. Thank God, I have an appointment tomorrow to check my vision and have an appointment with a rheumatologist on Wednesday, Nov. 22nd. I just want to find out what’s wrong with me. My neck is very stiff, my upper back hurts, my scalp, my temples, jaw, when chewing even my tongue gets extremely fatigued. My head hurts just by touching the pillow. I’m very scared, especially that GCA can cause blindness but can’t wait to find out to get treated. Also, my eyes are getting extremely dry. Have you heard if eye dryness can be a sign of GCA?

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Replies to "Hello @julie4868 I’ve been having all the GCA symptoms along with PMR. In July I went..."

Brazuca44usa,
So glad you are seeing an ophthalmologist tomorrow!
Your symptoms are classic for GCA.
I do not know if eye dryness is related to GCA, have not seen anything about it in my research of the topic.
Hope you get on the path to healing tomorrow, all the best to you in this journey.

@brazuca44usa please let us know what your opthalmologist and your rheumatologist say. It’s frustrating when doctors don’t take women’s symptoms seriously, eh!

I know it’s been a while since your post but my advice to anyone with symptoms of Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) go to an emergency room and let them know what you suspect you might have. If we’d known this we could have saved a lot of time and aggravation. In the end my husband ended up in the ER which is where we got the most tests taken and the best treatment. His rheumatologist didn’t want to believe he had it. Not sure why since he had all the symptoms other than vision issues.