Headache

[Carrot1]

Are constant headaches a symptom of PMR along with all the other aches and pains?

[piglette]

I started getting headaches with pred and I hardly ever had them before. Headaches are supposed to be a side effect of pred. You do need to watch out for GCA which can have headaches too, along with other symptoms.

[SheffieldJane]

Hi Carrot1, constant headaches are certainly part of my symptom picture. However, I am told that I have had Fibromyalgia for several years prior to PMR diagnosis ( April 2016) so it is hard to tell what symptom comes from what condition. I am alert for one sided headaches and eye symptoms on the same side, In case GCA is manifesting. Pred. If anything, has made headaches less troublesome, however I do take tramadol or paracetamol most days at this stage.

[paddyfields in reply to SheffieldJane]

Morning headaches every day until I had reduced. I am not quite sure at what level of pred. as I just became aware I was not waking up with a headache any more and decided they had been caused by the pred. May have been 4/5 mg and below.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Do you mean you have not yet been diagnosed? If you have PMR symptoms together with headache then that could also be a sign you have GCA with PMR as a presenting symptom - about 1 in 6 patients who have PMR initially go on to develop GCA.

Do you just have headaches or are there any other typical GCA symptoms such as jaw claudication, scalp discomfort/pain or anything else?

[Carrot1 in reply to PMRpro]

I have been diagnosed and have started to reduce Pred - down from 15 to 12.5 for 2 weeks then down to 10. I seem to get a headache every day - rheumatologist says it's not GCA - yet anyway as I don't have any jaw stiffness or scalp tenderness but obviously I'm keeping a close eye on it . I'm reassured to know that other people are getting headaches so presumably it can be a side effect of the drug. I was beginning to wonder if something else was causing it.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Carrot1]

Headaches are listed as a pred side effect. Your reductions are also pretty big and frequent - and changes in dose can cause some unpleasant effects too. Will they let you do 1mg at a time from now on? Far preferable in most of our experiences!

[Stroppymoo]

I had a terrible headache for 12 weeks in neck and behind right ear BEFORE. It did go away after I purchased a side sleeper pillow. I think it was stress. The pmr symptoms appeared 2 months after the headache had gone. Strange. On preds and calcium and AA and few headaches.

[DevonMichael]

There are a huge range of side effects listed on the Prenisolone leaflet. However If you have splitting headaches they could be a sign of GCA. This was my own first symptom. Watch for tenderness to your scalp I noticed this in shower hair washing and at night as the back of my head touched the pillow! I understand that PMR people have a 15% chance of developing GCA. (Whilst I as a person with GCA have a 40-50% chance of developing PMR - hence the linkage of PMRGCAuk).

Good luck hope it is just a normal headache!

[Doralouise77]

I've been dealing with horrendous headaches lately (am on a block of ice as I write this) but they do not resemble my GCA ones and markers are normal . I have reduced Pred recently but they were present before. It's very confusing and a bit worrisome.

Cheers

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Doralouise77]

You have checked with your doctor haven't you?

[Doralouise77 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, he knows, I report to him weekly, and will do so today or tomorrow.....but he depends on my description and I had said it didn't feel GCA .....but maybe it has changed as I've read happens to some....it quite often responds to pain killers too though but not this morning ....usually accompanied now by burning, watering eyes which is also new.....

[Carrot1 in reply to Doralouise77]

When I started having pmr symptoms, I had a headache on one side every day. I have continued to have the headaches on a daily basis as part of the general symptoms of the disease but they vary as they're not always one sided now. The rheumatologist gave me her secretary's tel. no. in case I thought I was developing gca at any point. Maybe, then, these are just side effects of Pred and will disappear when the dose reduces some more? I do find them rather wearing and also have sore burning eyes quite often as well.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Carrot1]

Try artificial tears or something like Clarymist (a liposomal spray, other sorts available) - dry eye syndrome is quite commonly found in PMR.

[Carrot1 in reply to PMRpro]

Is it? I didn't know that. I've had dry eye on and off for ages. I do have various types of artificial tears but none of them work perfectly. The eye surgeon who did my cataracts recommended Hylo Forte which I now use. Have you any idea what the connection is with pmr?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Carrot1]

Probably autoimmune - if you have one, others like to join the party.

[Carrot1]

Great!

[Doralouise77]

As the posting is 'Headache' I'd like to ask what success, if any, people have had with relieving a GCA headache with pain medications and if so which ones. I know the mantra is "nothing touches a GCA headache but Prednisone " but I seem to recall some people having some/limited success with other meds - ?

[Carrot1]

I find that comment a bit difficult to understand. If one is already taking Prednisone, how does one evaluate how it is affecting ones headache? I have had a headache every day for weeks now which I assume is attributable to pmr. Paracetamol has little effect on it but to be fair, I have found that Paracetamol doesn't have much effect on pain generally. I can go back 34 years to when I was pregnant with my 3rd baby and had headaches which didn't respond to it so I can't say I have much faith in it as a pain reliever.

[Doralouise77 in reply to Carrot1]

Thank you Carrot1, to clarify....if a medication had any effect on the headache before it was diagnosed as GCA and Prednisone started.

Cheers