Headache

[Allsgrandso]

Anyone get headaches that jab sharply and then just stay ..jabbing intermittently directly on and above eyebrow? Think I overdid it today and seem to get this headache when I do too much. X

[Cally55]

Yes, exactly as you say! I have had GCA PMR since feb 2016. Current medics just grunt when I report it, but then this disease has so many weird manifestations. This sort of headache is always worst at end of busy day, of late being worse possibly because having had first cataract operation at beginning of December I am doing a lot more, also trying to taper as well. Seeing ophthalmologist at eye clinic for follow up today, 8 weeks after op, so I shall ask if this anything to do with the new eye being long sighted while the other is short sighted but very blurry.

[Allsgrandso in reply to Cally55]

Thanks Cally 🤗 head feels ok this morning but feel it’s there in the background waiting to pounce! I was just thinking are these signs that GCA is on it’s way for me further down the line as I continue to taper. Good luck with your appointment today x

[Brantuk]

Are your "jabbing" headaches accompanied with any jagged flashing in the corner of your eyes - a bit like lightning in your peripheral vision? If so then get to A&E asap because your optic nerve may be being starved of blood, and you could be very close to irreversible loss of eyesight - a symptom of GCA. I used to get both the jabbing and the flashing till they put me on 40mg pred. I still get the odd sharp jabbing headaches just above/between the eyes, but they now disappear after a few mins even though I've tapered down to 5mg daily.

[Allsgrandso in reply to Brantuk]

Thanks Brantuk, no flashes at all but will be mindful of that. Hope they disappear completely for you and you continue to taper well 🤗

[SnazzyD]

Hi, I have found with my GCA (not confirmed but symptoms point that way) and reading here that it is very individual with some overlap of pain type and location. It has been a case of learning my own alarm bells from observation. In the early months I had a very definite sensation in my temple and my eyebrow would look subtly more puffy when I did too much. I also got a particular sound of tinnitus as my early warning signal. At that point it took virtually nothing to over do it such as 10 minutes of hoovering or garden weeding.

[Mrs-CJ]

Hi

I get aches just on or slightly above my eyebrows. I believe there are sinus cavities there and I think of my pain as intense sinus pressure. To get some relief I take a long hot bath and hold hot washcloths on the area...the heat and steam help. Prior to PMR I would have taken a Tylenol but I avoid all pain meds now that I’m on prednisone.

Oh, and I can get some relief by laying flat on the floor and tilting my head ever so slightly back....it seems to help drain that sinus area. I discovered this during a yoga class and have used it ever since. 😊

[karegodd]

Hi. Have had PMR since June 2017. Rheumatologist insisting I decrease prednisone. Attempts going from 20 mg to 17.5 mg for 2 weeks then 17.5 to 15 resulted in unbearable headaches 10/10 pain. Pain was in the eye but no flashes or loss of vision. When I asked to slow down the taper he got quite prickly about who’s controlling the meds but I talked him off the ledge and he agreed to a 1 mg taper. I still get 2 days of headaches when I taper but more mild and manageable with Toradol for pain. Not sure if this helps but it is my experience. By the way just went for an MRI of my head at 3 a.m. this morning ordered by rheumy to rule out any other pathology. I have a long history of migraines.

Good luck with your journey.

By the way it was this site and links for tapering prednisone that helped me propose with confidence a slower taper😊