I went for my typical 3 month visit to the rheumatologist today. Things are going well except when he asked about other health concerns. I told him my current saga.
Two weekends ago I had tooth/jaw/ear ache that I thought was a signal that a root canal. The dentist agreed, put me on Zithromax, and saw me on Monday. She couldn't find anything and sent me to a specialist. He took fancier (more expensive) pictures and told me my teeth were fine but I had stuff in my sinuses - I should go to an Ear, Nose, Throat Doctor for a scope. I decided to give the antibiotics a try first. They helped but not 100%. I saw my primary doctor who said it wasn't a strong enough antibiotic and gave a different one. She also checked me for TMJ but didn't find any evidence.
The rheumatologist' response was to ask how often I was getting them ( 3 in 16 months) He then asked if my arms ached soon after starting to use them. They don't. When questioned he said those symptoms combined with my other PMR symptoms could mean something else. Out of curiosity-Anyone have any ideas?
End result of visit: stay on 1 mg for 3 more months. Bloodwork in two weeks after infection has cleared.
Not bad (as long as the sinuses clear)
Hope everyone is doing as well as they can.
I am glad that you were able to access those comprehensive tests. Did your doctor specify the “something else” ?
My immediate concern would be GCA as yours probably was. Have the doctors discounted that completely?
I would want to know what they were looking for. When my blood pressure was giving consistently different readings in each arm, I was sent for an MRI Scan and I was told that they were looking for Aortic Stenosis, which thankfully they didn’t find. I would ask straight out, what the doctors think your symptoms mean.
When I had intermittent jaw pain a couple of years before my PMR diagnosis, I was sent for various tests on my heart function, including being monitored as I went about my normal life and overnight in hospital. Again nothing. Some things remain a mystery. Good luck!
The doctor discounted whatever he was thinking of when I said my arms were ok. I think the sinus issues were not as frequent as needed either. It was only later that I started wondering, particularly because the sinus issue doesn't seem to be following a normal pattern. Why did jaw pain trigger heart monitoring? Glad you are ok!
Jaw pain can be a sign of a heart attack or at least a malfunctioning heart, as can pain down the left arm. Women’s heart attacks can present in unusual ways apparently - even stomach pain. That is all they looked for. I sometimes wonder if it was the forerunner to PMR as the diseases are closely related.