Hi again, i was diagnosed with PMR at the beginning of June and have been on Pred, starting at 15mg and am now on 12.5mg. I may be being paranoid (hopefully) but just recently i have had pain in my temples and the veins on my temples are definitely more prominent than usual. No other symptoms of GCA but I'm worried and can't stop thinking about whether i have GCA?
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
If you are concerned then you should speak to your doctor as soon as possible. Do you have any other symptoms?
Thank you for replying so quickly. No, no other symptoms at all? Also, my inflammation markers were normal when first tested.
The blood markers are not reliable - about 1 in 5 patients never have levels that are outside the normal range. There are various reasons for swollen arteries - not least hot weather! Can you feel a pulse in them? If so the arteries are probably healthy. But if you get any visual signs or a headache do go to the doctor quickly.
It is very difficult to forecast how such symptoms will develop and if they are just vague the doctors can't tell much either.
I can't feel a pulse in them but could be because i am panicking!
If you do develop visual symptoms then you need to be seen as an emergency. How long have you had these temporal symptoms? Are you someone who might have had headaches before your PMR days and if so does this seem different? Hopefully things will resolve soon. Are you properly hydrated at the moment? It seems to be hot nearly everywhere on the planet at the moment and dehydration can happen so easily.
I agree that you should consult your doctor and if the symptoms persist you should be seen pronto.
I did notice my veins were more prominent on Saturday but no aching until today. I probably do need to hydrate more so will drink water asap! I have suffered from sinus pain before PMR but not recently and that was different, more in my eyebrow area. I'll call my GP now. Thanks to both of you for your response.
Let us know how you get on. Hope all is well!
Thank you, i will x
If you are in the warm weather at the moment then it wouldn't be suprising that your old sinus issues would play up , especially as you have just begun a new drug regime and have the added dehydration in your body from recent PMR inflammation.
Don't worry about your concern , it's really common for us all , especially at the beginning to be more anxious about the possibility of GCA , at the beginning of any illness we are always more sensitive to our symptoms.
Try the extra hydration , use what ever previous techniques you had to help keep your sinus clear or reduce that sort of head pain from sinus pressure.
Try some relaxation in a comfy chair with your head and neck properly supported in a comfy place.
If these things don't relieve your symptoms, or you feel more symptoms like jaw , neck and scalp pain , vision issues and a sustained headache , fainting, dizziness or nausea go to seek help as soon as you can .
If you are just having some symptoms but feel that your anxiety about it is not helping you to reduce the stress , that adds to your PMR pain and general symptoms , go to the GP anyway.
It doesn't matter if you haven't got GCA , if you need to know , you need to go.
Peace of mind is priceless to helping you improve your general levels of Chronic Pain.
Thank you, sound advice as always from this forum. The veins appear to have gone down a little i think and i don't have anybother symptoms so hopefully just overreacting!
Or reacting normally to the heat while on steroids and suffering from a Chronic Condition , don't beat yourself up!😘
If you press on my little symbol you will go to my profile , I wrote a post a few weeks ago , long , but jam packed with tips for coping with the heat and helping the symptoms like added headaches etc. to help in holiday weather .
Other people added some great tips too , you might find some of that helps along the way.
Useful for your sinus as well as the PMR.
Thanks so much. Little update, i called my GP practice and they said they were happy to see me if i went in straight away, the GP i saw wasn't my doctor but he felt my temples and could feel a pulse, he said it would feel hard if it were GCA and it wasn't. So, hopefully it's just a touch of dehydration and heightened anxiety!
That's good news. I have done the trip to walk in centre a couple of times with eye and head issues. Heat and PMR and pred....not a match made for no anxiety! 🥵🌻
I agree! A quiet night for me hopefully x x x
I will keep my fingers crossed!🌻
My Rheumatologist would always feel my temporal arteries as part of her examination of me. I would have it checked out, it maybe significant.
Thank you x
Any advice welcome.
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