Eye strain or possible sign of GCA?

[NewPMR]

I have PMR, currently on 13mg. I have been having mild headaches and a sensitive scalp on left side. My vision is blurry due to cataract in left eye and I am on a waiting list for cataract surgery. I am worried that the headaches are a sign of GCA but suspect eye strain. How can I tell? Any advice?

[SnazzyD]

Are the symptoms there all the time? Does anything make them better or worse?

Have you tried ordinary pain killers yet? Generally pain killers don’t help much with GCA though I found in the early stages they did to an extent.

Another possibility is sternokleidomastoid muscle issues that can cause GCA-like symptoms. Stress, poor posture or doing a lot of one thing that demands holding the head in one position can play havoc on these neck muscles. Have a look at this

healthline.com/health/stern...

However, at the same time as considering these given your history, medical opinion would be an idea.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

I would think headaches are likely eye strain -do they appear after you have been concentrating on reading, using screens etc… and have you tried pain killers for them?

Tender scalp may be something different - but it does need checking.

Have you had blood tested recently to see if they are increasing? -and another trip to optometrist would be sensible to check eyes for anything untoward.

[piglette]

People who have GCA say that the headaches are not mild, but the worst you can imagine. So it is likely it is something like eye strain.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to piglette]

You’re not wrong there! 😖

[pata63 in reply to DorsetLady]

I agree, and I have a lot of bad headaches (chronic migraines and trigeminal neuralgia). When GCA arrived this week I voted it worst headache ever. I also have cataracts growing in both eyes and wondered about that being part of the loss of visual acuity. It is hard to tell. But the tender scalp is another sign that something else is going on. Don't do what I did and wait a bit long before taking action if anything gets worse.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to pata63]

Guess you meant this for NewPMR - but they’ll see it anyway.. 😊

[JanetRosslyn in reply to piglette]

Sorry, I have heard this said before and need to say this isn't always the case. I have PMR, GCA and extra cranial LVV (confirmed by temporal biopsy and PET-CT scan) and I didn't have any headache, tender scalp or jaw claudication, only one spot on temple that was tender if I prodded it. My Consultant only suspected GCA as my blood markers kept rising.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to JanetRosslyn]

Sorry, I have heard this said before and need to say this isn't always the case.

Not always certainly, but very often.

[Viveka]

I didn't have bad headaches with GCA - it was more a constant low level headache. My eye symptoms were that I couldn't bear watching background movement on the TV, in fact we sized down so I could cope with it. I also felt very under par.

Tender spots on scalp developed later. Everything was bilateral.

As suggested elsewhere, try pain killers and see GP or rheumy helpline if you have one.