I've been suffering from headaches for over 8 months now, been to GP God knows how many times and have been given 5 different medications. Seen a neurologist who was no help whatsoever! I googled my symptoms and temporal arteritis came up. Went back to my GP yesterday and told her I think this is what I have. She didn't really believe me as she said I'm too young to have it (I'm 25) Anyway she agreed to send me to have my bloods taken. The next available appointment isn't for another 2 weeks! I've been reading up about it and have read that it's important to start treatment straight away. Surely I can't wait 2 weeks for a blood test? I've suffered everyday for the past 8 months and can't bear to wait any longer! I just need to feel better again, and by reading other people's stories it looks like the tablets make you feel better almost straight away!
If you google headaches you will come up with all sorts of awful diagnoses! If you google any symptoms the awful diagnoses are the ones you will find - and the likelihood of having them are fairly small but in the meantime you have scared yourself to death.
I'm not going to say you are too young to have it but, while it is possible, it would be very unusual at the age of 25. The vast majority of people who develop it are over 50. Your doctor has agreed to do the next step and do a blood test. If there was anything you had told her that really concerned her she could have sent you to A&E at the hospital.
The people on the forum who say the tablets make you feel better straight away probably have polymyalgia rheumatica - a related but different illness. And believe me while they do make you feel a lot better because the pain and stiffness is relieved it isn't a miracle cure even at the relatively low dose of pred used in PMR. In GCA (another name for temporal arteritis) the dose used is much much higher and is used for up to a few years - it isn't just a week's course of tablets and everything is hunky-dory. This all comes with a lot of side effects so no doctor would just use it without very good reason.
GCA isn't just headaches - there are other symptoms which you don't mention which are part of the diagnosis and in fact a neurologist would probably have recognised GCA. In some countries it is neurologists who care for GCA patients. If you were to have any of the other GCA symptoms then your doctor would refer you to a specialist again.
But let me assure you - there are no illnesses for which just popping a pill will make you feel totally better again. I know this is what the modern world thinks will happen but I'm afraid the real world is a bit different.
Joanna, pre pmr diagnosis I was furious and desperate when my GP surgery told me that the next available blood appointment would be in 6 weeks as they were so understaffed. They justified such a long wait by saying that I wasn't an emergency, but seeing as they didn't even know what was wrong with me how did they know if I was an emergency or not!!
anyway that's all by the by, I'm simply mentioning it as I appreciate just how anxious you must be feeling as you have these symptoms and the medical profession currently have no answers.
however, although I am not an expert, it is highly unlikely, but not impossible, but highly unlikely that you have gca, so calm right down re the medication question.
have you been to the opticians. Have you requested a head scan? If at the end of the day your GP cannot find an answer then they must explore every possible avenue by referring you to other specialist departments to establish a diagnosis.
i'm sorry that I have nothing else to add but I hope you get an answer very soon. Regards, tina
Hi Joanna,
I can understand your frustration at not getting anywhere with a diagnosis and at having to wait for 2 weeks for a blood test.
You say you have headaches, do you mean migrate type headaches or what? GCA head aches are quite specific. (I know) Is your scalp painful to touch, even gently; washing or brushing hair very painful; jaw claudication (painful to move, almost impossible to eat without crying); pains like having a tight bandana around your head; blurred or disturbed vision in one or both eyes? Do you feel fatigued, not tired, but fatigued. Do your shoulders and/or hips hurt so much that you can't turn over in bed at night? Do you have pain that normal painkillers don't come near to alleviating?
If you can answer yes to some of the above then you may well have GCA despite your age, and you need to get back to your GP and convince her.
Keep a note of what pains you get, and when, then you'll have all the info when you need to refer to it.
I hope it's not GCA, and that you soon get a diagnosis.
Please let us know how you get on. I have no idea what kind of headaches you are having, but the fact that you are getting them every day makes me wonder if there is an environmental factor. I personally am very sensitive to certain artificial scents - sometimes feel like I am being poisoned by other people's dryer sheets. The headaches I get from these chemicals are not mild, but knowing the source helps me avoid the exposure and I don't suffer from them as often as I used to. Hopefully it is something as simple as that, which you can reduce exposure to. Good Luck!
Just remembered that years ago I had to get my husband to change his brand of soap because of my headaches!
Get your jaw ex rayed and teeth checked.
I had these long term headaches for ten months until two teeth were removed from either side of my jaw. Difficult extractions as they had both developed roots that fused into my jaw. I was not suffering toothache just headaches. The ex rays did show mild shadows but both of the teeth were crowned very expensively some ten years back. The relief when they came out is indescribable .
just a thought to ease your mind, could you not ask at Doctors for a print out for a full blood test and go to one of the walk in test places.that is if the area that you live have them. that is what i do if there is a long waiting time at the surgery.
I have every single symptom that you've mentioned!
My doctors just don't seem to be in a rush to help me be diagnosed!
If that is so then you really do need to insist on an in-depth discussion with your GP and ask to be referred to a rheumatologist.
If, in the meantime, you could go to an optician and ask them to examine the back of your eyes to see if there is any sign of trouble there. If you have any worse visual symptoms then don't hesitate to go to A&E and ask for help there.
Hi Joanna, just wanted to make sure. In that case then agree with Eileen, get an emergency appointment (if possible) with optician. Explain your symptoms when you make appointment, he may make the decision to send you to A&E, which mine did. Otherwise go yourself. Don't wait for GP, just go. Hope all turns out okay for you.
That's interesting!
I had a wisdom tooth erupting over the last 30-odd years. Not until it got really uncomfortable and I finally had it out about 18 months ago did I ever associate it affecting my bite with the back problems I had. I had asked for it to be taken out and a (lazy) dentist said it was too complicated and it would cause more trouble than it was worth so I left it for another 12 years or so - during which time the back problems got worse.
All down to an incorrect bite and if that lazy dentist hadn't told porkies I would have asked another dentist to do it - and saved a fortune later in Bowen therapy and many months of severe pain. Poor bite can cause a lot of apparently unrelated problems.
Not sure what health system you are in - but private healthcare in the UK is NOT cheap. I can't afford it and I'm fairly well off.
Joanna, where exactly is your head aching, is it all over, at the back, at the front, down the side?
I used to get dreadful, and I mean dreadful headaches until I was diagnosed with sleep apnea.
And you don't have to be old and overweight to have it!
I have something called "central sleep apnea' which means I actually forget to breath, as opposed to obstructive sleep apnea which is where the airways are blocked - usually as a result of excess weight, but it can be because of the shape of your airway.
Might be worth getting that checked out - I'm surprised your GP hasn't already done so.
Down the right side. I also have numbness on the right side of my face.
Yes, definately not cheap. I had my bloods done privately because I was given a 6 week waiting list for bloods and they cost me over £400.00! Regards, tina
on the subject of blood tests, in staffordshire where one resides one can get a blood print out from Drs and go to a number of nhs places to have bloods taken.the results are then sent back to Drs. free of any charge.
David I think that is true in most places, it is just the wait for the blood test that takes time. Do you have a drop in system where you are? I have to book an appointment.