Temporal Arteritis and RA
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi there,
I was just wondering if anyone with RA had also been Diagnosed with Temporal Arteritis?
I am 35 and was diagnosed with RA in April 16. I have Seropositive RA. Since Dec in was having terrible jaw pain and temple pain. I also had extreme fatigue so thought I might have RA in my jaw. I went to bathe dentist to confirm it wasn't a tooth issue.
Anyway the pain has got too much now and I went to my GP who thinks it might be Temporal Arteritis. They have put me on large doses of steroids until I have a biopsy.
My question is, does anyone have both conditions? Is this common? Any advice would be most helpful.
Thanks
Hayley
0 likes, 2 replies
lorraine080455 hayleymac
Posted
Hi Hayley,
I have spent the last few months having tests to see whether I have rheumatoid arthritis or polymyalgia rheumatica as they are very closely linked. I started to look at the forums for both conditions and whilst I have seen no link to RA and Temporal Arteritis, there are many posts from people who have been diagnosed with both polymyalgia and TA. These are often diagnosed together, so I would speak top my doctor to ensure that you do not have PMR. The forum on here for the two linked conditions is really helpful.
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/browse/polymyalgia-rheumatica-and-gca-1708
Good luck!
EileenH hayleymac
Posted
Hi - I'm from the PMRGCA forum Lorraine mentioned.
There is no direct link between RA and temporal arteritis (GCA) - because RA is an arthritis (joints) and GCA is a vasculitis (blood vessels). PMR (polymyalgia rheumatica) is also acepted to be due to a vasculitis but the details are still disputed. In older patients the symptoms of LORA (late onset RA) and PMR can be very similar so it causes quite a bit of confusion. PMR can be a symptom of GCA - and while you are seropositive for your RA diagnosis have they seen any joint damage to confirm it? You can be seropositive without having RA - although a high reading is felt by many experts to be an indicator that you will develop RA at some point in the future and should be monitored.
I think there are few patients on at least one of our forums who also have RA alongside the PMR/GCA diagnosis. I don't know though whether they are on this forum or the other one at HealthUnlocked. You will find a link to that forum here:
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/pmr-gca-website-addresses-and-resources-35316
as well as a lot of reading matter about PMR and GCA.
Has the high dose steroid helped your symptoms that are thought to be due to RA? If it is PMR/GCA then you should get speedy relief from the symptoms with high dose pred - but you may face some problems getting a diagnosis of GCA because of your age. There are still rheumies who are convinced you have to be old (well over 50 which is the guideline age) to develop PMR and GCA! There is, however, another arteritis that is identical to GCA except for the age at which it is diagnosed - one person had her diagnosis changed on her notes after her 50th birthday! But there are rare documented cases in people in their 30s. The trouble is - once you are on high dose pred the likelihood of the biopsy being positive falls but a negative biopsy does not mean it isn't GCA, all it means is that they didn't find the giant cells they were looking for!
I do hope your GP has contacted your rheumy for you as an emergency patient - with a query GCA diagnosis at your age you need to be seen very quickly by an expert. Some hospitals in the UK do run a fast-track service for GCA and it is to be rolled out across the NHS - but it isn't there yet.