Worrying unnecessarily?

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Diagnosed with pmr 6 months or so ago. Symptoms went quickly on steroids and reduced dose from initial 15 mg down to 8 mg by end of July .Woke up one day some weeks later with bloodshot eye and vague aches , vague  headaches and neck stiffness . Couldn't get doc app but practice nurse decided eye was spontaneous bleed.i had mentioned the pmr to her.  Started to get anxious about risk of GCA so saw doctor later in week who thought it was  just pmr , suggested raising dose to 10mg . Did that , still vague aches but eye seemed ok until last day or so . Feels sore, bit headachy . Possibly becoming neurotic. Does my jaw hurt , are my teeth aching , or are these head feelings just tension with a little bit of knowledge turning me into a head case? Have not had any visual disturbances or severe headaches . Thought I might get an appointment at my optician for an eye check tomorrow ,  easier to get an appointment for a start . Anybody had similar experiences ?

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5 Replies

  • Posted

    I am not sure if it is the same, but I had bloodshot eye not too long time ago. I had them in the past, but this time it seems that one of the major blood vessel burst, which caused almost like blister filled with blood. Scary event. I did go to eye doctor, which assured me that there is nothing to worry about and that it should clear up within 2 weeks, which it did. It definitely helps if you see eye doctor, if nothing else , just to remove the anxiety and worry.

    While the eye hurt, there were no other symptoms, no headache or neck stiffens.  I have had PMR for almost 2 years and was at the time at 5mg/day.

  • Posted

    I have had a blood shot eye a couple of times and didn't do anything about it but gathered form this forum that it was not unusual. I am now on 2mgs after 2 years and had a slightly bloodshot eye recently. I have hay fever and had been rubbing it quite a bit. I've also had blurred vision which seems to be another problem that is not unusual. I think it would be prudent to go to your optician tomorrow as they have the equipment to do further tests if they think it necessary. If you experience any other symptoms like visual disturbances and headache then I would suggest an immediate visit to A&E. I think it's difficult not to read too much in to symptoms but it's also important not to ignore a symptom which requires investigation. I must admit I'm more likely to leave something until it goes away or gets worse. Probably not the most sensible attitude but I'm still here!! I'm not advising anyone else to take this approach. I've always been this way.

     

  • Posted

    Sounds like pred dose reduced too quickly. This happened to me when we went down to 12.5 from 15mg in about 3 weeks., I had all sorts of similar symptoms as you describe. Those symptoms show the underlying pmr is not well enough controlled reducing too quickly on those doses. 
  • Posted

    You need to make sure any eye specialist you see is qualified to examine your eyes for signs of GCA.   Issue a bit confusing across borders because here (Canada) I would only go to an ophthalmologist for such a diagnosis, not an optician or optometrist. 
  • Posted

    I think you'll need to see a retina specialist so they can look at your optic nerve. I had a false negative for GCA and a few weeks later the vision in my L eye was cloudy. I went to my optician and he couldn't see any problem. He sent me to a retina specialist and he found optic nerve damage. Immediately put me on 100mg a day for 4-5 days. It saved some vision in my eye.

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