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Can Polymyalgia Rheumatica Cause Altered Sense Of Smell?
Question: Can polymyalgia rheumatica cause your sense of smell and all other senses to be changed, I have been diagnosed with that disease in early Nov and have been taking 20 mil a day for that, saw a rheumatologist Dec 24 and the prednisone was increased to 40. I had temporal biopsy done on the 13th of this month and it came back normal. I do have all the symptoms such as extreme headaches and the prednisone relieved that, only thing I was having side effects from pred. I was taking prozac with the 20 a day and pred had hallucinations and stopped prozax drs order, about a week of starting taking both. My biggest complaint is my eye sight is extremely bad and I will not drive any distance at all. I was aware of this could happen .
Brief Answer:
side effects of steroids
Detailed Answer:
Good evening
Thank you for writing on health care magic
Well polymyalgia rheumatica is quite a miscellaneous disease with the exact pathogenesis not known. But headache alone is not a part of the disease. If headache is associated it probably is giant cell arteritis. Maybe that's the reason you are still on high dose steroids.
As for the smell it is not related to steroid side effects or PMR as smell is mainly a function of 2nd cranial nerve which goes unaffected. Maybe you need to see an Ent to figure out a local cause in the nose
As for the vision, there are 2 things I am concerned about. First you need to get your fundus examination done as giant cell arteritis can affect the arteries of the eyes. If that is clear it is less of worry. Probably the vision is due to cataract formation..
You should discuss with your rheumatologist on considering steroid sparing drug like azathioprine or methotrexate as you are experiencing side effects of it.
Hope the information has been useful
Do let me know for more queries
Would be happy to help out
Regards
Dr naval
side effects of steroids
Detailed Answer:
Good evening
Thank you for writing on health care magic
Well polymyalgia rheumatica is quite a miscellaneous disease with the exact pathogenesis not known. But headache alone is not a part of the disease. If headache is associated it probably is giant cell arteritis. Maybe that's the reason you are still on high dose steroids.
As for the smell it is not related to steroid side effects or PMR as smell is mainly a function of 2nd cranial nerve which goes unaffected. Maybe you need to see an Ent to figure out a local cause in the nose
As for the vision, there are 2 things I am concerned about. First you need to get your fundus examination done as giant cell arteritis can affect the arteries of the eyes. If that is clear it is less of worry. Probably the vision is due to cataract formation..
You should discuss with your rheumatologist on considering steroid sparing drug like azathioprine or methotrexate as you are experiencing side effects of it.
Hope the information has been useful
Do let me know for more queries
Would be happy to help out
Regards
Dr naval
Note: For further information on diet changes to reduce allergy symptoms or to boost your immunity, Ask here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
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