Table 3.
Impact duration of symptoms experienced by patients with treated giant cell arteritis
| Minimal or no long-term impact | They put me straight on to steroids. […] everything disappeared after that. And I’ve had no symptoms since. (Joan, 81, 1 year 4 months since diagnosis) As far as living with it goes, um to be quite honest I haven’t found any real change um it’s not affecting me as far as my day to day living what I do and things all the way through. I think I’ve been very, very lucky. (David, 71, 2 years 5 months since diagnosis) |
| Continuing symptoms |
I’m past my year’s date of my first pain in my head and I’m not better. I’m worse than I was at the start…and really, just the tiredness, legs pain that I’ve told you […] I count these cataracts as the bane of my life. (Sheila, 73, 11 months since diagnosis) I’m pleased, you know, that I’ve, that I’ve got through it all. But that was 2010. We’re now 2015. So it’s only in the last, say, year that I’ve really got my body strong again […] it took a good few years after to really get back my strength. (Cressida, 62, 5 years 5 months since diagnosis) [I] can’t do the things that I want to now […] because of the discomfort in my joints, in my arms and even in the chest. It’s really, really uncomfortable […] I believe it’s the reactions from the Prednisolone because I, I don’t, I don’t think it’s from the Giant Cell Arteritis […] that seems – after about 2 month, the, the headaches went away, although I’ve still got the inflammation in my bloodstream like, according to (the rheumatologist), you know but… yeah it’s, it’s the after effects of, of those—of Pred-, Prednisolone steroids that I think is causing—this is what’s caused my glaucoma problems as well. (Dennis, 69, 2 years 6 months since diagnosis) |
| Changes in health | You’ve lived your life with full vision […] It’s really hard. […] because three quarters of the sight has gone in my right eye. (Gloria, 72, 6 years since diagnosis) I’ve got tablets now… I’m going to have to have long term – you see, I, I, I don’t know—I’m thinking I’m going to have to have long term things to, to look after this osteoporosis now. (Laurence, 72, 1 year 7 months since diagnosis) |