i was diagnosed with temporal arteritis and started on high doses of prednisolone in April 2009. About 2.5 years later i was weaned down from 1mg a day to zero. I am not rid of the disease, however, I still have symptoms, ie tender scalp, occasional temple pains and 'wriggling feelings', sometimes jaw ache when chewing. I find these only occur on days when I have forgotten to take a dose of 'Cat's Claw' aka Uncaria tomentosa, a South American plant extract that is an effective anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial agent [increasingly studied, see MedLine]. If I then take some Cat's Claw, symptoms go away again. It is not fattening, it does not waste my muscles, and it does not thin my bones or weaken my eyesight. Long term (cumulative) effects of catabolic steroids were very bad in my case, leading to wasted muscles and accelerated cataracts (in turn related to the detached retina that followed the supposedly straightforward and reliable cataract operation that went wrong). I have had one relapse on this regime, which caused me nausea, anorexia, malaise and an increase of sensations in my temple which were not controlled by Cat's Claw. I took one 10mg dose of prednisolone at that point and fully recovered to the non-ill previous state with its controllable symptoms on 900mg (=3 standard capsules from H and B) a day. So I have some steroids as a standby but am not continuing to build up further problems for my poor body on a regular basis. I'd love to see a large scale study of this for symptom-free maintenance. I do not have any financial stake in this stuff by the way, but just want to share as I have personally found it close to miraculous not only in the ways described above but for general immune boosting (first signs and I up my dose, and bingo!) and joint pain relief. So far I am not aware of any adverse effects though some people may be allergic to plants in the Rubiaceae family whatever that is, and I am NOT a medically qualified person so this all just patient report.

Hello, I was diagnosed with giant cell temporal arteritis via my Neurologist. I've had an MRI that was okay, blood work showed #38 for temporal arteritis. I had a Biopsy done on both the left and right temples. It showed negative. My surgery doctor stated he removed very large parts of two vessels on my left side where I have the most pain. For what it’s worth he stated I did not have giant temporal arteritis. My Neurologist stated a negative result does not definitely rule out the fact that you still have giant cell temporal arteritis. So today I’m starting my first treatment on 2 20mg of Prednisone a day. I’m scared of the Prednisone; however I guess I’m more scared of the disease. Is there anyone I can talk to, it would really be helpful…………..Thanks, Diane