There may be visible swelling and redness in the same area as the pain. People with Giant Cell Arteritis normally recognize this headache as something very different from headaches caused by tension, sinusitis, migraine or other common causes. Sudden blindness in one eye is a symptom that occurs very early on. When this happens, there is no time to lose. If this is treated with high doses of intravenous steroids within 24 hours, there is a small chance that vision can be saved in the affected eye and a very good chance that the disease will be prevented from attacking the second eye.
Double vision is a clear warning sign of impending blindness.
Jaw claudication , or pain while chewing, is a very important symptom because it occurs early on and is an even earlier warning sign of impending blindness. The presence of dark patches of skin above the temples. This is a sign that the skin in this area has begun to die from lack of a blood supply. However, many diseases besides Giant Cell Arteritis can cause an elevated ESR and so your doctor may want to confirm the diagnosis by performing a biopsy of the temporal artery, which is frequently affected by the disease. The temporal arteries are situated just below the skin of the temples and the biopsy procedure is almost risk free.