PMRGCAuk

PMRGCAuk is the only UK charity dedicated to people affected by polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA). These two related inflammatory conditions mostly affect people over 50, yet few people have heard of them. PMR brings severe pain and stiffness in the shoulders and hips. It often appears almost overnight and turns everyday tasks like dressing or getting out of bed into a struggle. GCA inflames the blood vessels and is a medical emergency: without urgent treatment it can cause permanent sight loss.

The symptoms are easily mistaken for ageing, arthritis or a bad headache. Because of this, many people wait months for a diagnosis, and some lose their sight before anyone recognises what is happening. Knowing the warning signs, and acting on them quickly, can make all the difference.

A diagnosis can also feel lonely. Treatment usually means steroids for a year or more, with side effects that can be hard to live with. Friends and family may struggle to understand an illness they can't see. Since 2009, PMRGCAuk has been there for support offering a free helpline answered by volunteers who have lived with the conditions themselves, trusted information and resources, an online forum and a network of local support groups across the UK. Today we support around 5,000 people every year.

With the right help, people go on to live full lives and return to the things they love. We also work with GPs and specialists so that more people are diagnosed quickly and treated well. Your support helps us reach everyone who needs us.

When June, from Beaminster in West Dorset, developed giant cell arteritis in 2023, finding out what was wrong proved a struggle. Her symptoms weren't recognised at first, and it was only when she saw another GP that she was diagnosed and sent straight to hospital for urgent intravenous steroids. That speed saved her sight. June knows how differently things could have turned out, and she is passionate that more people, including doctors, learn to spot the warning signs early.

Her treatment has been long. As she reduced her steroids, polymyalgia rheumatica followed, and she is now tapering again very slowly. June once rode horses and played tennis, and has had to let those go. Finding PMRGCAuk helped her adjust. At her local West Dorset support group she is among people who understand, and seeing others make progress gives her hope. She still travels, sees friends and enjoys time with her family.

Barbara, a former language teacher from Eastleigh in Hampshire, had always been fiercely independent. Then a severe headache sent her to A&E, fearing a stroke. It was giant cell arteritis. Her road since has been hard: several relapses, a spell in hospital when she lost some of her sight, and severe steroid side effects.

Living alone, Barbara could easily have felt isolated. Instead, she found PMRGCAuk. Reading other people's stories on the charity's online forum showed her she wasn't the only one, and slowly rebuilt her confidence. When the nearest support group proved too far to travel to, she set up her own, which now welcomes people from across Southampton and Winchester. There is someone new at almost every meeting, a reminder of how many people are affected. Barbara, who is relearning to paint, now helps others find the support that helped her.

Dave, from Maidstone in Kent, has always loved keeping fit, from spin classes to parkrun and tennis. In autumn 2025, polymyalgia rheumatica stopped him in his tracks. Within weeks the pain and stiffness were so bad he could barely bend down and struggled to get out of bed.

His GP diagnosed PMR quickly, and once he started steroids the change was dramatic. By December he was back on the tennis court. Dave is now gradually reducing his treatment, and although he still has days when his arms ache too much to drive, he's largely back to the active life he loves.

Going from knowing nothing about PMR to finding his local PMRGCAuk support group made a big difference. Meeting a welcoming group of people who understood showed him he wasn't on his own, and just how many others are affected. His story is a hopeful reminder that, with the right diagnosis and support, life doesn't stop here.