headaches/pain/vision problems disappeared on prednisone

Hello!

I’m 24F with PCOS, headaches (migraines?), high blood pressure, anemic, and OCD, 5’1” and 125lbs. I’m on Yaz birth control, prozac, metoprolol, and mirtazapine. Fairly active from walking and low impact workouts at home but am not super athletic. I stay very hydrated. I had an iron transfusion in July after a ferritin of 13, and bad GI reaction to oral iron supplements. I’ve had an appendectomy and tonsillectomy but besides all of these, no other medical issues.

I started having pretty bad headaches a couple of years ago, and was told I had high blood pressure, which was thought to be the reason for the headaches, so was put on metoprolol. I was evaluated for heart and kidney issues from a stress test, EKG, echo, CT of kidneys and everything there was clear. The metoprolol sort of helped the headaches for a while, but they came back.

I would not describe these headaches as migraines, as I have no idea what an aura is and no descriptions of them have ever resonated with me. To me, the headaches are like tension headaches, sometimes ice pick, mostly a band around my eyes and temples. But I was sent to neurology and tried Ubrevly and Ajovy injections (both for months each) with no relief. Neurology got a MRI, which showed two brain lesions but they said they were not consistent with MS (though, was given an EMG just in case, which was clear).

This all has been SO well documented and well tested.

Recently, the headaches have completely become unbearable with the pain making my neck and upper back stiff as well, my vision has become progressively more blurry (got glasses last May because of this), and I’m so tired. I saw my doctor about the issue and showed her a picture of a rash that my mom noticed on my upper back (I can’t upload a picture, but it’s red and splotchy and looks like pechtaie to me almost), and she said my back looked puffy.

The pain is gone, and I don’t need my glasses anymore. I overall feel so much better. I know that steroids can give you a boost, but ALL of my symptoms are gone and my vision is almost completely back to normal.

I know sometimes that can indicate autoimmune but I’ve been tested for autoimmune conditions before. My ESR is normal, CRP is elevated, C4 is slightly elevated, ANA is normal, besides that, I have consistently slightly elevated platelets as well, but everything else is mostly normal. I saw rheumatology last year and they cleared me from that standpoint.

I’m at a loss and I don’t know what direction to look. Does anyone have any ideas at all that we could look into at this point? Happy to answer any questions to help me get to the bottom of this.

Thank you so much