Hi @rocjr1, Welcome to Connect. I think it's always a good plan to discuss options with your doctor or rheumatologist for starting or tapering off prednisone. PMR can be challenging for doctors as well as us patients. You mentioned in your profile that you were just diagnosed with PMR on 1/18/24 and started with 20 mg prednisone. Also that you are on a fast taper and currently at 17.5 mg prednisone with the PMR symptoms improved but not dramatically.

My PMR is currently in remission. I've had 2 occurrences and started both with 20 mg prednisone. The one thing I've learned with the help of my Mayo rheumatologist is that tapering too fast is not the way to go and can make for more flare ups along the way. The one thing he suggested that really was helpful for me was to keep a daily log with my level of pain when I woke up in the morning and the dose of prednisone for that day. My first time with PMR took 3 and half years to taper off. The second time following a six year remission only took 1 and half years to taper off which I attribute to making a lifestyle change - more exercise, eating healthier and eliminating most inflammatory foods and sugar.

When it was time on my schedule to taper, if my pain level was greater than 2, I waited a few days to see if it would get better at the same dose. If not I bumped up the dose to half of the previous taper down so that I wouldn't be going all the way back to the previous dosage.

Do you keep a daily log of your symptoms for tapering?