HI @glinda47, I was fortunate not to wind up in the ER with Prednisone IV. I was put on an oral dosage of prednisone 40 mg when diagnosed with GCA, then tapered down by 5mg every two weeks.
I took prednisone for about 16 months. I've been off it nearly as long.
The high dosage of prednisone gave me a lot of energy, made me very talkative and restored my appetite. It also gave me insomnia, but it did make my GCA symptoms go away.