Hi @lmz
I developed PMR after injuring my ankle from exercising. At first, my ankle hurt. A couple of days later, I developed pain and stiffness in my entire body from the neck down. I felt like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. No amount of exercise or stretching helped.
Pain was most pronounced in the morning and throughout the day. It eased up a bit at night, and I was hopeful that it was going away, but, the pain, unrelenting , was back every morning.
I sometimes felt faint in the morning when I got up. I had symptoms for 6-7 months before getting blood tests, but they my inflammatory markers were not elevated at that time.
Eventually, I lost weight, was extremely fatigued, had a dry cough, at nights, and gagging attacks. I remember being extremely sensitive to the sun. My torso was itchy, no rash, and my scalp, tender. I had a few episodes of not being able to see out of my right eye and short, fleetiung head pains, like little lightning strikes.
A dotor friend told me to push my doctor again for blood work. My inflammatory markers (CRP and Sed Rate) were off the charts.
I had GCA, confirmed by biopsy of the temporal artery.

PMR is very responsive to appropriate prednisone dosage. If symptoms are similar, but not responsive to prednisone, medical text books advise physicians to seel alternative diagnosis, possible malignancy, infection, connective tissue disorder, hypothyroiddism (Goldman-Cecil Textbook of Medicine).