"RA has been around a long time."

"Corticosteroids appear to be all that works if the PMR becomes advanced."
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I think the narrative that "prednisone is the only option" gets perpetuated because there hasn't been the research done for PMR like it has been done for RA. Promoting the fast response to prednisone as a "miracle" while the long term side effects of prednisone are downplayed or "easy to manage" doesn't promote the pressing need for more research into PMR. For some reason, the lessons learned from RA aren't applied to PMR.

My PMR became refractory. I didn't ever think prednisone worked that well based on the number of relapses I had. I believe the long term use of prednisone actually perpetuates PMR. I think the immune system needs to be reset quickly and people need to taper off Prednisone as soon as possible. A sustained remission of PMR needs to happen sooner rather than later.

Prednisone worked well for uveitis and some other problems I had before PMR was diagnosed. A 60 mg dose for uveitis followed by a fast taper to achieve remission didn't cause many problems relative to the long term use of prednisone for PMR.