Changing from prednisone to NSAID’s

My first comment would be to see a doctor who specializes in knees or any other joint that hurts.
I addressed my pains one at a time and discovered I have osteo arthritis in several joints, a major impingement in the hip, torn meniscus in one knee, greater trochanter bursitis, accumulation of inflammation in one joint, rotator cuff damage, and significant abdominal tumors that all needed to be treated separately from PMR since they are unrelated. Remember PMR is a default diagnosis, so you need to eliminate other causes for your pain before throwing them in the PMR bucket.
Just my opinion based on personal experience. BTW my rheumatologist wanted to toss them all into PMR. Granted PMR aggravated the pain of each but was not the root cause of any.

Yes, you may have osteoarthritis in addition to PMR. I do and my rheumatologist prescribed Celebrex for joint pain.

It is problematic to treat symptoms of PMR without steroids. Other inflammatory rheumatoid conditions also respond symptomatically to prednisone.
It would be good timing to get reevaluated with all your labs while off therapy. Are you being followed with a rheumatologist? Have you responded to prescription NSAIDS.? A second opinion regarding your diagnosis
could arrive at another therapy option.
I maintain an anti inflammatory lifestyle with sleep hygiene and Mediterranean diet and gluten avoidance.
If you do some further research you may consider turmeric, vitamin D, melatonin, COQ10 and DHEA are all considered to be immune modulators. Topical diclofenac gel is helpful for me.

On the other hand, I first went to a gp who treated all my issues separately. I went for an MRI, physical therapy, colonoscopy (anemic blood markers), prescribed massive NSAIDs, etc. It wasn’t until a PA referred me to a rheumatologist that I found relief from all my symptoms with prednisone. I do not intend to minimize anyone’s experience, but in my case, PMR was the correct diagnosis and prednisone was the answer.

I agree with all the comments. You should get evaluated for everything. Because you have had PMR, dont let them lump all together as that condition. I found out that I had blocked arteries, and slap tear in my right shoulder with arthritis in my knees. In addition, I , like you, was able to stop steroids in 6 months. That is pretty unlikely with this condition. It also took me about 3 months to feel normal. I am retired but I found I had to go to the gym in the mornings and get things moving. excercise is very important. It is hard for most of us to reduce stress but that is important. I had to block any stress triggers. I quit watching the news, I avoid anything i know is going to be uncomfortable. Especially at bedtime. I had to avoid alcohol. I cut back on my coffee.

I don't disagree with what you are saying but steroids alone were never going to resolve the issues I mentioned. I did take steroids for 6 months for my PMR after the other problems were identified and treatment plans known. The inflammation of PMR aggravated some of the problems and hid a couple of them. Steroids were both right and wrong, it was a matter of timing.
I still have idiopathic anemia, idiopathic neuropathy, idiopathic headaches and a few other undiagnosed symptoms.

Wow! Hi tuckerp. How did you find out you had blocked arteries? Glad you are doing well now. Quite a story.

Did you have bi-lateral pain?

Were you having pain while on pred?
You said you are having knee pain. Where is the pain?

Without going into detail I had bilateral pain but it was different on different sides. I did not take Prednisone until I better understood the source of the pain.
Taking Prednisone first would have hidden several of my problems, even made them worse. I consider myself blessed that I was stubborn enough to approach it the way I did. There are worse things than pain. I am a cancer survivor and approach life differently than most as a result.