I was taking a lot of ibuprofen before diagnosis, every 4-6 hrs for many weeks. I knew it would destroy my kidneys if I kept going and the pain relief was very transient.
I had tried diclofenac previously for other joint inflammation and it gave me gut pain, pretty sure it would not have helped with my PMR pain. Sadly, Prednisone, with all its problems was the answer.

What I find now that I'm nearly 18mths down the track after developing PMR and on minimal Prednisone and low dose Plaquinil, is that my inflammation pains are mostly osteoarthritis and 1200mg slow release Paracetamol once or twice a week is enough to keep me active.

I tried diclofenac before my diagnosis. I got it from a friend, since my gp wouldn’t prescribe it. For one day I felt great! But after that it never worked again. Weird.