I was diagnosed with PMR and GCA in late June 2024. I have had a good experience with Actemra. I've been taking weekly injections for 7 months. I haven't had any side effects, and it has allowed me to taper the prednisone from 60 mg per day down to 7 with no problems. Other than that I just see my rheumatologist and ophthalmologist regularly to monitor for problems from the GCA and prednisone.

I don't know how you are feeling right now, but the first couple of months after my diagnosis I felt really bad. I was on 60 mg of prednisone for 6 weeks, and that caused insomnia and other problems. I could only sleep 5 hours a night. Plus I had lost weight and strength from the PMR and GCA, so I was tired and groggy during the day. I started feeling a lot better as I tapered prednisone. The insomnia stopped once I got down to about 40 mg per day, and I've felt good since then.