John @johnbishop, Thank you so much for those links! I am learning a lot about PMR through them and through this and other discussion threads. I spoke with my PT yesterday about my confusion regarding what to attribute my soreness to and when to back off or push through exercising, or when to give it a day's rest. Other symptoms for me include morning stiffness, afternoon/evening light headedness and feeling increasingly flushed, foggy and wiped out as the day progresses as well as generalized anxiety (which I attribute to prednisone). I am trying to figure out what is going on. Of my symptoms, what is attributable to the flare? What is over-extending my limits? Am I tapering too fast or too slow? (It sometimes feels like just too much prednisone in my body.)

The PTs response was that we could slow things way down to isolate factors as in a scientific experiment (do everything the same except modulate one factor over time). But the patience that would require and the unintended consequences of say, stopping making any gains in the gym, would extend a person's prednisone duration for months or years and take down our general health and well-being--bringing on a secondary "illness." Avoiding over-use of prednisone is my number one priority. Of course, we're all eager to get out from under prednisone's side-effects.

So I'm trying to clear the fog somehow. Maybe I'm making this harder than it needs to be and am trying to be overly analytical when an easy-going exploratory, intuitive approach may be better. Straddling these ideas, I've decided to add dietary supplements for pain control. I am currently trying PEA (Palmitoylethanolamide) for "Discomfort Relief." I purchased some SPM (a fish oil concentrate that is designed to "target root causes of soreness by supporting the body’s natural ability to soothe and minimize discomfort.") These aren't my ideas--I am working with a naturopathic health practitioner to oversee this. I can't say I'm into meditation, but I am trying to soothe my nervous system in ways that may have some resemblance to meditation.

So I am with you guys. Thankful and really interested in learning from your experiences, all the while recognizing that this is an individualized experience. We each have to find our own way through it.