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Your symptoms sound more like what I experienced when I tapered down to 7 mg. The intense fatigue, dizziness and other symptoms that were not previously present all sound very familiar to me. An endocrinologist said my symptoms were consistent with adrenal insufficiency from long term Prednisone use.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10257969/
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Unfortunately, the way to get over this hump is to resist the urge to increase your Prednisone dose. An endocrinologist was more helpful to me than my rheumatologist. However, my rheumatologist provided me with another medication that kept PMR in check while my Prednisone dose was reduced. The other medication didn't suppress my adrenal function.
It was still a long process to taper off Prednisone. After I tapered to a low dose of Prednisone, I needed to stay on 3 mg of Prednisone for more than 6 months. That amount of time was necessary for me to overcome adrenal insufficiency. The amount of time needed is dependent on many factors and varies from person to person. However, the goal for me was not to increase my Prednisone dose unless it was absolutely necessary. Easier said that done!
The newer medication didn't suppress my adrenal function while keeping PMR controlled. Staying on 3 mg of prednisone replaced the shortfall of cortisol. When my adrenals were able to produce more cortisol and my cortisol level improved, it was easy to discontinue Prednisone but not until that happened. My adrenals needed time and time was possible as long as I stayed on the other medication that controlled PMR.
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Thank you so much for the detailed information, it’s extremely helpful. I feel much better after 3 days at 7.5 but anxious to get back to 6. Do you mind sharing the name of the newer med that you mentioned?
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What was the "other" medication your rheumatologist prescribed? The three times I've been able to get down to 5.5 or 6mg the pain and stiffness were pretty bad. I jumped to 12.5mg for a couple of days to quickly knock out the pain and then went back to 8mg and started my .5mg taper every three weeks all over again. My rheumatologist said that I was tapering too quickly and to taper every 6-8 weeks (after previously being told I was tapering to slowly!) . I see my endocrinologist next week and plan on having a good conversation with her.
Thanks, Terry