When it went away the first time I felt pretty good and about the same as before. For me there was such a sharp difference in the pain level when the PMR was active and when it went into remission. For the first week or so after I stopped taking the prednisone I had a little pain but nothing like before. I think that may be part of the withdrawal from prednisone. The second time it was a little easier for me because I knew what to expect and I pushed a little getting off of the prednisone. The first occurrence I was going back and forth each week the last six months between 1 mg and 1/2 mg until I could finally stop taking the prednisone with a little ache but not real pain.