"Have to trust doctor but question why not another drug that doesn’t encumber one so much."
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By default, Prednisone is considered to be the best option for PMR. Until recently, Prednisone was considered to be the "only option." To compound the problem, most patients including myself believed the same.

With 12 years of PMR experience, I struggled and struggled to taper off prednisone until my rheumatologist asked me if I would be willing to try Actemra (tocilizumab). I almost declined Actemra because someone discouraged it. My rheumatologist said I wouldn't know if Actemra worked or not unless I tried it to see. My rheumatologist made sense to me because the other person had no personal experience with Actemra.

Now I'm happy to do a monthly Actemra infusion. My biggest regret is that Actemra wasn't tried sooner. Nevertheless, I am happy that my rheumatologist convinced me to try Actemra.

I'm stuck on a monthly Actemra infusion but at least I no longer have symptoms of PMR. I don't have any side effects to speak of from Actemra. I have mostly recovered from the long term effects of Prednisone. I no longer believe that Prednisone is the best and only option for PMR. Until that mentally changes --- nothing will change.

There also needs to be a better way to diagnose PMR before sending patients down the road of "long term" prednisone use. I have learned there is no easy way to get off that highway because the next exit might be a long time. Then the deathly fatigue sets in and you run out of gas.