PMR lasts an average of 5.9 years. Very few are done in two years, which seems to be the belief of many doctors. Once you are on prednisone long term, it is necessary to reduce very slowly after getting to 10 mgs (reduce at 1/2 mgs and stay there for a while) because pred takes over the cortisol that your adrenal glands produce. You must 1) , give the adrenals a chance to wake up and produce cortisol, sometimes over a year. And, 2) wait for PMR to go into remission. If you go too fast you will create a flare and sometimes go all the way back to the amount you started with. If you have had a flare for a short time, sometimes upping the dose 1 or 2 mgs and then reducing to where you last felt comfortable. Go up 5 mgs, stay for a couple of days and then again go down to where you first felt little or no pain.