I just wish to add a couple of things. Your taper from 20 mg to 8 mg in 8 months is phenomenal but needing to go back to 12 mg isn't surprising. Not many people are successful with their first attempt at tapering off prednisone. It isn't a failure ... it is just part of the learning curve.

Hopefully, Kevzara will make it easier to taper Prednisone the second time. I understand your misgivings about higher doses of Prednisone but if 12 mg isn't enough to be functional then that defeats the purpose of taking Prednisone in the early stages. Think of Prednisone as a "bridge" to better treatment with Kevzara. Hopefully Kevzara will provide better pain control with fewer side effects relative to long term treatment with Prednisone. A biologic like Kevzara takes at least 3 months to notice much of a change for the better.

Many people report good results from Kevzara for the treatment of PMR. I don't have any personal experience with Kevzara but I have experience with Actemra which is another biologic similar to Kevzara, By comparison, I was on Prednisone at higher doses for 12 years before I ever reached the bridge to more effective treatment with Actemra.