@woodswoman

My miracle medication was Actemra (tocilizumab) although it isn't OTC. I had multiple conditions for which I took Prednisone although not all of my conditions were appropriately treated with Prednisone. I was prescribed every medication imaginable for nerve pain along with muscle relaxants like Flexeril used to treat trigeminal neuralgia and severe spinal stenosis in addition to PMR.

I considered PMR to be a blessing because of the liberal doses of Prednisone that were prescribed to me. Taking Prednisone like I did became a curse because of corticosteroid related complications when I was unable to taper off Prednisone after decades of use. The saving grace from my chronic use of Prednisone was I was never prescribed narcotics so I didn't have an opioid addiction.

I had a corticosteroid dependence when adrenal insufficiency secondary to chronic Prednisone use was diagnosed. Actemra allowed me to overcome my dependence because it allowed me to discontinue Prednisone.