Actemra didn't exactly "kick in" all of a sudden. I assume people respond to Kevzara in much the same way.

I was very skeptical that anything else could work as well as Prednisone. Actemra didn't magically make all of my pain go away when I first started. I slowly tapered my Prednisone dose by 1 mg per month during my first 3 months on Actemra. I usually had a flare whenever I reached 7 mg of Prednisone but that didn't happen when I was on Actemra.

After 3 months, I put Actemra to the test when I was at 7 mg. I tapered by 1 mg per week down to 3 mg. Imagine how surprised I was when my PMR pain didn't return. I still had some pain but I considered it to be "normal pain" and not PMR pain.

When I was on 3 mg of Prednisone, I didn't feel so well. It wasn't pain so much as "overwhelming fatigue." My rheumatologist was also surprised that I tapered so quickly to 3 mg. My doctor was concerned about adrenal insufficiency so an a.m. cortisol was checked. When my cortisol level was low --- I needed to stay on 3 mg of Prednisone for 6 months until my cortisol improved. An endocrinologist was the doctor who actually gave me the okay to discontinue Prednisone.