Hello @jpalexander, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for the private message. I thought I would answer here in the Tapering off of Prednisone discussion so that you could meet other members and learn what they have shared. It's easy to be depressed when thinking and feeling that you will never be able to taper off of prednisone and you asked if I knew other members who have been able to taper off of the drug. I am one of what I think are many members who have struggled when taking prednisone but managed to taper off but I know there are others here.

My PMR is currently in remission. I've had two occurrences of PMR. Both were treated with prednisone starting with a dosage of 20 mg. The first occurrence it took me 3+ years to taper off of the drug. The last 6 months or so was going back and forth between 1 mg and 1/2 mg of prednisone until I was finally able to stop taking it and only had minor stiffness and not much pain. The second occurence came 6 years after that and it took me 1-1/2 years to taper off of prednisone.

What I learned tapering off and working with my rheumatologist was that each of us are different. When I was down in the dumpers trying to taper off and had been stuck at 1 mg for awhile, my rheumatologist shared with me how another one of his patients had finally been able to taper off after being on 1 mg of prednisone for a year. I think you just have to listen to your body and if it doesn't feel right, slow down the tapering effort.

Oh, yes… I do think about my PMR coming back. I call him Mr. Nasty and he is definitely no fun to be around. I think we can't worry about the future but we can make choices that will help us on a day to day basis. Hoping your journey get easier every day.

@alanbruce @reagan1mc @rolandhp and others may have some suggestions for you.

@jpalexander have you made any lifestyle changes to try and help you taper off of prednisone or have you discussed it with your rheumatologist?