@csimmonds
"You answered some questions I have had about why doctors talk about hormone levels but don't check them."
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The real reason hormone levels aren't checked very often is because they fluctuate so much that it becomes somewhat meaningless to check them. A single lab test is only a snapshot on one day in time. For a cortisol level, it is especially difficult to interpret without knowing various factors like stress, time of day, and existing medications. My 8 a.m. cortisol level was only checked a couple of times. The endocrinologist said my symptoms were consistent with adrenal insufficiency. She wasn't surprised since I was on Prednisone for so long.

She offered to help me decide if I needed more Prednisone for adrenal insufficiency or not but she couldn't increase my cortisol level for me. She only said that I should not taper off Prednisone until my cortisol level improved. The only way for my cortisol level to improve was to stay on as low of a dose of Prednisone as possible and wait for my cortisol level to improve. If my cortisol level didn't improve on its own I would need to continue taking Prednisone.

She emphasized that I should not increase my Prednisone dose simply because a wannabe doctor on the internet told me to. I was reasonably sure I didn't need Prednisone for PMR because Actemra had PMR covered. Even so, my endocrinologist double-checked with my rheumatologist to make sure I didn't need Prednisone for PMR any longer.