@johnbishop Same here. My first dose of prednisone took the agonizing pain away! I was told the same. That’s the way to confirm it’s PMR.

@johnbishop
Sorry ... but I hate to disagree with how they normally confirm a PMR diagnosis. As far as I know there is no definitive way to confirm a PMR diagnosis. I fell into the trap of thinking my pain was PMR related if Prednisone rapidly relieved my pain. My biggest regret was taking Prednisone for all of my pain when there were better options available. Also ... after being diagnosed with PMR and being treated with Prednisone, that doesn't exclude other possible underlying reasons for developing new onset pain. I had a tendency to throw more Prednisone at every pain without the pain being reevaluated..

According to artificial intelligence --- The diagnosis of PMR is primarily clinical, based on a combination of symptoms, physical examination, laboratory tests, and the exclusion of other conditions.

I have other autoimmune conditions in addition to PMR. My rheumatologist said not to take Prednisone long term for the other autoimmune conditions. I can assure you that Prednisone rapidly relieved the pain caused by those other autoimmune conditions too.

I have conditions which are not autoimmune. Prednisone did a decent job of relieving that pain too but there were better options.

Prednisone is the universal anti-inflammatory medication for many disorders. Just because Prednisone works to rapidly relieve the pain, that doesn't confirm it is PMR. Because prednisone is a universal anti-inflammatory, its ability to rapidly relieve pain simply indicates that the underlying cause of the pain is inflammatory in nature but that doesn't confirm PMR.