@kare1

Without giving you any medical advice ... I don't think you should force a lower dose of Prednisone if you are having symptoms. I don't think you should automatically increase your dose either.

When I was on 3 mg of Prednisone, I was told that I shouldn't lower my dose AND to refrain from increasing my dose. It was funny ... it never occurred to me that I could stay on a 3 mg dose for a long time. I only thought in terms of increasing or decreasing my dose.

I was on a biologic called Actemra which controlled PMR.

My cortisol level was too low to taper Prednisone any lower than 3 mg.

An endocrinologist said staying on 3 mg of Prednisone was my best option until my cortisol level improved. She said as long as I could tolerate my PMR symptoms AND my adrenal insufficiency symptoms that I should NOT increase or decrease my Prednisone dose. She added that 3 mg was a low enough dose to allow for some recovery of my adrenal function so my cortisol level should improve given enough time.

After 6 months, my cortisol level improved while Actemra controlled PMR. The endocrinologist told me to simply stop prednisone. I didn't think going from 3 mg to zero without tapering was possible either. I did a fast taper going from 3 mg to zero in about a week.

My endocrinologist gave me permission to restart prednisone again if "anything happened" or if I "felt the need" to restart prednisone. She said to consult her first before restarting prednisone but in the case of an emergency that I shouldn't delay restarting prednisone. She just wanted me to keep her informed either way. She also provided me a direct number to call if anything happened after I stopped taking prednisone.