What age were you diagnosed?

I was 54, 64 now. Below 4mg of pred I gradually have pain and stiffness return. Tried several biologics without much success. I decided that as long as I can stay below 5mg I will. I take calcium supplements and get bone density test and eye exams every year. One day at a time.

I was 52 when I was diagnosed with PMR but I felt like I was well over 100. I might have been overly dramatic but I told my doctor that I thought I had rigor mortis.

I started feeling better after Prednisone was stopped when I was 64. I'm currently 71 and feel more like a 71 year old person should feel. I want to get back to how I felt when I was 50 years old or at least that is my goal. I don't want to think about how I felt at the age of 60 because I didn't think I had many years left. When I was 60 ... I thought I would never make it to 70.

I was 77 and turned 78 in November. My mother was about the same age as me when she was diagnosed.

83 and diagnosed myself using Google. Finally saw doctor after 3 weeks and he agreed. Blood test showed it was PMR for sure. Started on 15mg, which seems to be the recommended amount, but couldn't sleep because of pain in the night. They upped the dose to 20mg which did the trick. I'm now at 15mg tapering downwards 2.5mg every 3 weeks until I hit 10mg then supposed to go down 1mg per month, but we shall see. At this age I don't care if I ever get off Prednisone, because I'm likely to die before I would get there anyway.

I was 62 (almost 63) but the pain was familiar and I think I may have had it off and on in my 50s but undiagnosed. I also have Ehlers Danlos syndrome which contributes to much of my life long soft tissue pain. When I say off and on with possible PMR, I mean maybe a week or two at a time but the episodes were not as painful and all encompassing as this major bought that started last March 2025. I started at 15 mg on May 1st and it worked amazingly well. I stayed there for 1 month, then tapered to 12.5 mg. I stayed there a month and then dropped to 10 mg. I stayed there a month and then started on 9. After nine mg I began a more rapid taper of 1 mg per three weeks. It seemed to work for me. By the time I hit 4-5 mg back in October of 2025 I was pretty sure that I had PMR on the run. These last few mg I started a taper of 1/2 mg per ten days. I am at 1 mg starting tomorrow. The Mayo forum has been very helpful to me. Use it and be part of the group. We are a very supportive bunch. I worked with my primary care doctor (in Colorado) and she has been very valuable. We do not have but one rheumatologist on the western side of the state. According to my primary care dr, I would have been rejected by the rheum due to them being so busy with more dire patients. She has seen way too many cases in her short time in our rural community. Good luck and do as much self education as you can on PMR!

60; currently 72. Typically 6-7 mgs prednisone daily. Tried plaquenil, oral and injection methotrexate. Currently looking into kevzara.

78
One year since pain started.
Been 5 months on prednisone.
Down to 3.5 mgs and holding ok. Can feel symptoms lurking in the background but not bad enough to up the dosage.
Like one of the previous comments, I will stay on prednisone as long as I don’t develop other issues from the side effects.
Fingers crossed.

I'm now 54 and was diagnosed 6 months ago at 53. I was started on 20 mgs of prednisone daily and have since tapered down to 9mgs daily. Hoping to be off prednisone by year's end.

I was 49 when I had exactly the same symptoms that I have had now at 59. First time I did not get a diagnose of PMR but did prescribed me 15 mg prednisolone for a few months and then tapered down and stopped taking it when I was on 2 mg. I've had pain for three years and felt really stiff like an old lady, I thought it was part of getting older..it slowly got better and suddenly I realised I could play golf without any pain except back pain and get out of bed like a 'normal person'..
Now I got the diagnose of PMR on a PET scan and back on Prednisolone 15 mg. I was in a lot of pain (!), one day I couldn't move at all when waking up, very scary!
Now I'm feeling better, hopefully it will not take another 3 years or even longer..?
I've always been eating healthy but now I avoid sugar, processed foods and alcohol.
Maybe your dose is not high enough? Symptoms of PMR should go away with the right dose otherwise you probably do not have PMR I think. Good luck finding the exact dose or diagnose so you will feel better.

@dadcue
“Rigor mortis” bit dramatic 🤔😆, but we know what you mean .

Luckily In the PMR world there’s definitely life after Rigor mortis .

For the record I was 66yrs at PMR diagnosis & 67 yrs at large vessel GCA diagnosis.