@marymckeith

I don't know about my fate. My rheumatologist only told me that I was "too young" to take prednisone for the rest of my life. I was 64 at the time so my rheumatologist thought I had too many years left to be on prednisone. I took prednisone for half of my left already but only 12 years to treat PMR.

I only know when I was still on Prednisone at the age of 64 living to the age of 70 was inconceivable to me. Now I'm almost 72 and still alive. I honestly believe Actemra saved my life. My quality of life when I was on Prednisone was deteriorating but now it is improving since I tapered off Prednisone. I might have cancer though but that isn't confirmed ... just something that "looks suspicious" that was an incidental finding on a CT scan.

Simponi Aria (golimumab) is a TNF-inhibitor biologic indicated for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, but it is not FDA approved for Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) or PMR.

TNF inhibitors have generally shown limited success as steroid-sparing agents for Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) and Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) in controlled trials, despite initial promise in smaller studies.

I actually tried a TNF inhibitor for a few months but it didn't seem to work for me as well as Actemra did. I believe you won't know what will work unless you try it to see.