@kjoed53 ....I taper to a tolerable level which is 3 or less.......if the pain goes above 3 when awaking in the morning I increase by .5 mg. for three days and start the taper again. I had some shoulder issues before PMR but use them as my barometer when to taper. I also split my dose which is now 6 mg. , 4 mg. with morning meal and 2 mg. with evening meal. Very important to have plenty of food in the stomach when taking Prednisone. Also do not take antiacids with prednisone and separate them by 2 hours or more or it will weaken the medication. A PPI will help with protecting your stomach but there is also issues with taking them long term because this will not let you properly digest all of your food due to decreased stomach acids. These are details I had to learn on my own because my Rummy did not take the time to go over important details, which by the way will be different for each person.