Sorry to hear about your plight. Difficult situation. The short answer to your question is that about 5% of people have normal ESR and CRP at diagnosis, and in many people the ESR and CRP return to normal during treatment. There is no specific test that proves the diagnosis. Tests are done to check for the possibility of alternative diagnoses. That being said, if one has typical symptoms, rapid relief (usually within hours) with low to moderate dose prednisone or prednisolone (approximately 15 to 25 mg once a day, best taken early in the AM), then the diagnosis of PMR is highly probable. Tapering off the prednisone is usually recommended to be slowly accomplished over about 12 months or so, and flaring of symptoms during this process is common.

So, in the context of your situation, if the diagnosis of PMR is correct, then tapering of the prednisone as rapidly as was done in your case would be expected to result in rapid recurrence of symptoms.

Did the initial treatment with 20 mg of prednisone relieve your symptoms?