@martyn

You're doing the right thing by seeking out information.

Just be careful about listening to what your body is telling you to do. I learned that my body wasn't very trustworthy for telling me what dose of Prednisone to take or why I should take it. I know that I took prednisone for reasons other than PMR when better treatments were available. I'm also sure I was taking more or not enough prednisone most of the time. Being in pain is never the best time to make informed choices.

Prednisone can be a devious fellow. One of the side effects is a false sense of well-being so it tricks your brain into thinking everything is fine when things aren't so good. There is a name for it. It is called prednisone induced euphoria.
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)61160-9/fulltext
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Beware of anyone who says prednisone side effects are easy to manage. I have worked in a hospital setting where corticosteroids are widely used for many reasons. Prednisone side effects are not easy to manage.

I don't mean this to scare you because you can take prednisone responsibly. Most of the time nothing too adverse will happen to you. There are things that both doctors and patients claim to know but in reality nobody knows. I appreciated it when a doctor told me what they didn't know. I'm a bit of a control freak with an independent streak but at least I know what I don't know. I would tell my doctor they knew more than me which they seemed to appreciate too.

I think most doctors do what they think is best for their patients. I somewhat accused my rheumatologist once for prescribing too much prednisone to me which made her laugh because she had never heard that before!