I was diagnosed with PMR in August of 2023. Started at 20 mg of prednisone. Reacted positively to the prednisone but discovered I had to taper very slowly. I got down to 5 mg and could not get lower without intense pain, my Dr recommended methotrexate. At first I said no but eventually tried it. I started at 4 tablets and slowly increased to 8. It took about 8 months but I was finally able to taper completely off the prednisone. No real side effects from the methotrexate. I was tired the day after I took it but that is about all. I stopped taking prednisone totally the first of July and felt good for about a month and then slowly the pain started to return. Mostly it was nighttime that I suffered the most. Dr put me back on 2 mg of prednisone. It took 2 weeks but I am feeling much better. We are considering my staying on 1/2 a mg for life once I taper back down to that level.
I know I am not supposed to drink while on methotrexate but we took a 2 week trip to Italy this summer and I did drink a lot of wine while there. My liver numbers were high when I got home but after 6 weeks of moderate drinking they went back down. I feel like a glass of wine now and then won’t hurt me and I still want to enjoy life so I imbibe now and then. I am doing yoga 5 days a week. I feel like that has helped me immensely dealing with this disease.