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@maija

Sorry for the misunderstanding -- pain began one year ago in January 2019. I have tapered down to 6 mg of prednisone and am free of pain: lingering stiffness occurs on and off. Attempted to decrease to 5 mg 3 weeks ago - symptoms began to reoccur. Dr had me return to
6 mg dosage and I have improved. Are you familiar with the "dead slow and nearly stop" taper schedule? Introduced by a Swedish gentleman on a UK Health Unblocked discussion group.

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Replies to "Sorry for the misunderstanding -- pain began one year ago in January 2019. I have tapered..."

Hi @maija, Thanks for the reference. I was not familiar with the dead slow and nearly stop taper schedule as described on the site you referenced here: https://healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk/posts/131189593/dead-slow-and-nearly-stop-reduction-plan. It's pretty close to how I was able to taper off of prednisone for my first occurrence of PMR. My rheumatologist helped me by suggesting I keep a daily log of my dosage and pain scale (0 to 10). The first time with PMR that took 3 years to taper off, I was going between 1 mg and 1/2 mg for the last six months until I was finally able to taper off. I mostly used a taper every week schedule towards the end. When I first started the prednisone I tried tapering every 3 to 4 days but was not too successful. I think the key is that we are all affected a little differently and the tapering can be subjective depending on how we feel and how much pain is acceptable. Biggest help for me was having a good supply of 1 mg tablets and a good pill splitter ☺