@desertsooner I can only have empathy because we have some similarities. I retired from nursing at age 62 and I'm currently 66. I also have a mess for a spine which is being called "mostly degenerative" which I find hard to believe because I have never injured my spine. I do have a long hx of inflammatory arthritis which always attacked my spine. The inflammatory arthritis was diagnosed at age 33 and PMR was tacked on at age 53.

Prednisone has been both a blessing and a curse. I took it intermittently at high doses for relatively short periods of time of 1-3 months for each flare of inflammatory arthritis. PMR, on the other hand, was treated differently and the "usual" starting dose is 20-30 mg tapering to 10 mg over a couple of months and then 1 mg per month thereafter. It never seems to work that way in reality.

Prednisone is a tough medication to take and your starting dose of 40 mg for "just" PMR would be considered high. People with "just" PMR usually obtain almost complete relief with a starting dose of 20-30 mg.

I'm already aware of awful stories about being diagnosed with PMR. I understand not wanting to go into details but details are important. You never know who might come along and who is able to offer good advice and be helpful. Feel free to share your details. Welcome to the forum.