Hello again John. I think your view of PMR symptoms being largely driven by inflammation is correct clinically, but my situation seems to be consistent with perhaps 20% of PMR patients. My Sed Rate and CRP have been normal over recent months. That said, my pain is pretty intense, especially at the shoulders and neck muscles when I titrate down below 10 mg's per day. So if a given Rheumatologist is of the school that believes there should be a direct proportion between these test-results for inflammation and the level of patient discomfort, he/she might either look for some other causation, or just put me in the 20%.

I'll see my doc tomorrow and he has been very supportive but I'm sort of putting him between a rock and a hard place as we all know that staying on Prednisone long-term is not desirable and his goal of getting me down to 5 mg or less seems to be the gold standard. Perhaps he will recommend some other type of taper schedule such as a little higher does every 2nd or 3rd day, or some such. I also wonder it might not be a bad idea to approach this in parallel from an adrenal insufficiency direction, and consult with an endocrinologist. Just what I need, another doctor.

All things considered, I am in much better shape than 6 months ago as then I could not get up from a chair, or tuck in a shirt, or pick up something off the floor, and carpal tunnel was very painful in the hand, All of that is history - and the shoulders/neck remains....all somewhat exacerbated by 50 years of Ankylosing Spondylitis and the fused spine/neck. But more stiffness than pain from that.

Thanks again for your support - always interested to know if any of this resonates across the fruited plain.

Jim