@julieschiwal1972, You might want to discuss a slower tapering schedule for the prednisone with your rheumatologist. Everyone is different when it comes to tapering off of prednisone for PMR symptoms. If he thinks you now have RA instead of PMR I would ask some questions to get a better explanation of why RA especially if the prednisone is addressing the pain symptoms. My first time with PMR took 3-1/2 years to taper of with a minimum amount of pain. My experience with tapering off has been to live with a minor amount of pain. I kept a daily log of the dosage and a pain scale I was feeling for that day from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest amount of pain). For me if it was more than 3, I went with a less reduction in the dosage when tapering. I typically went down by 2-1/2 mg a week but the last year I switched to 1 mg/weekly and the last six months I had to go back and forth between 1 mg and 1/2 mg until I could finally stop taking the prednisone and not be in a lot of pain.

Do you keep a daily log of your dosage and a pain scale?

Interesting Julie. I’m not an expert, but when I read about PMR and RA one of the classic distinctions (that I read) from a “symptom” level is when pain, discomfort, lack of mobility occurs. With PMR it is earlier in the day, whereas RA is the later in the day/eve it is worse. It was one of the observations my docs considered when giving me a diagnosis, since my blood work was not “classically” PMR. Also the bilateral immobility/pain is also a PMR symptom. Is your pain worse in AM or PM?