Hi warriorsue333 I'm wondering if your mom actually experienced negative health effects on the prednisone or her doctor was worried about negative health effects and discontinued it. Did he taper her dosage? If your mom doesn't want to live anymore due to the pain, do the negative effects of the prednisone outweigh the positives, i.e., pain free and wanting to live? My mother-in-law was diagnosed with GCA in her late 80s, prescribed the appropriate dose of prednisone and lived two months short of her 100th birthday. She did have osteoporosis. I had PMR and GCA and now I am on a low dose of prednisone, 7.5 mg after tapering. I have osteoporosis, as well, but it started before I began prednisone. I use an infrared heating pad - the Thermotex Platinum - for osteoarthritis in my shoulder. It relieves pain while I'm using it and is comforting. Combined with PT exercises, my shoulder is getting better slowly. I also used the heating pad when I had severe pain in my legs from PMR. It was pricey, but I thought it was worth it if I was going to spend the rest of my days in terrible pain. My rheumatologist told me that acetaiminophen is the preferred analgesic for osteoarthritis. My mother in law took it daily. I take it occasionally
Recently, I read about a study in which 100 mg of saffron a day reduced inflammation in those with rheumatoid arthritis who were on prednisone. You can check it out by googling http://www.examine.com and saffron.
In my experience, there is nothing like the pain of PMR - it is 10 on a scale of 10. I wish you and your mom the best in trying to find a solution to this.

I was seeing a doctor at the VA that refused to use prednisone or medrol due to my diabetes. I came close to suicide from pain but a good doctor was found and am on a low dose of 8mg medrol daily and still controlling all side effects. My rheumatologist is trying different add on meds the latest of which is Plaquenil. No bonus yet a month in but still taking the medrol as well. when I taper down the Medrol and the pain returns they put me back on it and try a new.. Always follow doctors orders but dont always listen to the same doctor, get an opinion from another rheumatologist. Primary care docs usually dont have insight to PMR and do not know the insane pain it can cause.

Welcome @warriorsue333, I know it has to be difficult for you to watch your mother in pain and not being able to find help for her. My PMR is currently in remission but I can't imagine dealing with the pain without having prednisone to treat it. You mentioned she is now on Plaquenil and it's not helping. Here's some information on the topic that you may want to discuss with your mother's doctor/rheumatologist.

"Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs
Due to significant morbidity associated with prolonged exposure to GCs, adjunct immunosuppressive medications have been evaluated to assess their GC-sparing effects in PMR. While disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDS) have been successful in the treatment of other inflammatory conditions, insufficient evidence is available to suggest that hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil, others), azathioprine (Azasan, Imuran, others), or leflunomide (Arava, others) are beneficial in the treatment of PMR. Methotrexate (Otrexup, Rasuvo, others, 7.5-10 mg/week) has been evaluated in 3 prospective randomized studies with variable results regarding steroid-sparing effect and reduction in disease relapse risk.16-18 In clinical practice, methotrexate is not initiated routinely at disease onset but can be considered in patients at high risk for developing GC-associated adverse events, or in patients experiencing 2 or more relapses." --- Latest Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Polymyalgia Rheumatica - New guidelines shed light on treatment for this common, autoimmune rheumatic disease: https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/myofascial/inflammatory-arthritis/latest-advances-diagnosis-treatment-polymyalgia-rheumatica

The above article is somewhat technical but there was an editors note at the bottom of the article with a link that may be easy to read --- Editor’s Note: The authors’ have also written an overview of diagnosis and treatment of polymyalgia rheumatic for your patients: Polymyalgia Rheumatica Overview -- With proper treatment, symptoms of PMR generally improve within one to two days. But relapse is common, so patients may have to stay on therapy for up to 2 years, and sometimes longer: https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/patient/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/polymyalgia-rheumatica-overview

Are you able to talk to her doctor about the negative effects of the prednisone on your mother's health vs how to alleviate her pain?