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.