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?