I'm expecting a call from my Neurologist today or tomorrow and I will ask him. He is trying to get me into a rheumatology clinic here in Halifax on an URGENT basis, but urgent here is end of May and that's not bad for Canada. My question for him is should I remain on the 20 mg until end of May or as long as needed, or what. All I do know is...everyday I notice something new which I was unable to do 2.5 weeks ago, such as reaching my arms back. Sometime there is still some sharp pain in my upper arms toward the back. My middle finger, right hand is still pretty stiff but the left hand is close to normal. Both hands had what appeared to be carpel tunnel and I wore splints on them for about 3 months, making my job impossible. Perhaps you do need a higher dose, but the second opinion is a good thing. Cheers ~ Deb

I read the PMR Forum on Healthunlocked.com out of the UK. There are a few long-haulers with great expertise (and credentials) on that forum and I've learned a lot. One thing is if your dose is lower than you need at the moment, inflammation will continue to build up until you have a flare. The usual starting dose is 15-20 mgs. You should find almost complete comfort, stay there for awhile and then try a slow reduction. If you're comfortable at the lower dose, stay awhile and then slowly drop again. Once you get to 10 mgs. don't drop more than 1 mg. at a time. If you feel pains again, don't reduce further. I can't say I was 100% comfortable, but if you're feeling PMR pain you probably shouldn't reduce for now. You can try again later.

I would dearly love to hear what your second opinion doctor has to say about this subject. I keep reading here on this site, and what I"m coming up with, is everyone is being told something different by their doctors. It seems it's basically up to us what we're prepared to deal with. The only thing everyone seems to agree with is, the less prednisone, the better! But some of us are taking less and dealing with some pain. Others it seems aren't having any pain, and my question is, are they taking the least they can be taking? And how much pain is too much? Because I'm having pain, and still my doctor is urging me to taper down to the next from 7 to 6 mg. Very confusing!!