Hello @dubecates, I would like to add my welcome along with @becsbuddy and other members. Sorry to hear you still are having pain from your PMR and other conditions. I can tell you from my first occurrence of PMR that it took me 3-1/2 years to taper off of prednisone. When I was first diagnosed I also had a swollen right knee and leg from gout. At my appointment with the rheumatologist they first drained fluid from my right knee and then I had the exam with the rheumatologist who diagnosed me with PMR. I picked up my prednisone prescription at the Mayo Rochester pharmacy at noon and took a 20 mg tablet. By the time I had a followup appointment with the rheumatologist later that afternoon, my pain was gone and I could walk fairly normal.

My first thought is I would talk with your rheumatologist and ask him about your tapering schedule. Maybe you are tapering down to fast. My rheumy told me to listen to my body and taper accordingly. He also gave me prescriptions of 10, 5, 2.5 and 1 mg tablets to make tapering to a lower dose based on my level of pain easier. He suggested I keep a daily pain log of how my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10 along with the amount of prednisone I took that day. Then I could look back and taper a little smarter.

There are a lot of different conditions that mimic PMR. Here's an article that describes some of the possibilities:
-- Diseases that mimic polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR): https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/diseases-that-mimic-polymyalgia-rheumatica

@kmb181 started a discussion with the same title as yours and may be able to share experiences with you -- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-and-ra/