I did pose my question to both my rheumatologist and primary, and the answer I get is some, or little pain, but not debilitating. Still hard for me to ascertain what is acceptable while trying to balance the need to taper off Prednisone.

Hi @sharonanng and @amandajro, I had PMR first which gave way to Giant Cell Arteritis. I wasn't diagnosed for a year, then put on 40 mg prednisone, tapering on different schedules, down by 5 mg every two weeks, then 2.5 mg. Sometimes I stayed at one dosage for a month. My rheumatologist ordered monthly CRP blood tests, and once he told me to go back to the previous dosage because the inflammation increased. I'm now down to 1.5 mg prednisone, tapering by .5 mg every two weeks. I get some small pains related to GCA, mainly little head pains, a sore neck, but it's not worrisome and none of those all encompassing PMR pains have returned. When I had PMR, the pain and stiffness was on a scale of 10 out of 10, nonstop, day in and day out, plus no energy and no appetite. Now my pains are at the level of 2 and below. I have energy and feel pretty good. What my rheumatologist told me when I started tapering was, if the pain came back, to go back up to the previous two weeks' dosage, then start the taper again. So, as most members who have contributed to this discussion say, it's important to listen to our bodies. If you start a taper and it doesn't work, you can always go back up.