@njtodctode Oh my gosh!! Yo-yoing is not good. Pain is not good. If 20 worked, I'd go back there and stay awhile. Once you're stabilized (say after a month), see if you can reduce to 17.5. Your objective is to find the lowest dose of prednisone while experiencing a reasonable comfort level. There's very little evidence that other drugs do much good, but rheumy's often want us to try. For some there are side-effects and for many there is no help at all. And also there should be some reduction in your blood inflammation markers since you are on prednisone. That does not indicate that the PMR is improving. Your earlier post stated "Then had to start reducing." Why? None of us wants to be on prednisone, but it's the only thing that works for PMR. If you don't take enough prednisone, your inflammation will accumulate and you'll have flare. I sure wish someone could take the accumulated knowledge of those who have lived with PMR for years, and document a sound protocol. So many people are not being treated correctly. That's partly because there is no one answer. You have to find what works for you. But we do know some things for certain: quick tapering rarely works; yo-yoing is not good; slow taper until your body tells you otherwise; as you get to 4-7 mgs. prednisone watch for adrenal struggles. There are flare and sick-day protocols. Oh I'm sure there is more advice out there. I hope this helps a bit.