Hi, tillysam, You are correct. Your CRP and ESR don't necessarily have to be elevated for you to have PMR. And if the blood work was done after you were on the prednisone, that's probably why. The prednisone gets rid of the inflammation and lowers your numbers. My numbers have been in the normal range from the first month after I was started on pred., eleven months ago. You don't say how quickly you tapered, from 80 mg., but however you did it, it was a long way to go in less than 2 years, to be at 7mg. now. My guess is you probably tapered a little to much and too fast as you got closer to 7mg. If you have pain, it's usually because you're not taking enough prednisone to get rid of the inflammation at this time. You should probably go back to the last amount you were taking before you started feeling the pain. Stay there for a week or two until you're feeling good again. Then start back down very gradually. Maybe half a mg. at a time, every 3 or 4 weeks. Even that could be too fast. Everyone is different. But don't go down if you're feeling any pain. Stay put until you're feeling good. Then try it. This taperin thing takes patience!! Good luck!