Not sure if this will be helpful but I always tapered to my next lower dosage if my pain level was 2 or lower on my scale of 1 to 10. Also, with my second time around with PMR six years following remission from the first flare of PMR, the tapering was much easier and took about half as long to taper off because I made some lifestyle changes (diet and exercise). Have you tried making any lifestyle changes or maybe you were already doing them?