Hi Keelin. This is an interesting case as so many of us have considered Prednisone a miracle drug of sorts in helping relieve such intense PMR pain. Like so many, I had never even heard of PMR when it hit me like a ton of bricks during the pandemic. Pain relief came within 24 hours, and the two-year taper (titration) began then. I had no side effects to speak of - although we all have been told that it is optimal to get to very low dosages, or completely off of the stuff ASAP.

Dangerous to speculate, but I suspect that your Sed Rate (ESR) and CRP levels were way out of norm...otherwise rheumatologists would not have been so sure that you have PMR. Can you verify that - and perhaps share if those levels have normalized under your current treatment?

My rheumatologist has a ton of experience with PMR patients, and he seems to think that primary care folks have a tendency to taper too quickly from the high doses to the 1/to 2 mg level.

Personally, I was down to zero for a few months and have recently had to go back on a one-week taper which will hopefully snap me back to some level of normalcy. I'm not sure about that as it seems to fly in the face of the aforementioned long taper, but we shall see. During all of this time, with the exception of the very beginning, my Sed Rate's and CRP have been very low (normal). This is my struggle. There are times when the pain is so intense, but the labs always indicate zero inflammation in the body.

Hope you feel better and do continue sharing. This forum has great value.