I have read on a number of sites that when you taper/withdraw from Prednisone you may experience withdrawal symptoms. As I have read they will mimic both Prednisone side effect or PMR itself. I found. it very difficult to distinguish between them. I developed neck/shoulder discomfort and Thundering heart particularly at the 5mg to 4mg level. Again another reason for me to choose a slow taper method. Those symptoms at a reduced intensity just re-started the other day as I tapered to 3.5mg. By the way I decided that my taper plan would be at .5mg rate and my Rumey said I should be able to handle a 1mg rate. As I said before I chose the slower rate because of the cataract surgery and what I feel is my sensitivity to change. good luck with your journey

That sounds a lot like my symptoms when I was tapering. For me that would be about a 1 on my pain scale of 0 to 10. When I was tapering off and it was time to taper, I would not taper to the next lower dose if I was above a 2 on my pain scale. My PMR is in remission and I still have slight muscle soreness when I get up in the morning which is around 5am to feed my kitty who never lets me sleep any later 🙂(in peace anyway). The pain most always goes away once I'm up and moving around.