Sadly your experience is similar to my early experiences. I now can see PMR has been with me for decades, but it wasn't until I had a flare up that anyone took it seriously. Eventually I was lucky my doctors office shunted me off to the Physicians Assistant who recognized what I was experiencing. I was referred to a Rheumatologist who diagnosed me with a blood test repeated every 6 weeks. He then saw me every 6 weeks to discuss where we went from there. That was 3 1/2 years ago but I am definitely getting better. The hardest part seems to be getting past the mind set that the patient is just an elderly woman. I am seeing that some of you do not even seem to have had a blood test taken to measure your level of inflammation. Luckily more research is being done on all autoimmune conditions. Most of the research seems to be coming out of Europe. Hopefully good will come from it. My best to you for your future. I can understand the 'Assisted Dying' you mentioned, I have had those days too. My hungry cats helped to divert my thought to a better place. Remember, don't throw the baby out with the bath water, there is a future without PMR. Keep a positive outlook. Not easy but it helps.