PMR was diagnosed 15 years ago ... long before Covid was a thing. I can't remember a single time that my inflammation markers were within the normal range after PMR was diagnosed. That might be an indicator that there is something more going on than PMR alone.

Your inflammatory markers may never decrease if you have both PMR and inflammatory arthritis. I was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis about 15 years before PMR came along for the ride.

Before PMR was diagnosed, my flares of inflammatory arthritis were treated with a high dose of prednisone followed by a fast taper. After PMR was diagnosed, my rheumatologist wanted me to find a "stable dose" of prednisone that worked for all my symptoms. She let me decide what dose of prednisone I took. I started at 40 mg but was able to taper down to 30 mg. I thought my pain was reasonably well controlled on 30 mg of prednisone.

My rheumatologist thought 30 mg was too much prednisone for PMR. My rheumatologist said I should increase to 35 mg when my inflammation markers were still high on 30 mg.

I have been off prednisone for 3 years in spite of taking prednisone for 12 years. An endocrinologist said I might need to take prednisone for the rest of my life because of adrenal insufficiency caused by long term prednisone use. When your cortisol level is low, your body loses the ability to "regulate" inflammation. Any type of infection or additional stress will cause your inflammation levels to increase. You either live with higher than normal inflammation levels or take more prednisone. Unfortunately, an increase in pain might make it difficult to hold the line and not to take more prednisone.