Good Morning, I am also a newbie to this diagnosis (5/8/23). I started on 20 mg of prednisone on 5/13. My pain and joint stiffness decreased but did not go away so dr. upped dosage to 30 mg on 5/20 with instructions to reduce to 25 mg. on 5/27. I take it in the AM with food and a bit of milk. So far no awful side effects but pain is gone. A couple of things. Just had bloodwork done again last week. Still some inflammation markers and my blood glucose level is high. I know that can be a side effect of prednisone. Actually I am losing weight which I don't want to do. I have also been pretty strict about a non inflammatory diet (basically a Mediterranean diet with no salt and sugar, no processed food or simple carbs. and little or no alcohol). My reading about prednisone is that it affects people in different ways. My sleep is a bit wonky but I am 76 so probably to be expected. My dr.recommended sleep aide if it really became an issue. As I mentioned, I take prednisone in morning to possibility mitigate sleep disturbances. I also take calcium, vit D3 and K2 to help with bone loss. I do have osteopenia and don't want it to progress to osteoporosis. Haven’t noticed an increase in irritability (don’t want to ask my husband that question!) but I did have a couple of “Pity Parties” with myself early on and decided that wasn’t helping. Exercise and walking outside is a great stress/depression reliever. Good Luck, have patience and ask questions. Liz Ward

My strategy while on prednisone for 14 months worked well. Take your dose early in the day to mitigate sleep disturbance. Always with a meal or snack.
Suggest an antacid with calcium and magnesium at night.
Melatonin has been found to have
some anti inflammatory effect.
Vitamin D and some weight bearing activities to to slow down
bone loss. Exercise can burn off
the hyper irritability.
Walk and take bread out of your diet for weight loss.
Check your blood pressure monthly.
Wear sunscreen. My major complaint eas skin atrophy and bruising that persists.
You may ask your physician about a baseline Dexascan.
It is best to wean off steroids very slowly even if you start to feel much better quickly.
I also suggest seeing an ophthalmologist and discuss potential related symptoms.

We are learning here how prevalentPMR is but you can expect a good sustainable remission.