I was diagnosed in April and my symptoms were overwhelmingly in my upper arms down through my hands and fingers plus my knees. I had a little soreness where I flexed my hips which I initially attributed to compensating for other areas but it immediately went away when I started prednisone and my rheumatologist said it was pmr. I totally relate to your battle plan for getting out of bed and doing so with gritted teeth which I also needed to do to rise from a sitting position. To climb stairs I had to tell myself, “now lift that leg.” I am making good progress and now back to doing most things with some limitations and do not want to go back to acute pmr phase where not only was the pain a 10 plus but the mental exhaustion from having to think thru every move was overwhelming.