This PMR had me debilitated for weeks before my doctor decided to up my prednisone from 15mg to 50mg - I was on 50mg for 10 days and I returned to my old self - once I did my doctor said we had to start tapering off - so I went on 40mg for a week and still felt great- I am now on 30mg a week and am on day 4 and have noticed a bit of pain in hips and shoulders- but it goes away by lunch time - I am concerned about dropping to 20mg in a few more days as I don’t wish to go through that pain and discomfort again. I will see how it goes but from what l hear here there are people on prednisone for long periods of time - I want to be optimistic and hope I can get back to a normal life in a few more weeks- I just don’t know if I can and I don’t really know how prednisone side effects are starting to occur ( my hands are stiff every morning) - and I noticed I am hungry more than usual but other than that I have no certainty of what it is doing other than helping my liver produce the necessary hormones to reduce pain.
So my question is - is it possible to stay on prednisone for years? And is there alternative medicine that is safer than prednisone to substitute when one gets down to that 1-3 mg a day of prednisone?