No ... PMR isn't treated the same as RA. With PMR you are put on prednisone and you are supposed to wait until PMR "burns itself out." This explains why I took prednisone for so long. Other medications were used as "steroid sparing" medications without much success overall. They do work for some people but I wasn't one of them.

There weren't any biologics until recently for PMR. For RA it was learned that long term prednisone didn't prevent the damage being done. Biologics to treat RA are now used more often and there are quite a few biologics available.

I'm now taking a biologic to treat PMR. It was originally developed for RA. I was off prednisone a year later. The biologic I take isn't "optimal" for reactive arthritis and uveitis but it seems to work for me.