How long has PMR lasted - I'm trying to find the average

Today of all days this was the best response I could have read. For the past couple of months I have had strange pain around, but not from, joints that didn't seem like PMR. I think this might be a clue as to why. Oh goody some more foods I have to be careful of. But, as I am determined to kick PMR and all of it's hanger ons in the butt, I will do my best. Thank you so much.

(I screwed this post up so I hope it sticks this time)

Today of all days this was the best response I could have read. For the past couple of months I have had strange pain around, but not from, joints that didn't seem like PMR. I think this might be a clue as to why. Oh goody some more foods I have to be careful of. But, as I am determined to kick PMR and all of it's hanger ons in the butt, I will do my best. Thank you so much.

@tjmjsjwj. I might have answered your question re diet without using your ‘handle’ 🙄

I eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly so I didn’t have to alter that part of my life.

You might have read another comment I posted that stated ‘my doctor punched PMR in the mouth with a 60 mg dosage for 4 days; then 40 mg for 4 days; 30 mg for 4 days; then 20 mg for 10 days and I started tapering from there.’ I think the strong initial dosages contributed to a smooth taper for me.
Just my thoughts.

My ophthalmologist said something similar when he prescribed a 100 mg dose of prednisone for uveitis. He said he wanted to go for the "knock-out" punch because the lower doses weren't working. I tapered off prednisone quickly after the knock-out punch. I was happy the 100 mg worked. My ophthalmologist thought I was "too happy" about the potential for vision loss and wanted me to decrease my dose as quickly as possible. He said I was skilled with prednisone tapers because I tapered off prednisone in a month.

I wasn't so skilled after PMR was diagnosed. It took me more than 12 years to taper off prednisone when I took it for PMR.

@dadcue. Our doctors took similar approaches. I think the strong dosage at the beginning was crucial to a better outcome with PMR in my case. Your taper with PMR was challenging—hopefully you’ve finally conquered it!

Be in Good Health

Thank you so much for your comments. I will follow-up on this.

Yes ... I'm off prednisone and PMR is in remission according to my rheumatologist's notes.

Now PMR is being treated with a biologic. After the biologic was started. PMR was knocked out in about a year. That's how long it took me to taper off prednisone.

Something else popped up after I tapered off prednisone but PMR stayed in remission. A different autoimmune problem popped up and we were playing whack-a-mole for another year.

The past 2 years have been relatively quiet. Not too many moles to whack!

oh I completely understand.... year 2 1/2 down to 3 mg...had relapse.. Doc put me back on 15.. it's been 3 days and i'm a little better... Compression around head and back of head... temple pain somewhat subsiding. Dr suggests the only other treatment is Actemra Infusion... Would give it a try if the drug info wasn't so frightening. any thoughts?

i've been on pred about 2 1/2 yrs. Was down to 3mg and then had horrible relapse. my doc recommends Actemra Infusion which has good reviews for removing pred dosing. But.... the info on the Infusion is not very inviting.. undecided... your thoughts/??

I am hopefully going on Kevzara starting this week. It actually targets the IL-6 anti inflammatory cytokine required for controlling local or systemic acute inflammatory responses. And yes I had to look it up. Originally approved for RA and as of July 2023 for PMR. I am hoping this will help me taper successfully off of prednisone. I was down to 7mg and BAM. Now taking 30mg to control the pain. Sighs. Back to 4am mania and 2pm homicidal tendencies for the time being which is what pred does to me in higher doses.

But yikes stress causes problems for me.