It is interesting that you are off prednisone and your doctor is considering starting Actemra. I started Actemra 4 years ago for PMR. Part of the criteria for getting Actemra approved for me was an inability to taper off prednisone. Another criteria was the failure of suitable alternatives such as Methotrexate. My rheumatologist listed other alternatives that were tried and also failed. He said there were no other suitable alternatives that existed and Actemra was my best chance of ever getting off prednisone.

I had a great response to Actemra and it did allow me to taper off prednisone. My regret was that Actemra wasn't tried sooner because I took prednisone along with other steroid sparing medications for 12 years to treat PMR. Trying Actemra sooner rather than later is fine with me.

I would encourage you to try Actemra if your doctor thinks it is warranted. I remember people discouraging me from trying Actemra even though they had no personal experience with Actemra. I never would have been able to taper off prednisone had I listened. Taking prednisone for the rest of my life wasn't what I wanted.

I appreciated people who shared both positive and negative opinions based on their own personal experience.

If it helps you to decide ---my experience with Actemra has been positive. I'm sure there are other people who have negative experiences with Actemra. I can appreciate their negative experience with Actemra because Methotrexate was mostly a bad experience for me.

Just so you know ... Actemra isn't FDA approved for the treatment of PMR. However, Actemra is FDA approved for GCA.

A similar biologic called Kevzara is FDA approved for PMR.
https://investor.regeneron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/kevzarar-sarilumab-approved-fda-first-and-only-biologic#:~:text=(NASDAQ%3A%20REGN)%20and%20Sanofi,corticosteroids%20or%20who%20cannot%20tolerate