Anyone have discomfort or pain when tapering off prednisone?

I am tapering off of Prednisone started in 15mg in February now on 6mg reducing by 1 mg every two weeks when down to 5 to reduce from 5 by 1mg every month so it takes a long while. I am finding now as the dose decreases I am experiencing nausea and tiredness. My rheumatologist wants me to start Methotrexate by injection and also ilanoprost by infusion as I also have Raynaud’s disease and Scleroderma. I really want to get off of steroids but as struggling

I've been on prednisone for PMR for 3.5 months now. 20 mg to start, down to 10/12.5 every other day. My symptoms never went away completely. I'm dealing with finger pain/stiffness, wrists, and shoulders in the mornings into the afternoons. I feel badly complaining because it's bearable compared to full blown symptoms of PMR! However, I did not have these aches and pains pre-PMR. The rheumatologist started me on Methotrexate last week so we shall see if that helps after a while. Good luck on your journey and hang in there!

I am right where you are also-
Hoping metho helps- I wake daily in pain with my prednisone now at 10mg- it is like you said bearable but not comfortable- I hate to see myself in 20 more yrs!

Apparently most of us have age-related arthritis that has been masked until now by our natural production of cortisol. As we taper, and the prednisone is no longer sufficient to suppress the symptoms, we experience various levels of discomfort until (hopefully !) our cortisol production improves to again keep the inflamations in check.
All this presumes that your prednisone treatments have been of sufficient dosage and duration to put the PMR into remission. Until and unless that has been achieved through testing, starting a taper program will probably not be successful, and the pains might be PMR and not those which are better treated by something other than prednisone. Best of luck to everyone.

I meant to add that as I had severe adverse affects within a month of taking prednisone but this wasn’t identified as prednisone related until I had been on it 7 months when it was not possible to do anything but taper slowly - it is now written in my medical notes it is not to be prescribed for me unless it is the only treatment for a life threatening illness
I am 2 weeks off it and have periods of awful fatigue and pain but hopeful I will gradually feel better !!

I came off prednisone at the end of May and at first I felt ok but then the aches came back, I felt emotional and just not right & my doctor said I was showing classic signs of withdrawal even though I’d tapered off slowly.
Having read some of the comments I now wonder whether I should have stayed on 2 or 3 mg for a while until my cortisol levels were checked which to be honest I’m not sure if this was checked on my last bloods ? But my inflammation levels were all good??
I now understand more about the condition and tapering but I do not want to go back on the steroids so I am trying to manage and it is getting easier. I also take a good quality Turmeric with ginger & back pepper in capsule form which was recommended to me and I think it’s helping .
Stay strong & be kind to yourself & relax on the days you don’t feel right you will come through this.

I have been tapering at a rate suggested by my doctor. I was just wondering, is prednisone to make the pain go away or just make it more manageable? As I have tapered down from the 10mg level I have found each time that I usually have some discomfort during the first week or so and then seem to level off. It is never totally gone since I notice some discomfort in the morning when I get up. It is not at all like the pain before being on prednisone. When my dr asks me about pain I am not sure she understands when I describe things.
I was down to 7.5 for a good 6 weeks and she wanted me to go to 6mg after my last visit. And then after 3 weeks go down to 5mg. I did get down to 6, but am wondering if it is my tipping point. I had a little flare for a couple days after about 2 weeks at 6. It improved but it has made me leary about going down to 5mg. I was supposed to have started that a week ago but haven't. I'm just not sure what to do since I don't want to do anything that would complicate things with my condition.
I have reached out to my dr via their portal but haven't gotten any direct answers to my questions. Only suggestions were to see my pcp or move my appointment up. I tried to move my appointment but there are no openings before my appointment at the end of the month.

Seems a little fast, compared to my schedule, but….
Between 10 and 5, I was tapering at 1 per month. Now I am tapering at 0.5 per month. I do have some wrist and shoulder pain some mornings.
Unless testing shows differently, the pains you are having are probably not PMR. You may need to slow your taper to give your adrenals more time to ramp up cortisol production.
There are numerous earlier posts in this thread and elsewhere in the PMR group that you should be checking out.
Another person’s taper is not necessarily the right one for you, and pain is not necessarily PMR.

"Another person’s taper is not necessarily the right one for you, and pain is not necessarily PMR."

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Exactly ... there is no tapering scheme that will work for everyone. It is more about trying it to see what works for you.

I get a kick about "listening to your body to know what it is telling you." I had no idea what my body was trying to tell me most of the time. My body communicates in ways that are hard for my brain to understand.

I have always had aches in joints and pains when tapering down. After an allergic reaction I had an ER Dr. take me from 80 mg to 40! I thought I was dying. I wouldn’t be concerned if you are having discomfort with your joints.