Prednisone taper: Apparently < 4mg no longer controls inflammation

Basically ... I was told the same thing by an endocrinologist who said 3 mg was a small dose. My endocrinologist said there was no need to taper from 3 mg to zero and prednisone could simply be stopped. I was shocked!

Stopping prednisone in the above situation was contingent on 2 things:

1) PMR was no longer active. --- I was doing Actemra injections at the time. Actemra was working well for PMR. My endocrinologist consulted my rheumatologist to make sure I didn't need prednisone anymore to treat PMR.

2) My cortisol level was adequate. --- I had to stay on a 3 mg "maintenance dose" of prednisone for 6 months because my cortisol level was too low to abruptly stop prednisone. In essence, I was taking 3 mg of prednisone for adrenal insufficiency while I waited for my adrenals to produce more cortisol.

My adrenal function recovered while I maintained a low prednisone dose defined as 3 mg or less by my endocrinologist.

Only after my cortisol level increased was it safe to discontinue prednisone. My endocrinologist said I didn't need to taper from 3 mg to zero as long as PMR was controlled AND my cortisol level was adequate. I was told a taper wasn't necessary but I did a fast taper anyway.

My symptoms of adrenal insufficiency improved after I discontinued prednisone. However, my endocrinologist said I should restart 3 mg of prednisone for any reason if I felt the need.

Hello @casinokid1121, You will notice we changed the title of your discussion a little to better reflect what the discussion is about. Also thought I would share a link to your previous discussion so that other members can read your original discussion and how you got to this point -- Polymyalgia rheumatica: Any thoughts on my taper plan?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/polymyalgia-rheumatic/.

Great, thanks. Hope it helps
anyone with this terrible disease. Good luck to everyone.