Prednisone tapering is challenging. What does remission feel like?

Hi Teri, So good to hear that you are doing well with the tapering. There were times during my first bout with PMR that I wished they made a 1/2 mg table, or a better pill splitter for older folks like me 🙂. My last 6 months was going back and forth between 1 mg and 1/2 mg. Hoping your tapering is a smooth journey!

Hi John, I haven't looked at the 1 mg pills yet, but will be using them, without splitting, for the next few months if things go well. I didn't like splitting the 5 mg pills that much! Some turned out okay, but others were mangled.

My rheumy gave me scripts for 5, 2.5 and 1 mg tablets which helped me when I was having trouble going below 15 mg.

Hi John, do you remember what your CRP numbers were when you were tapering? Mine went way down on the high dose of Prednisone, .2 from 10.6, but since tapering they've gone up slightly to 1.2. My rheumy still wants to try this taper. I do not have any symptoms so far.

I read this article about the benefits of drinking hot water a few weeks ago and adopted the practice. I drank two large glasses of hot water every morning one with concentrated lemon juice to help digestion. I have found it provides the benefits listed in the article and I do definitely feel better since I’ve been doing it. I thought many of you might benefit from the practice as well.

Hi Teri, I don't recall having the CRP or SED rate tests done while I was tapering. I did have them done as part of my annual physical exam to check on my PMR since it went into remission in 2010. The numbers were below 3.0 until 2016 when it came out of remission for a year and half.

Hi John, My doctor ordered a standing monthly CRP test. Was your second bout with PMR worse than the first, or about the same?

My second bout with PMR was about the same when the pain started but was much easier to taper down on the prednisone. I think this was due to trying to be more active and eating healthier due to my PN diagnosis and reading about how Dr Terry Wahls reversed her MS symptoms through cellular nutrition - https://terrywahls.com/about/about-terry-wahls/.

I was diagnosed with PMR Feb. 4, put on 60 mg of Prednisone for 3 days, than down to 40 for 5 days, 30 for 6 days, than 25 for 2 weeks and now 20 for 2 weeeks. I have been on 20 mg now for 6 days (I have had some pain in neck, shoulders and hips in the mornings until the Prednisone kicks in) but I have been extremely tired the last couple days with weakness in legs. My question - is this due to the tapering or is it the PMR.. What are the symptoms when you taper? Thank you.

Hello @traynor4, Welcome to Connect. You will notice that we merged your post with an existing discussion on the same topic so that you can meet @skiing @virginiaj @mzamyl @tsc and others and learn what they have shared about tapering down on prednisone.

I've had 2 occurrences of PMR but it's now currently in remission. Both times I was started on 20 mg prednisone. It seems like quite a high starting dose of prednisone for PMR which is normally 12.5 to 25 mg as the starting dose. Does your rheumatologist suspect you might have something other than PMR like Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) which may require a higher starting dose?