Have been on 7.5 gm of preds for 2 months (reduced from 50 mg since Aug.2014) exhausted daily.

No - absolutely not, not without great care! You have reached the point now at which your body has to start to make the natural corticosteroid cortisol which is essential for life. While you are at a dose above about this point a complex feedback system stops the adrenal glands producing more as it knows there is enough of the artificial stuff, no more is needed.

One of the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency is extreme fatigue and when it gets worse below about 8mg it is a sign your body hasn't caught up yet. If you go slowly enough, very small reductions with a couple of months between reductions then it may manage to readjust. If you continue to reduce, ignoring the warning signs you may become very ill and have an adrenal crisis, especially if you are under any stress, physical, emotional or illness, but it can just creep up on you anyway. If you can manage to get to 5mg, one of the top GCA/PMR rheumatologists in the UK likes to keep his patients at 5mg for at least 6, preferably 9 months and he finds this does make the subsequent reduction easier.

"I am anxious to get off this medication as my life has come to a standstill."

I'm sorry you feel this way - I am back to 15mg after a PMR flare at 5mg and I have to say that without pred my life would have come to a standstill again - I wouldn't be able to do anything because of the pain and stiffness. It is a bit different with GCA, in general at least you don't have the stiffness - but without it you have to remember that your life could have been affected a great deal more: GCA blindness is irreversible.

I can only say that if you continue to reduce at present the fatigue is likely to get even worse - won't that bring your life to a total standstill?

I have CGA since 2013.and on Pred

Based on my oneness experience I may say the fatigue I you experience die not come from the Pred which takes care of the inflammatio.

Did you check if you have anemia ?

I had fatigue once and took Iron supplement + Vit b12 for quite sometime and the symptom was gone.

If we taper the steroid before our system requires we may have a flare and this will delay the process.

Without being an expert I had some experiences during these past three years.

I may say I became an expert of my own system! 😊

Wish you the best and keep safe 🌺

Like Eileen, I got to 5mg, flared and had to go back up to 10mg.  Back to 7.5 now.  Like you, I desperately wanted to get off prednisone and tried to bull my way through it. Found out the hard way that PMR has a life of its own, and at least I did not have the capacity to bear the pain.  Further to the point, I was flaring every other day and clearly getting worse.  Convinced now that the inflammation causes problems on its own and cannot be allowed to persist.  So I would definitely advise against trying to push thru the pain and taper in the face of it all.

I'm sorry you are so frustrated. I totally relate to the fatigue having tapered this, my fourth flare, from 80 mg pred (my other flares only needed 60 mg.) to the 15 mg I just reduced to with .8 ml methotrexate and actemra. June will be 7 years with this GCA, PMR, PBC and possibly another autoimmune that messed up my heart's electrical system requiring a pacemaker. One of the two assisted chambers of my heart doesn't beat without it. I try to deal with that with humor. Since we live about 20 miles from the famous Daytona International Speedway in Florida I call my pacemaker my Daytona sparkplugs. I also joke that I'm missing a lub or a dub without it. I sleep about 14 hours a day which is crazy since I can hardly sleep when I first start taking pred. I'm lucky to have a very supportive husband. I hated to have to give up my 29 year old business. I loved what I was doing and hold out hope that I can work again part time someday even though I'm 70. I do have my days when I'm more depressed even though I take an antidepressent. I also count my blessings and remember there are those who have it alot worse. Jan

How great it's to be able to exchange here our experiences and to read the explanation of people like Eilenn H with her massive knowledge regarding the inflammation and the correct use of Pred - which is the one to take care of it!

I too have GCA and have had so many flares since it started 18 months ago that I've stopped counting. Some of the GCA symptoms are flu like symptoms and extreme tiredness, so when we flare, these symptoms are likely to present as well.

I spend the majority of my time either asleep or resting these days, even now while on 40mg pred and 12.5mg MTX, probably due to the rheumy messing around with my tapering at too fast a rate. Yes, I do protest and make my own adjustments to a certain extent, and even pointed out that I too want to reduce, but the suggested taper is too quick and too high.

You are on a low dose now, take it easy, don't rush things, and let your body adjust. Good luck!

I have just been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica and was started on 20 mg of prednisone so I have only taken 3 days of this medicine. I hope this is my answer because I have suffered long enough. I have a very difficult time sleeping and other times I just nod off. 

simple answer NO its not a race to the zero pred its about listening to your body rather than complying to whats written in books etc  we are all different and need to take things slowly or pay a price carolk