I Want to Cheat w/ Pred

you should not take an extra 10 mg without your doctor giving his ok.

a lot of doctors are not that familiar with polymyalgic rheumatica or relating diseases, in my case it took 12 months to diagnose correctly.

I asked to be refered me to a rheumatologist and I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis after body scans and blood tests, my inflamation was thriugh the roof even with prednisone . my advice to you is to ask for the same thing, and don't self diagnose as it's very dangerous.

20mg is a pretty high dose and really not one you should stick at for ever without a very good reason - and yes, I agree that pain relief when nothing else works is a pretty good argument. However, if 20mg over months hasn't dealt with this pain, it really is very likely it isn't "just" PMR pain.

The pain specialists here would START with the most likely way to deal with what they have identified as a cause - as yours did. It has probably achieved some relief and now that is dealt with they will have a clearer view of where to go next. I think you should wait until any adverse effect of the intervention has faded and see what they say. Pain begets pain in my experience - and it is pretty likely that your back muscles have suffered and deteriorated which in itself can cause pain. And referred pain.

Yes, thanks for your opinions. I think you are right. I also think I am pretty run down from not exercising very much. Now my back feels better, I can walk more easitly, so I've started walking up and down the hallway every day and will try to build up. I see the rheum. in a couple of months. I'll stick to 20 and maybe even try 18 after a few weeks. That was my plan before I felt unhappy yesterday about the pain.