PMR and slow tapering plan

Yes, thank you, i understand that,  I just want to know whether my plan to GET to at least 4.5 (or whatever level I need) sounds reasonable or do I need to be that cautious?  I know also that we must listen to our bodies but I was not receiving warning signs that things were off track until I hit 4.5.  It was the deathly fatigue and weakness that did me in which seems to be a sign of poor adrenal function.  

So so my question perhaps really should be:  when I use the dsns 84 day method, should I use the 30 day stopping points (which it seems a lot of,people do and which didn't give me warning signs before) or is it best to extend the stopping points to say, 60 days?  

Or maybe my question should be: is the adrenal fatigue inevitable no matter what?  Having reached it, I was advised here on this forum to increase the pred to a level where I could function again; I did, and it has helped. I want to sensibly get to a level where my body will accept reductions so am wondering what is the best way to go about it.  Thank you!

You aren't really likely to get warning signs BEFORE you get too low - the difference between enough and not enough can be just 1/2mg so it can happen suddenly. I once posted a thread called "What a difference 1/2mg makes..."

Slowness like this is also unlikely to make much difference - if 4.5mg is where you get PMR symptoms you need 5mg for the PMR. If you only get the deathly fatigue at 4.5mg and can still function otherwise and can accept the fatigue then sticking at 4.5mg for a few months should really be low enough to prod the adrenal glands into wakefulness. One top UK PMR rheumy encourages his patients to stick at 5mg for up to 9 months - and then finds the rest of the reduction tends to go better. If you persist with even a desperately slow reduction before the deathly fatigue at a given dose (4.5mg here) has resolved at least partially you will just feel worse and worse - and if your adrenal glands aren't responding then you are also putting yourself at risk of being ill. Cortisol (or pred) is essential for your body to function properly and about 4.5-5 is a reasonably safe low dose.

But it really all depends on whether you can function I got to 4mg some time ago and that was just about OK. 3.5mg wasn't though - I couldn't think straight, I could barely walk around the flat never mind anything else so I went back to 5mg. As it happened a flare materialised a few months later - so the question became academic.

I had PMR since October 2015 and thru careful taper  got to 3mg and was stable, so I thought. While on the trip to EU ( I live in Japan), I got this hand pain, symetrical and had trouble opening jar or screw on the bottle ( basically had what I call drinking problem ). After returning to Japan I saw rheumi and he was thinking that I may have a start of RA but was not sure and told me to increase dose from 3 to 8-9mg and see him in 4 weeks. I was on 9mg for week or so and all symptoms were gone... I quickly reduce to 6mg and then taper further. This is when I develop the following procedure:

When I wake up, before get out of bed I start test/stretch. I check if my wrist is OK, if my fingers are OK then I check my hips and leg muscles. I check for stiffness and flexibility and I note ANY change.

Currently I am on 3mg in the evening and 1mg in the morning. This morning I felt that my hands are stiff and some pain, so I increased my dose and took extra 1mg in the morning.

I hope this helps you to develop something for yourself. I do it in the morning because I noticed that my symptoms are usually worst in the morning, so it is easier to notice the change from day to day.