Flare-up Question for PMR

[RaisinBran]

I'm back with another question. Assuming it is a flare-up that I'm having, I took everyones advice and raised my prednisone from 3mg to 5mg. Tomorrow will be the third day on 5mg. My symptoms aren't better at all. Usually, I can feel some relief after 1 day but for sure, I feel a bit better after the second day and it seems like it is worse. I have strong pain in both hips and shoulders but especially my hips. If I put pressure on my left leg when climbing the stairs, pain is so bad, I have to stop. So I thought I might get on my treadmill and walk for a bit because it seems worse when I just sit, but that didn't help . Can I increase to 10 mg for two weeks and then go back o 3.5 or 4? Does it sound like a flare-up, because I have never felt this much pain in my hips in the seven years that I have been on Prednisone. Should I wait and continue with 5mg for another 7-10 days to see if it gets better? My Reumy stated that it just may be something else, any comments? Yes, I do have a lot of stress in my life right now, but I seem to deal with that pretty well, just cant imagine stress would manifest itself in my hips. I'm caretaker for my wife who has just started to show signs of cognitive impairment, and my 90 year old sister whom I am just relocating to another independent living home. Thank you!