Surviving prednisone withdrawal

I'm tapering off of prednisone, after having been on it for the better part of five years. I remember that tapers were hard before, but mostly because I would start to have breakthrough UC symptoms. Now, since I've had a colectomy, I don't have to worry about that.
What I'm struggling with this time is joint pain and stiffness. It's been two weeks since my last dose of prednisone. The first week was OK. I was a little sore, but not much. This week, though, I've been so stiff and sore that I limp when I get out of the car, and I can't really bend my knees without holding on to something for support. I can tell I am retaining water, because my ankles are visibly swollen.
I've been taking Tylenol for the pain. I thought about taking ibuprofen, but would that just prolong my body's inability to regulate inflammation on its own?

I'd be curious to hear other people's experience with prednisone: how long do you have issues after stopping? Anything that helps you get through it?

I like that idea of tapering more slowly. Prednazone is a powerful drug...its supposed to be tapered quite methodically anyway, right?

My experience with getting off prednisone (even with slow tapers) and vikaden products...lot of injuries in my past...is similar. First month a fair amount of pain - especially joint pain...quite pronounced. Knowing what it was helped a lot, knowing it would pass.

So good you get to get off completely!!

Knowing that it will (likely) go away definitely helps me mentally. Some of the other side effects of prednisone are fading, so I'm hopeful this will too. If it lasts more than a month, I think seeing a endocrinologist would be a wise move.
For now, I try to move around frequently, because it's worse after I've been stationary for a while. And my rolfer recommended dry brushing (essentially rubbing your dry skin with a rough cloth) to help keep fluids moving. It sounded weird to me, but it actually seems to have helped reduce some fluid retention in my joints.