when to start my pred?

hope everyone is having a nice easter break, I have started mine with a lovely heavy cold! a while ago my doctor gave me some pred to keep at home and use when needed, usually my doctor will only give me pred when he examines me first or i have a telephone consultation first and request my rescue pack etc. However with it being a long bank holiday weekend I wont be able to contact my surgery, and my chest also has this annoying habbit of miraculously clearing itself the minute anyone listens to it!

So I was thinking of starting my pred now due to my breathing being really bad and being really short of breath etc but my doc didn't tell me how many to take each day or for how long, he just wrote a prescription out for 100 pred tablets and sent me on my way. and I no we are not meant to ask for medical advice but my surgery is closed as is the asthma helpline so not really sure what to do, will obviously go to a&e if get really bad but im trying to prevent that from happening!

Just wondering if anyone else has pred at home and when do you start taking it?

Lejaya

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Hi lejena,

You could ring nhs direct on 0845 46 47.

I know the number isn't long but its right.

Alternatively, if you call your gp surgery they will advise an ooh ( out of hours) contact.

I do have rescue pred myself but people are sometimes put on different dosages for different durations based on their asthma history so best to check it out.

Take care and I hope your lungs start to behave

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Sorry lejaya! Got ur name totally wrong there....

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thanks angelica, I might try calling out of hours tomorrow, I did think of calling nhs direct but I find they tend to be quite unhelpful, im just hoping I dont need antibiotics aswell!

[angievere]

I have rescue pred supply for me and my son mainly really for weekend. During the week I check with GP. We mainly go by peak flow - if dropped significantly and wheezy etc. Also if have an asthma attack or not improving with ventolin. We are always prescribed 30mg a day for 5/7 days so that is what I start on. I always let the surgery know once they are back open, just so they have it on record.

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I am in the middle of a respiratory rehab programme. In our session on managing flare ups the advice we were given is to start pred (and antibiotics if needed) if your symptoms carry on for a day.

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only a day? I normally leave it for a week! maybe that is why I get so many infections, I think Im gonna mention this to my consultant when I see him next.

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I start mine after 3-5 days . If i think I need to start it earlier I see my gp,if I start it Afte the 3-5 days I have a fone consult wih gp so it's documented in notes so they can say how many course u had in a year.. Every one has different guidelines. Hope u feel better soon

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Hi,

My son has pred on standby at home too and his consultant said to start it after just a day of signs of an asthma episode, and we have it in writing too, a copy of which has been sent to our GP. He did this because the last time he had an attack the GP waited 5 days before giving him Pred, by which time he had got so bad he had to be admitted!

The consultant said it should be nipped in the bud rather than allowed to escalate.

I hope you feel better soon.

Rebecca

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The logic behind starting pred and/or antibiotics after a day of symptoms is, as Rebecca says, to nip it in the bud rather than letting it escalate. If you know your symptoms and recognise the start of a flare up waiting until it gets really bad before starting treatment means it can take longer to sort out. And if, like me, you have bronchiectasis as well delaying treatment may mean you don't get back to where you were before the flare up. I have learnt this the hard way!

This might sound daft but have you checked the packets of pred to see if the dose is on the printed label?

Anguila

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I have checked the packs and all they say is take as directed by your doctor but my problem is that sometimes i am give 30mg to take daily or sometimes 40mg, I think i'm going to start taking 30mg a day today them call my gp tomorrow. the only reason I sometimes wait before starting pred is the side effects and my consultant has told me that if I keep needing short courses or pred he will probably be putting me on them long term.

But I have heard from friends who have asthma that say taking pred etc when they first get symptoms works really well for them and they recover much quicker then if they wait longer.