Pred Bursts v Pred Daily

[Matman]

Is taking Prednisalone in a 'High Dose Burst' (e.g. 40mg Daily for 5 to 10 Days) once every few weeks, less risky than taking a much lower dose, but every day of the year?

If you need to take High Dosage Pred 'Bursts' quite often (say every 4 to 8 Weeks) then - in some cases - this could mean that - on average - you are taking more Pred every 12 Months than someone taking a low dose of Pred (say just 15mg) every day of the year.

However, while - In terms of total Pred Consumption - the person taking a Pred Burst (say) once a month for 7 Days, might be consuming more Pred each year than the '15mg Every Day Doser' - the person on the High Dose Pred Bursts is at least giving their body a break from Pred for a few weeks between each Burst.

If you have the choice, which do you think is the safer option, 'Low Dose Daily' (365 Days a year), or 'High Dose Bursts' for a week or two (once every month or so)?

[emmasue]

I am currently taking a 5mg dose every day. I can increase it as needed. Next time I see the GP he will try to reduce it by a mg at a time to see how I cope. I do find that I am better for being able to control my own pred dose. The last time I was ill, I didn't get as bad as I normally do. I do worry about long term effects though as I am a 40 year old woman. However, I would rather be healthy and able to cope with daily life than ill for weeks at a time throughout the year.

[Matman in reply to emmasue]

Thanks for that. I'm a bit surprised that a daily dose as low as 5mg can be of real benefit. Something for me to think about.

[Loraine121 in reply to Matman]

Apparently some people can get by with only 3 mg a day ,

[vnarayan in reply to emmasue]

Hi,

if you are taking 5 mg prednisolone for even 3 months continuously, you will land up with Secondary Adrenal deficiency.

If you are treated with high dose ( 30 mg for 5 days only ) of predinsolone occasionally, once in a year or 6 months when Asthma flares up , that is fine.

Find out a chest physician and discuss so that prednisolone will be tapered for a week or two and parallelly you will e treated with Cortecosteroid inhaler coupled with Salbutamol / Salmetral inhalers.

One more thing, never ever take prednisolone without Calcium supplements, as steroids deplete your calcium levels.

[Loraine121 in reply to emmasue]

Hi, I'm the same abit older im 47 I have had asthma since i was 4 years old but only really since I was 30 that it got really bad , after a severe case of pneumonia and plursy after that i was in and out of hospital, i am now on home oxygen and have alot of the symptoms of long term steroids but without them i wouldn't be here so I just have to live with it at least i still here, the nurses in the hospital say ive got more lives than a cat lol , they know me well, which was luck for me last year as it was a weekend and different doctor who didn't know me and wouldn't listen to the nurses and I was almost a goner but the nurses kept insist that I wasn't right, I could remember anything about it but I was in a bad way my family were called in as they thought it was not going to make it, but I am still here to tell another tail.lol

[jabber]

Many years ago (over 35) I was taking 5mg prednisolone daily and had been for many years. One doctor I met at a regular check-up said the current thinking to help reduce the long term effects of the steroids was to take double the dose every other day. So I started doing that and had no ill effects. I then reduced that dose to 5 mg every other day also with no ill effects.

I've never heard that theory from anyone else, but it worked for me at the time and was instrumental in getting me off pred completely - I just increased the intervals (very slowly) between tablets until it was decided I could stop taking them.

Now if I have a flare up I take 40mg pred for 4 days.

[Jacmidlands in reply to jabber]

Taking Pred on alternate days was suggested by my consultant recently, so that must be the current thinking.

[Matman in reply to jabber]

Thanks for sharing that. A strategy I'd not heard of nor considered, but will now keep in mind.

[Loraine121]

Well im unsure on this one as I take 15mg daily but still on occasions require higher dose along with antibiotics if I get a infection although the last infection i had i only needed the antibiotics, so im not sure although I am working on cutting down on the daily dose as I take mycrpheolate fetil for an other lung condition which are a trial to see if they help but are corticosteroids as well, so between inhalers, nasel sparys and tablets im taken rather a lot of steroids one way or another and over the years noticeable ,

[Matman]

As well as considering supplementing with Calcium, it's also worth considering taking Vit D3 and Vit K2 if you're a steroid user, as it's suggested that those two Vits in combination are helpful in processing calcium, but I'm no medic so you may want to research this idea online or run it past your GP. Also, as I take both Inhaled and (quite often) oral steroids, I've chosen to add calcium rich foods (like milk) back into my diet, even though some folk believe dairy is not that good for you (a view with which I no longer agree).

Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread so far.