Reducing Prednisolone

[Minushabens]

Hi all

I wondered if anyone here has any experiences of tapered prednisolone reduction, particularly around side effects. My consultant decided this week to start to reduce my level. It's not high, but I've been suffering badly with swelling (face, stomach, feet and legs especially). I've also experienced a significant feeling of weakness in my arms & legs, which he was fairly clear is a side effect as well.

Has anyone experienced those sort of problems but improved with a reduction plan & how long did it take? It would be nice to be able to get my shoes & socks on again without feeling like I'm 90!

[EmmaF91]

Personally I find that the lower my pred the less my side effects are (ie insomnia, muscle/joint aches/pains, pred head and if I remain low - weight stabilisation or loss!). So if I get to 10 for a few weeks I slowly improve, although I always have underlying aches and pains.

Unfortunately I haven’t got to 0 consistently for a couple of years (before I was put on maintenance in Dec ‘17 I would manage a max of 3 weeks before on 0 before another flare), so I don’t know how long it’d take to get ‘clear’ of the short term side effects.

It takes me 6 weeks to go from 40-10, and the plan for when I’m controlled is to go down about 1mg a month (if I don’t re-flare)... so the tail off will take a while so full recovery may take longer???

Hope this makes sense 😅. Hopefully someone will let you know how they did when they got to 0 (and how long it took them!)

Hope you feel better soon x

[Minushabens Asthma Captain in reply to EmmaF91]

Thanks for the reply. I've not been on a very high dose, but the swelling around my body is awful. I've just gone from 10 to 7.5 for 30 days, then the plan is to drop to 5, so fingers crossed & I hope you can continue to drop down as well

[Hidden]

Sorry youre having to deal with all the side effects ( all of which you've mentioned are very common), but I'm happy to hear that you're weaning off the drug. Everyone is different as far how fast they can taper and what kind of effects the drug might have on them, but in general most of these side effects will diminish the lower the dose becomes. My experience is that it takes about a month to get to back to normal after you've weaned completely off and were only on them for a few weeks. If you were on them for a long time and developed secondary problems, ie diabetes, adrenal problems, it can take several months. The good news is that most people who are able to successfully wean off, even after being on high doses for a long time, usually don't have residual side effects.

[Breeeeeathe]

Because of an episode of bronchial asthma triggered by a vicious virus, I have been taking prednisolone for ONLY 2 weeks and I am enduring dramatic painful side effects. Constant burning pains in feet and tongue, with surface of tongue eroded. Nosebleeds. And Insomnia so not able to rest to aid recovery.

And now my GP has advised dropping one tablet a day for 8 days, my asthma symptoms have returned at level of down to 6 tablets.

I cannot imagine what it's like for you taking it long-term. I feel for you.

PS. I am new to this so apologise for not knowing how to go about it!