Prednisalone

[Alice70]

I was down to 4mgs of prednisalone, I dropped the 5th one two weeks ago ,last night I had a painful flare up ,in the .iddle of the night it was bad so I went back and took 10mgs of preds,I don't know hiw many days I should stay on 10mgs ,I'm wondering will I have to start dropping from 10 slowerly,appreciate any advice ,couldn't get hold of my Rheumatoid nurse today

[Oshgosh]

perhaps try again tomorrow for rheumatoid.

If you have no success try ringing GP and leaving a message

[Alice70 in reply to Oshgosh]

Thank you oshgosh

[KittyJ]

you’ll have to keep trying your rheumy nurse, you really shouldn’t mess about with your tapering, you’ve doubled your dose and your nurse won’t be pleased you’re not following their advice. Always talk to them first. When I tapered I did it .5 mg at a time due to flaring after a couple of days dropping 1mg, you have to do it really slowly.

[sebbydog in reply to KittyJ]

And then you get the chalk bones and Cataracts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KittyJ in reply to sebbydog]

not necessarily, my bones are fine and no cataracts and I was on pred for 25+ years, just lucky I guess 😊

[tyncwmmarchhywel]

Hi Alice, are you on any other medication, I take 5mg Predislon , cant tolerate bio, jks etc.,but would lovew to try some thing b etter, take care.

[Alice70 in reply to tyncwmmarchhywel]

Thank you

[Loyd]

Hi Alice - I’m similar to you and trying to get below 5mg. I got down to 2 and three quarters three months ago and then another flair. Went back to 10mg for about 5 days (fixed the flair) then 2 days on 7mg and then back to 5mg. Decided to stay on 5mg for the meantime and all well. Hope you find your fix and all the best.

[Alice70 in reply to Loyd]

Thank you loyd I know we should ask the medical profession what to do ,but if you are in pain in middle of night or can't get hold of them you have to use are own discretion,

[Loyd in reply to Alice70]

I agree completely and many doctors simply don’t know that much about PMR!

[hopegalore20]

Hi Alice70, I have been on Prednisolone for over eight years. Anytime I come down on my steroids it is tapered slowly. As in all medical treatments, seek advice from a professional. Good Luck x

[Alice70 in reply to hopegalore20]

Yes I'm about to ring nurse now

[Runrig01]

Prednisolone doses should not be tampered with, except by a health professional. Taking the 10mg dose will have switched off the HPA axis, which is what stimulates your adrenals to produce their own cortisol. Reducing the dose again suddenly risks an adrenal crisis. You usually reduce 0.5mg once below 5mg, and should be informed of potential withdrawal symptoms, or symptoms that suggest your adrenals are not kicking in and producing enough cortisol. I was always told to expect an increase in pain temporarily when I’d reduced, but that it should improve each day, if it worsened each day that suggested I needed more cortisol, in which case my rheumatologist would advise re changing dose.

[Alice70 in reply to Runrig01]

Thank you ,I'm ringing rheaumatiod nurse this morning

[RA64]

sorry to hear that. my GP explained tht if I have a flare up I can take 30 mg (6 tablets for 3 days) . it is important to gradually reduce. and then 25 mg for 3 days. 20mg for 3 days. 15 mg for 3 days. 10 mg for 3 days until you eventually reduce. my daily use if 6 mg per day. but please check with your own GP too.

[oldtimer]

I always reduce slowly if I've had to up my prednisone. It does suggest that your other treatment is not enough to control your inflammation. Hope you can get hold of the specialist nurse.

[pippin_fort]

I think you definitely need to take professional advice from preferably Rheumy department- search for an email address if you can’t get through on telephone. If can’t get help that way speak to GP. If you can’t get help that way either speak to pharmacist. I would persist with Rheumy however!

[Pepperpot22]

Always best to check with ur nurses. But if it’s any help, my last reduction was from 10mg a day. I was told to do alternate days 10mg/5mg for a while. I think the slower the better really

[Lolabridge]

Please contact your Rheumy team. Ask for a full medication review as it would seem your current meds are not adequately controlling your symptoms.