TAPERING OF STEROID (a new way)

[JANNYROSE]

....when getting down from 8 to 7, will have a week with six days on 8 and one on 7,. Then next week, five days on 8 and two on 7 (not together, say, Sunday and Tuesday) . And so on until the whole week is on 7. This means that the reduction is a bit slower, but the body gets fooled into not really noticing the drop, and adapts itself to the lower dose. This is also a good way to ‘switch on’ the adrenal glands that have been dormant during steroid treatment, when the dose gets really low, less than 5mg a day.

The above was in the latest addition of the PMRGCAUK newsletter and I started following it last week, so hopefully I will be able to post a update soon on my progress. I was diagnosed with Poly a year & half ago and apart from the odd mild flair I don't do too bad at all. It doesn't affect my life as much as it does some people. I consider myself very lucky as quite a few people do suffer. On getting down to 3mg a few months ago I had a Poly flair so I had to increase my steroid to 8mg, it was only then the pain stopped. This is not the first time I have got down to 3mg either and have had to go back up and I did the tapering quite slow.

This way looks and feels right so with the help of my hubby I have gone with it. I don't go to the GP very often and they don't call me in to check on me either. It was only two months back I got to see a Rheumatologist for the very first time....wish me luck.

[Celtic PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hello Jannyrose

Yes, good luck wishes indeed as you reduce in the way you have described. That is more or less how I got off steroids, but in 0.5 decrements, after a flare at 3mg (the pain actually started worsening at 5mg but knowing no better at the time I did what I was told and carried on reducing 1mg a month!). At that stage I was advised to increase from 3 back to 10mg. Once back down to 5 via alternating doses of 10/7.5 and 7.5/5, I was again advised to reduce by 1mg monthly. I thought no way Jose, it didn't work before so why would it work this time. So 0.5 reduction on one day of the first week, 2 days of the second week, 3 days of the third week, etc, taking 7 weeks to reach 4.5 proved successful and I continued in this fashion to zero pred. I followed a calendar of daily dosage reductions on a piece of graph paper produced by my hubby - the little grey cells couldn't have done without that!

I do wish you success with your regime.

[JANNYROSE]

Thanks for your wishes and your personal account of tapering, so glad you have managed to do it....doctors eh! As for your hubby helping that's even better, shall show this to my hubby and maybe he will get his brain into gear also. X

[Polywotsit PMRGCAuk team member in reply to JANNYROSE]

Hi JannyRose, how are you getting on with the tapering?