Best way to taper prednisone

[Uzziah7]

Best way to taper prednisone

[SheffieldJane]

Hi Uzziah7 and welcome to the site. If you look to the column on your right you will see options for the slow tapers recommended on here. It would be helpful to know what your diagnosis is, what dose you are on and how long you’ve had the condition. Then your advice can be more personalised. There are a lot of knowledgeable, helpful people on here. I have found it a big support.

[Uzziah7 in reply to SheffieldJane]

Was diagnosed wth PMR about 2 yrs ago, currently on 10 mg of prednisone, can’t get below 10 mg without a flare, have tried different diets and medications , only thing that helps me is prednisone and tramadol,

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Slowly - both in terms of size of steps and frequency.

[Uzziah7 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you, was diagnosed with PMR about 2 yrs ago, on 10mg of prednisone now, can’t seem to get any lower without a flare, have tried different diets and medications, only thing that seems to help is prednisone and tramadol

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Uzziah7]

It took me over 4 years to get reliably below 9mg - it isn't unusual. If tramadol helps with the pain then it is possibly NOT PMR which rarely responds to ordinary painkillers. Myofascial pain syndrome, or at least the spasmed muscles, might respond to tramadol. It might be worth asking a therapeutic massage therapist of physiotherapist if you have back muscle problems.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Slowly, slowly and slowly -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Uzziah7 in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you

[Purplecrow]

When were u diagnosed, PMR or GCA, ? Whats ur current dose? Get the drift...?

Lots of missing information, which makes a response only possible in the vaguest of terms. So, slow.

[Uzziah7 in reply to Purplecrow]

Was diagnosed about 2 yrs ago with PMR current dose is 10 mg, can’t seem to get below without a flare, have tried different diets and medications, only things that seems to help is prednisone and tramadol

[PMRconnie2014]

This plan of reduction has helped me going from 20 mg. down to 5.5 mg. where I am presently at. Very slow, but does help. The lower you get the harder it is to keep reducing. With each reduction my body lets me know it's not happy by more painful joints, sometimes cramps in calves and hands, increased fatigue, etc. until my body gets used to the new dose. I stay there at least two weeks to one month until the symptoms pretty much disappear. Then I start reducing again.

“Dead Slow and Nearly Stop” Prednisone Reduction Plan

(healthunlocked.com/pmr)

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

My reductions are VERY slow. I use the following pattern to reduce each .05 mg:

1 day new dose, 6 days old dose

1 day new dose, 5 days old dose

1 day new dose, 4 days old dose

1 day new dose, 3 days old dose

1 day new dose, 2 days old dose

1 day new dose, 1 day old dose

1 day old dose, 2 days new dose

1 day old dose, 3 days new dose

1 day old dose, 4 days new dose

1 day old dose, 5 days new dose

1 day old dose, 6 days new dose

Good luck!!

[Uzziah7 in reply to PMRconnie2014]

Thanks for the reduction plan, I will give it a try

[SheffieldJane]

Also, get yourself a pill cutter so that you can go down by half milligrams.

I am currently stuck at 7 mgs in the same way. Every time I experiment with 6.5 my body really protests. I learned on here that people’s absorption of Prednisalone can vary, so it is possible that you simply need to take 10 mgs at present. I also learned that it is some doctors’ view that patients benefit from 12 months on 10 mgs. After all the disease can last several years and needs to be treated.

Do you have a helpful doctor?

[mega]

I can't see any of the 'Best Ways to Taper Pred,

[Rugger in reply to mega]

Under 'Topics' on the right of this page, choose 'Tapering steroids' and if you scroll down, you'll see all the relevant posts. Have a look at a post called 'Steroid Taper Web App' which contains many different tapering schedules. The App was developed by Sandra, who has PMR and who was studying computer science.

A lot of us use the Dead Slow Nearly Stop (DSNS) plan that PMRpro devised. One version is set out by PMRconnie2014 in her reply, above. There are other versions on the Web App.

[PMRconnie2014]

SheffieldJane is correct on needing a pill cutter. I cut the 1 mg. pills in half. I also cut the

5 mg pills in half. I take 2.5 mg (1/2 of the 5) + 0.5 ( 1/2 of the 1) = 3.0 mg. in the morning with breakfast. Then I take the other half of the 5 mg = 2.5 mg with my evening meal. Total

5.5 mg for the day. Splitting the dosage into AM and PM has worked better for me than taking it all at once. Hope you will find something that works for you!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to PMRconnie2014]

Why split 1mg tablets to create 3mg? Take 3x1mg - less horrible taste!