Prednisilone withdrawal symptoms

[Maryis80]

After three months of reducing Pred to 10mg, on the instructions of the consultant rheumatol0gist, with no ill effects, he then told me to reduce to 9mg for a month and then 8mg and to see him in October, just before we go off to Oz. In the two weeks since I reduced the dose, I have had increasing pain and discomfort on my left side, from shoulder and arms, down through the back of the knee. Some days I can barely walk first thing though it does seem to wear off as the day goes on. Have also got/had a DVT in right leg, so am on Warfarin as well, which is affected by the changes in Pred dose! I have emailed the consultant but not had a reply as yet, and asked if i should go back up to 10mg for a bit and in fact today have done just that, so will see what happens. What do the experts on this site suggest please.

[Dimplevegus]

Did the pred cause the DVT?

[Maryis80 in reply to Dimplevegus]

Doctors dont seem to think there is any connection. In fact it was the rheumatologist who discovered the DVT when examining me all over the first time I saw him. He then sent me for an ultra sound which showed the DVT, the lady who did it said it could havee been there for a long time.

[HeronNS]

The 10 mg level is a sticking point for many of us. Did you just drop to 9 from one day to the next? If so, you might find it helpful to go back to 10 for a couple of weeks (some people say a month but I didn't need that long) until the symptoms have subsided again. Then use a taper method like "dead slow nearly stop".

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I'd go back to 10mg - and deal with any recriminations later - but also try a slower reduction as Heron has suggested.

Is the warfarin only a short-term measure? If you have to be on it for long ask if you could be put onto a NOAC (one of the new generation anticoagulants) as they aren't affected by the pred. Also means no blood tests! I am on long term anticoagulants and originally was on a warfarin-type drug which was fine for a couple of years and then suddenly, for no apparent reason, my INR shot about all over the place. I would be stable for a couple of weeks and we thought we'd cracked it and then in the space of a couple of days it would shoot up to 3.6 and above or down to 1.3! Neither of which was very comforting. It will also help a lot when travelling - that was my main reason for deciding to change as getting INRs done while travelling for 5 weeks really wasn't an option!