Hello
After weaning prednisone from40mg to 20mg in 5 months I am now at 18 mg during 8 days suffering only fatigue and 3 or four dayly cough episodes with dypsnea lasting no more than two minutes.
Could this be withdrawal or maybe the underlying disease is returning?
Sorry Chanquete but I think you are on the wrong forum - we all have a rheumatic disorder which is managed with pred. I don't know anything about interstitial lung disease.
This might be more where you belong:
at the British Lung Foundation forum
Thank you.
My question ea more focused on the handling, limitations and posibilities of prednisone tapering experiences.
And this is, I think, common in all prednisone using patients.
Not necessarily - it does depend why you are tapering the pred and whether the pred eliminated an acute inflammation while something like antibiotics cleared up the cause or whether it is something autoimmune where the cause is a long term creation of inflammation and you use the pred to manage the inflammation to reduce symptoms.
Which is it in interstitial lung disease? Are you on any other medications to manage the disease process? Is it for life? A long time? A shorter time? What do your doctors say?
Thanks for your answer!
The disease of my wife was diagnosed as an autoimmune disease. No antibiotics.
Just trying to control inflammation eith prednisone as the main medication. Obviously with the usual medications preventing bone loss etc.
Our present doubts are about tapering criteria and modalities.
You reduce slowly until the symptoms resurface - and go back to the last dose where you were good at. That really is about all there is to it. No reduction should be more than 10% of the current dose and you need to allow some time to be sure the new dose is enough.
Have a look at this:
healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
many people have got lower than before using it and with fewer problems with withdrawal.
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