Started tapering

[Wraysbury]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Yday was my first day of DSNS and I took 12.5mgs Pred instead of usual 15mgs. By mid afternoon I was wiped out and neck plus shoulders starting to crawl with the starting of that awful ache. By 9 I felt like I’d aged 10 yrs again and crawled to bed. Thank the Lord for 6 days back on 15!! Definitely the only way to go for me

[suzy1959]

My guess is that you are going down by too many mgs. at a time. We are only supposed to go down by 10%- i.e. 1.5mgs rather than 2.5. Take it slowly - what's the rush? My bitter experience is that we can't rush this- our bodies won't let us, so going slowly is far more productive. I am on 10.5 and going down to 10 for the umpteenth time. I have discovered that I can only go down by half a mg. at a time. Others aren't quite so sensitive.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Good advice from Suzy1959, take smaller steps - dose wise!

If necessary cut your pills , so long as they are uncoated plain ones. Or request 1mg on prescription...you are going to need them anyway.

[Wraysbury in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks

[PMRpro Ambassador]

That has every hallmark of too big a step-down. You are a 1mg step lady! As, if the truth were told, most of us! Delicate flowers we are!

[Wraysbury in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks

[PMRCanada]

Yep, listen to the wise ones on here. Just like I experienced when I tried to drop 2.5mg in one go. I cut 5mg pills in four and was able to slowly drop from 15 to 13.75 to 12.5 to 11.25 and am on my first week at 10 with very little recurring pain and stiffness.

Be mindful not only of how slow you are tapering, but also the amount % you are reducing.

Good that you are listening to your body throughout the process. All the best moving forward.

[Wraysbury in reply to PMRCanada]

Thanks. That’s an excellent idea.

[SheffieldJane]

You could try going down by 1 mg. some of us are pretty sensitive to doses.

[Andymurph]

I'm on 11mg. I actually tried going from 15mg down to 12.5 mg with the aid of a pill cutter.

all my symptoms came back together with breathing difficulties and excessive trips to the loo.

I went back on 15mg after 2 days and almost immediately felt better. I've since got some 1mg tablets and am steadily tapering.

It's not a race to zero. You have to remember that you have an underlying illness. Listen to what your body tells you.

[Sheilamac]

I found going from 15-12.5 too much for me too. I managed it with 13.5 rather than 12.5. Hope this helps and I hope you are feeling better today.

[Wraysbury in reply to Sheilamac]

Thanks. It’s taking a long time to get over that 1 day drop. I’m going to ask for some 1mgs before the next tapper and do it very gradually

[Sheilamac in reply to Wraysbury]

It's really hard to taper properly without 1mg tabs and ideally a pill cutter. Good luck! X

[daworm]

Took me over a month to get from 15 to 12...actually more than a month...don’t rush the process..I been having trouble going from 10 to 9..finally had 3 days at 9 and feeling good about it....so far...