I am 4 weeks into my Pred, currently at 15mg and about to drop to 12.5 tomorrow. I refused to take Alendronic Acid mainly because of the terrible potential side effects, and have decided to up my Vitamin and Mineral levels. At the moment I take Calcium, Vitamin D3, Magnesium and K2 plus a general multivitamin tablet. My last blood test showed my Vit D level was 60 which is good. My question to all you dear friends is just exactly what strengths of each mineral/vitamin should I be taking. It is so very confusing when trying to work it all out especially when some are measured in mg or iu or ug. Also there is some controversy over whether we actually need calcium in tablet form because of it's adverse effect on the heart etc. and if we do take it, should we not take it at the same time as vit D and magnesium, and is magnesium carbonate better than citrate etc etc. I do include lots of calcium rich foods in my diet so I am wondering if I should just rely on that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you x
Vitamins and Minerals: I am 4 weeks into my Pred... - PMRGCAuk
Vitamins and Minerals
Hi Palewolf
Your Doctor should have prescribed you a suitable Calcium/VitaminD Supplement now you are Pred.
PLEASE NOTE Do Not Take Calcium at the same time as your Prednisone/Prednisolone as the Calcium affects the uptake of the Pred. Leave at least four hours between the two.
There will be more replies later on today re the various benefits of Calcium/Vitamins/Supplements.
Would that timing for calcium also apply when taking Rayos? I took my calcium last night around the same time as Rayos....10pm.
Jake PMRPro will be able to answer you better on this but l’d say take your Calcium during the day to avoid any clashes.
Yes, I think so. 2 times a day. I'll have to adjust.
I have vit D and calcium prescribed my doctor against the side effects of pred. Otherwise I do not take supplements unless I am found to be deficient from blood tests or recommended by my doctor. I have had to take iron and folic acid. There was some research done in the US that found 90% of supplements purchased were not actually needed, eating a good diet was better, but they made one hell of a lot of money for the suppliers!
I agree, it is so easy to go into panic mode and bombard your body with all sorts of chemicals. Take it slow, eat sensibly, listen to your body, relax. Give yourself time to evaluate what each change in your meds does to your body. Listen to yourself, try to avoid panic reactions.
I read a good book recently Too Many Pills by Dr le Fanu. That was looking at the prescribed pills we take!
I take 2000 units of vitamin D and no calcium. My daughter has q22 deletion Syndrome and Parkinson’s. Q22 patients suffer from low calcium. My doctor has explained that by taking the large dose of vitamin D and drinking milk, eating some cheese and yogurt that your calcium will remain good and it does. Also, be careful with the magnesium as it can effect the heart rhythm. I have had a cardiac ablation done.Good luck
Thanks that really is a help. I have been making my own yogurt for years and eat loads of it everyday, and I have always been a cheese lover. I just need to up my milk intake now and I think it should be enough. I only take 250mg magnesium which is not a very high dose and 25ug Vitamin D3. Take care.
You must be on more than 25 ug of D3. I am on 2000 iu daily
400iu=10ug(micrograms)
1000iu=25ug
Thanks Makes more sense to me.
Hi Soraya - Do you have any more conversions - for the vitamins/minerals that we PMR/Pred users are most interested in?
I just looked at some conversion sites and am exhausted by trying to think it through. Given time, I'm sure I can do it but you came up with the figure for Vit D3 SO quickly I thought maybe you'd done it for Vit K2 and, maybe magnesium and calcium?
VitK, Calcium & Magnesium are only recorded as weights, milligrams or micrograms. I don’t think they’re converted. Some vitamins are, the iu is about the ‘potency’ rather than the weight.
Thanks I will increase.
Milk not especially best form of calcium, unless fermented as in yoghurt, kefir and some cheeses. And don't forget your Vitamin K2!
Yes I'm also taking k2!
That is what directs the calcium away from your heart
Well, technically, into your bones!
Yes, i didnt write enough words.. into your bones and therefore away from the arteries and heart.
Low magnesium, especially if potassium also low can cause arrhythmia.
I have arrythmia problems and have just had a pacemaker fitted - they have been pouring magnesium into me!!!!
Does it feel weird and do they put you under?
The pacemaker not the magnesium 😁. And how you doing.
No, done with a local - it is safer because of the possibility of puncturing a lung and then being intubated is NOT a good thing. And yes, it does feel weird!!!!!
🤞 better quality now.
That’s a very big drop , normally we are advised to drop only 1mg at a time and be completely pain free, you are at the beginning of what could be a very long journey so don’t rush it
I agree with Polymialgia going from 15 mg to 12.5 mg is a huge drop . I guess it's your GP who has suggested that ? The experienced ones amongst us advise no more than 10 percent of your current dose . If I were you I'd be dropping to 14 mg and staying on it for 1 month using Dorset Lady's tapering plan or PMRpros DSNS ( dead slow nearly stop) plan . I'm sorry I don't have the links but you can find them on this site .
Yes it was my GP who actually told me to drop to 10! I have today dropped from 15 to 12.5 and am holding my breath to see if I will be ok. I will stay on this dose for a month (unless I flare in which case I shall have to go back to 15 I suppose). Then I will take it much slower by dropping 1 every few weeks. At the moment I only have 5mg tablets which I am cutting in half, but I shall have to get some 1mg from doc.
Are they coated/gastric resistant 5mg? Dont cut if they are. Ring your surgery and ask for 1mg and 2.5mg pred. I hate it when they just give 5mg, especially coated. They are basically limiting your treatment options either purposely or because of not understanding pmr fully.
No they are not coated so easy to cut in half. I will ask him for some 1mg. It's so frustrating when we know more than doctors about this disease. Does not inspire confidence in them at all.
I know. And yet when i am sitting in front of them i can't string a sentence together!😂😂😂
I was prescribed that drop, by my rheumy when he gave me six months' worth of prescription. Fortunately I discovered this forum when I got home - and decided to halve the drop by splitting the 2.5 mg pills (before I acquired a pill-cutter!) to 1.25. That worked fine.
I initially was advised to drop from 15mg to 12.5, didn't do that as too much of a drop, so went to 13.5. Found that too much and was struggling, so went back to 15. Dropped again weeks later on advice of new Dr, this time to 12.5! Was scared to do it but thought I'd give it a try, knowing I could always go back up again. Managed it well this time. Am now on 8mg.
That often happens - if it doesn;t work first time, just go back and try again the next month. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 attempts but this isn't a race ...
I'm on my second day on 12.5 from 15 and woke this morning with aching shoulders and mild hip pain. It's not too bad so I'll try and stick it out and hope it passes.
If it gets worse try some pain killers. Can take a few doses to build it up but if it helps the pain its probably steroid withdrawal. It usually appears in tne first couple of days.
Yes that's what I thought. I don't mind a bit of pain and it has eased a little bit in the last couple of hours. I'll hang in there!
I personally would drop the calcium carbonate (blackboard chalk) because of adverse effects and the fact that our bodies cannot absorb it. There are more readily absorbable forms but the NHS aren't interested in offering these because they are more expensive! Up the magnesium D3 and and K2. Consider using transdermal magnessium oil which is more readily absorbed into the system. Most of us are short of minerals especially zinc , magnesium, chromium - (look at boron aswell) so I would look at taking a multimineral supplement.
Bear in mind that, contrary to popular belief the calcium in milk is "locked in" and not accessible to humans - mainly because of modern processing methods. Cheese is a better source as calcium has to be added as part of the "making process". I make my own cheese so I don't know what the deal is with the highly processed stuff in the supermarkets. If you can, go for more artisan products rather than the rubbery "plastic" cheddars.
I don't drink much milk these days, because the blanket pasteurisation and homogenisation processes do questionable things to it as a nuitritious end product. I do eat unpasteurised cheese and natural live yoghurt.
I recently broke the neck of my femur in a fall. Although this type of fracture is most frequently associated with osteoporosis, it was actually an impact fracture, which healed very quickly (x-rays 4.5 weeks post op showed complete healing and negligable schlerosis), I by-passed the crutches stage and was back driving and teaching in 5 weeks. Tests in hospital showed my calcium levels to be fine despite the fact that I do not take it as a supplement and I have been on pred for just over two years. I was in hospital for a week, ignored the alleged "food" offering which was insanely high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, and processed foods and impressively lacking in nuitrients and so fasted for much of the time.
Good luck with it all, palewolf - it's a minefield
As far as I can figure out blood calcium tests only show whether the body is doing its job to keep that mineral in balance. It doesn't say whether we have enough in your bones. If it is out of balance that's an indication of something which is causing it to go out of balance. Normally excess calcium should be stored in the bones or excreted. So having a good balance of calcium in the bloodstream doesn't tell us where that calcium is coming from. It could be coming from the bones, it could be coming from our food.
I completely agree about the dairy. For the last few years I've been using only "organic" milk and now I can't stand the usual kind in anything. I've taken to bringing along my own little container of milk to put in tea at informal gatherings.... Guess I'm old enough to be allowed such eccentricities!
I too refused Alendronic Acid for the same reasons ; thankyou for tips on Vitamins I am new to this had it 6 months had come down to 6 mg but awful so racheted up to 10mg seeing Doc on Thursday will definately say about this site .
The healthiest urine in the world, too many ( water solvable) vitamins. 😱
I took AA for a while, believing I needed it as percGP. I have now requested a Dexa scan to see if I need any supplements. I halved the dose of the Adcal as I don't believe I need that either. I am no expert but believe I shouldn't take tablets I do not need. Dexa scan imminent😳😳😳😳😳😳
Have you had a dexascan done. My GP instructed me to have one in the early days to get a baseline reading, and a follow up scan yearly.
I was told by my GP and former rheumy to take Vit D and calcium daily, and I learned from this forum not to take supplements at same time as pred dose (which I split and take at 2am and 2pm). So I take them around 7pm after supper. 650mg Calcium, 1400ui vitamin D, 120mcg vitamin K2. I also take biotin for thinning hair.
The primary reason for calcium and vit D supplements when on pred is so there is plenty floating around to be captured for your bones and reduce the likelihood of it being leached from the bones.Vit D is important - and contrary to the widely trumpeted media stuff that it is unnecessary, that only applies for healthy people. We aren't and are on medication - and that changes everything ...
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