My rheumatologist put me on 15 mg for 2 months then has me tapering to 12.5 mg for 2 weeks then 10 mg for 6 weeks. I am on the 12.5 mg right now but I think my shoulder pain is more noticeable. Does this mean I need more Prednisone?
My appt with rheumatologist isn’t until June 4th. By then I would be tapering to 10 mg.
I’m really new to this and wonder if I should call rheumatologist to tell her symptoms or just wait it out?
When did you drop to 12.5mg? When did the pain start? It could be steroid withdrawal.if it started within a day or two of the drop. You could try OTC painkillers if that's the case. If it is a week or more since that drop then the indication are that you need more pred.
I would be speaking to your Dr anyway as the general rule for tapering here is no more than 10% drop. This is especially true at 15mg. 1mg drops are more humane. And I could only manage 0.5mg drops.
Thanks for advice. I intend to call doctor for advice. I feel she is hurrying the tapering too much as she told me she didn’t want me to have too many side effects. However I seem to be fine and have not noticed any side effects since starting Prednisone in March this year.
There is no point reducing too quickly. You may already be struggling so what's the point in dropping 2.5mg for a week then having to return to 15mg. It is documented that too fast of a reduction is a predictor of relapse. I will try and remember which research it was. You might want a copy to discuss with Dr.
My rheumi instructed me to drop from 14 where I was comfortable, to 12.5, with the addendum ‘you might not be able to achieve it!’ How right she was! that was my second flare, the first caused by my GP’s over zealous reductions. So you reach the ‘Oh fluff it!’ stage, and do it 1mg a month and actually manage to reduce! Well, waddya know!
If as Poop suggests, this is steroid withdrawal pain, and you do manage to stabilise on 12.5 DO NOT reduce again after 2 weeks, that is too fast and you won’t know what your correct dose should be.
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