Can start my taper.

[jaycee444]

After 7 weeks on 15mg Prednisolone my Dr has agreed to let me taper at my own pace and has provided me with an assortment of 5mg and 1mg coated and uncoated. After discovering that if I took 10mg uncoated and 5mg coated in one morning dose it lasts pretty well the whole 24 hrs rather than getting the breakthrough early morning pain I want to continue in this way so I will still take the 5mg coated but taper the others for now. I suggested reducing to 14mg per day overall and she says thats fine and she will leave me to more or less taper as I feel.

So - as its such a small reduction should I cut down straight away to 14mg or alternate days .........and for how long?....... any suggestions please?

I am so relieved that I have a Dr who says "you know your body better than I do so we will work together"

[Soraya_PMR]

At the higher doses you may well be fine just to drop from one day to the next. One benefit of this might be to show you what YOUR steroid withdrawal is like.

Mine is shoulders, from late day one, worse day two, clearing day three. You might be different, but would be useful to know. Paracetamol may help with these pains.

And it’ll give you a boost to achieve that first drop.

If you do decide to just go for it, clear your week of busyness. Ensure you can just laze around while your body adjusts.

[SheffieldJane]

That all sounds pretty perfect. Perhaps doctors are learning. I wasn’t told anything about tapering. I just assumed that I was to take 20 mgs until I was better ha ha. I have learned most about managing PMR care on here. Remember not to decrease by more than 10% of your dose at any one time and invest in a good pill cutter for after 10 mgs tapers by 0.5 mg.

[jinasc]

Golden rule, never more than 10% at a time.................go to the section which contains many plans for dropping.......DSNS has been subjected to a small amount of research.

Do not rush it, pred does not cure, just helps you to control - it has a mind of its own, comes when it wants and goes when it wants................there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we just do not know how long our personal tunnel is...........................Tortoise and Hare......................

[SnazzyD]

I’d agree with Soraya and do 1mg in one jump so you get to know what’s what in terms of reaction because it can feel a bit like a flare for some. However, when I got to 10mg I did 0.5mg drops which was ok with coated using a combination of 1’s, 2.5’s and 5’s.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

As others have said you will probably be okay with an "overnight"drop initially. Just be aware that for the first few days after the new dose you may feel a bit off-colour - that's quite normal and is just withdrawal symptoms and should disappear once your body is used to lower dose. If however its last longer or symptoms appear after about a week you might find dose is too low.

As Soraya says not everyone's withdrawal symptoms are the same, but you will get to know yours - that may be helpful as you get lower.

Good luck

[jaycee444]

Thank you all so much for your input. From the beginning your advice has been invaluable to me because without it I would have had no idea of what to expect or the best way to handle both PMR and Prednisolone.

I will let you know how I get on.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I would try the straight drop for the first time and see what happens but if you are nervous, try alternate days for a week and then go to the new lower dose. It is a question of learning to know your body and your PMR.

[HeronNS]

I was able to drop by 1 mg per week, overnight, from 15 to 10. After that I started dead slow taper. We are all different. Try it and see.

[katiemills]

If you're fairly new you might not be aware that both Dorset Lady and PMR pro have designed slow tapering programmes . Both are excellent and easy to follow .

[jaycee444 in reply to katiemills]

Thanks - yes I did check up on those and Dorset Lady was kind enough to mail me a copy. Wasnt sure as I was only reducing by 1mg how I should start but think after reading the advice I will try to drop it straight off and see where I go from there. Much as I want to reduce I am going to take it slowly so that I dont have to have to yo yo up and down.

[Dappa]

I am tapering down at the moment. I do it very very slowly 1mg every 6 to 8 weeks. I am now on 5 mgs from 15 mgs found it very hard on the 5 mg. So I did one day 6mgs and the next 5 and son on for about two weeks. Then went to the 5 and found that I was okay like that. When I went straight to the five after about seven weeks felt bad so went back to 6. Think everyone is different and its what suits you really. Good luck.xx

[JulianJ]

You can also ge 2.5mg coated and uncoated. I didn't know we could ger 2.5 uncoated until my doctor prescribed them instead of the coated ones.

[Mitziecat]

Hi jaycee444

I do agree with the advice given and that everyone is different in how their body responds to the tapering. A drop to 14 mg seems sensible and you might have to stay at that dose for about 4 weeks. How you feel will determine if you are ready for the next drop.

I don’t know how quickly you were diagnosed but I believe that does play a part. Like you I had a good GP and Rheumatologist who worked together to advise me. I started on 15 mg for 4 weeks, then 12.5 for 4 weeks and then 10. From then it was much slower and longer to 5 mg and then slower still. It seem to work for me but this was together with advice from fellow sufferers on the site about resting and avoiding stress. That is key and not something I am good at but learning. Always ask the members for advice if unsure. No question is too small. I tapered over 18 months & have not taken medication for the past 7 months. This worked for me but I only reduced when my body felt ok.

All the best and I hope the rest of your journey goes well.