Dear all, I have been taking 15mg of prednisolone since 3rd May and doing very well on it. All pain gone but still muscle weakness and occasional stiffness.
Any suggestions of when to start tapering and by how much? I would need to go back to my GP to ask for 2.5 or 1mg in addition to the 5mg I currently take?
Regards
Hi
You’ve been on initial dose for some time - any reason why? Usual time is 4-6 weeks.
As you’ve been on for a lot longer you may be able to reduce to 12.5mg easily which is a recognised taper - some can, some can’t.
But you will probably need both 2.5mg and 1mg in future, so ask for both instead of 5mgs
Recommended reduction is not more than 10% of your existing dose, so maybe you could try 1mg or 2mg.
But definitely once you get to 10mg, don’t reduce more than 1mg at a time.
That is a fair time to be on a start dose ( if it was your start dose). I would ask for 1 mg tablets and start your taper to 14 mgs using one of the tapers recommended here.
My rheumie only gave me 5mg tablets initially. I did not know any others existed. Trying to reduce by 5mg in my case was a disaster but when I managed to get some lower dose ones, things were much improved. You have been on 15mg for a long time, any reason?
Your doctor was negligent in not giving you advice about initial tapering. You need to speak with him/her and ask the question, even if you have already started tapering from advice on this forum. They need to know they missed telling you something important.
Btw my doctor sent me off for four weeks (five weeks at 15 mg altogether counting the one week trial) with instructions to reduce by 1 mg per week, which I found worked well until 10, then I had to slow down drastically. She was amenable to my using a slow taper program (dead slow nearly stop) and I have used that ever since. I'm currently approaching 1 mg, but it's been four years!
Oh dear!! I have this on repeat and could probably carried on for a year at this dose!! No information given at all regarding tapering the dose. Will make an appointment as soon as possible. Thank you all for your advice.
Sounds like it is time to try now , using the slow taper ( 10%max) with that first step helps especially and even given yourself a bit of extra time resting on that first step down in dose to get used to how tapering makes you feel without pushing it. Learn how it feels and your limits while your tapering.
You could start in a week , and at this position, without pain , just give yourself time to start doing a few little exercises to help the feeling of stiffness and weakness , and have a week building up your nutrients so you body is " match fit" for the taper ahead.
You can keep giving yourself a week + of resting on a new dose on each step down to again give your body chance to rebuild and rebalance and build up strength before you go again.
You can also help making the taper easier by planning the week you begin with less activities or stress , and time for you to rest if you need to with ease.
You can plan you weeks making sure near the beginning of each reduction you do more active things on the days when you are on the higher dose , and more restful ones on the reduction until you are used to it.
And don't forget , it's not a rigid timetable .
If you aren't feeling you are ready for the next step down either because of PMR symptoms , or because your next taper is " meant" to start on a week that you are on holiday , have a lot of physical or mental stress , big family events , or you have other injury or infections , don't start then , wait until these things have passed and start the following week.
The key to successful reductions and a speedier recovery is to run the race like the tortoise not the hare.
The guy in the shell always wins in the end .
Good luck we are all behind you , and ready with support as you go xx
Hello Selkie2019. I came down from 15 to 10mg by 1mg a month without problems. It then took 3 attempts to get past 10 mg and I have reduced from there by .5mg to my present four weeks at 8mg. I will now begin the dead slow nearly stop method to reduce further. I realise we are all different but I know it has helped me to read of other people’s experiences on this wonderful site. All the best - Marea
Hi Selkie, what a good thing you asked! Don't panic, though. My GP wanted me on 15mg for 3 months, but I only did 2 months after reading posts here! Then I did a month at 13mg; 5 weeks at 12mg; 2 weeks at 11mg; 2 months at 10mg and then started the DSNS taper. It all depended on my symptoms.
Having the bigger doses for longer than some people hasn't stopped me having flares along the way - we're all different, as you will read.
If your tablets are uncoated, you could get a pill cutter from the pharmacy or supermarket and go to 12.5mg, but some 1mg tablets would be useful.
Where is that lovely countryside?
Best wishes.
Me: PMR since May 2016. Several flares along the way - now on 6mg.
Thank you, I did panic!! Took 12.5mg this morning by cutting a tablet in half with a bread knife!! Have an appointment this afternoon with GP so will request some lower dose tablets. Fingers crossed! Beautiful meadow at Heligan in Cornwall.
You can get pill cutters from the chemist or online - much safer than using a bread knife!
And if you are on enteric coated pred (coloured tablets that look like Smarties and only available in the UK) you must NOT cut them.
I cut the 'normal' pred with disinfected nail scissors. Good cut each time!!
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