In UK. What dosages are available of Pred? I know they come in 2.5mg and 5mg.
I want to be prepared in case my consultant tells me to reduce from 10mg to 7.5mg which I'm thinking would be too big a drop. Taking 10% reduction as a guide I should ask for 9mg. How is this prescribed in UK? If I know it is possible I will push him hard.
Does anyone know the full available doses; I can't find it on-line.
Thanks.
I have 1mg and 5mg and an excellent pill cutter
UK, 1mg, 2.5mg and 5mg.
1mg is not enteric coated and can be cut.
The other come in either - but mainly enteric and must not be cut.
Pill cutters - get the best you can, but you must ensure that the pills you are cutting are not enteric coated.
The joy of enteric coated is that they are colour coded which really helps if yu drop the damned things! I have non enteric 1mg so that they can be cut. Boots do a good pill cutter - not out on show - it is like a computer mouse to look at with a vicious blade - hence having to ask for it. V cheap, too
Until you drop them on a patterned carpet ... 
Hmmmmm
You also get 1mg tablets - whether it is plain white pred or the pale yellow enteric coated sort (2,5mg e/c are brown, 5mg red).
Since you are in the UK you will be able to look at the info on the BNF site (British National Formulary) - I'd give you the link but it doesn't like me Google it. YOu will have seen it on your GP's desk as a pale lilac book if I remember rightly.
When I was initially prescribed 60mg, I was provided with 25mg white tablets and 5mg white tablets.
That's all very helpful. I've never seen the enteric ones. I have a cutter ... but does my GP think I am capable of working such complicated dosages?! My confidence in him has dropped recently but perhaps I do him an injustice.
Hi, I have 5 and 1 mg( I’m in the UK) so have managed to reduce from 10mg- 1
Mg at a time with DSNS method . Look like I may need my pill cutter if I reduce by 1/2 mg after 5. I did need to write down the doses in my diary - don’t be insulted! Good luck!
Yes I think going from 10 to 7.5 directly would be foolish. at that stage you need to go down 1 or even 1/2 a month and be prepared to go back up if symptoms return
According to the BNF you can get 1mg, 2.5mg and 5mg tablets. They also list 10mg, 20mg, 25mg and 30mg. Gastro resistant 1mg, 2,5mg and 5mg. You can also get soluble and oral pred.
Thanks everybody.
I am now confident to face the consultant if he advises too big a drop.
I 'look forward' to another batch of small round white pills to go with the other meds I am already taking, some of which I dissolve in water. And then (do others experience this?) the pharmacy regularly changes the supplier of pills and they come in a different colour or shape.
Not the pharmacy per se - the supplier is bound to take the best tender ...
Some manufacturers of prednisolone 1mg make scored tablets which makes it very easy to half. Ask your pharmacist.
Good advice, thanks.
I wish I had 1mg tablets with a score. Or even better 0.5mg tablets for slow tapering. My unscored 1mg tablets are tiny. I have a good pill cutter from Boots in the UK, but those 1mg tablets just crumble when I try to halve them with the blade. I can cut 5mg tabs to 2.5mg more reasonably as these are scored - though even then I get mistakes, however carefully I try to align the score with the blade. At the moment I'm stuck at 5mg sneaking down to 4.5mg, but I don't know what I'll do when I want to do it by halves below 2.5mg!
If you can get a prescription for 1mg, 2.5mg and 5mg tablets from your GP, you can use a mixture of them (without any pill-cutting) to get down from 10mg to 2mg in steps of no more than 0.5mg each time. It's only for 1.5mg and below that you would need to cut the 1mg tablets. My GP practice has a pharmacy attached and I can ask them each month for the precise number of each type of tablet I need, depending on where I am in my taper. (I am currently on 4.5mg, but I have kept back a supply of 5mg in case of a flare.)
I'm confused - again. So many people here talk as if they are controlling their taper. Now I know that we PMR sufferers know best (!) and we do find ourselves telling our GPs about PMR but ... the relationship I have with my GP is such that I have to tactfully suggest/ask whether what I am thinking is correct (so not to tell him his job). At the moment I am suffering badly with upset stomach (I'll go on to another thread to chat about that) and I need to explore with the GP the reason for this. It would only complicate matters if I introduce Pred dosage.
I remain grateful to you all.
Many of us are - either because we have come to an agreement with our GP or occasionally rheumy or because the GP shows no interest at all in how to reduce. After a few flares many people find the forum and join in the discussion with a tale of woe. Those of us who do well pass on our experiences.
I've just dropped from 20mg to 17.5mg. The 5mg tablets are white, the 2.5mg tablets are orange. Does this mean that they are enteric-coated?
Not necessarily - it depends on the manufacturer. Most prednisone and prednisolone comes in white tablets but there are a few non-coated doses that are orange or yellow.
Enteric coated or gastroresistant prednisolone is only available in the UK and I think is only made in 2.5mg with a brown coating, 5mg is red and 1mg is yellow.
I've got only G.C.A. and am male and have been trying to get down to as low as possible which is difficult without C.R.P. blood tests to tell me the state of my inflammation. My surgery stopped practically all blood tests at the start of the Pandemic to ease the pressure on the laboratories. My last C.R.P. was 6 on 03/03/20 and the G.P.'s at Surgery said that was low enough. The lowest I've ever been at was 3.5 mg and that brought on my first flare so Prednisolone was increased to 15 and I felt a lot better but with lacking C.R.P. Blood tests I am wary about reducing blind. I waged a war with my Rheumatologist about reductions until he agreed that reducing .5 mg per month should be alright. That was three years ago, I'm currently on 6.0 mg and have been there for three months, and have had four flares in total.
I had to give the Pharmacy attached chapter and verse why I needed lots of different sized Prednisolone pills but I'm managing with 1.0 mg, 2.5 enteric coated and 5.0 mg. Biggest problem is having Osteoarthritis in my hands so even with a pill cutter cutting anything is painful. getting pills out of the supplied foil strips is deadly. So if you are prepared to explain why you need so many Pharmacies can be very helpful.
I hope you have learned that lots of us have faced the same problems and the forum is very helpful.
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