I've exhausted all avenues to get 2 mg tabs of Prednisolone so I could cut them in half. Even the pharmacy that supplies our hospital has it on backorder and their chemist 'cannot' create a 1mg or 2mg. I'm at 8mg and initially the rheumy said decrease by 2mg which didn't work well for me before...and agreed to my decreasing by one milligram.
I have printed out a few of the tapering plans from this forum and wonder????
There is one plan in which I would take one strength for so many days and then the lesser dosage for one and so on. Considering I am going to be cutting by 2mg which plan would you suggest?
I know I'm asking a lot....but I'm asking for suggestions from you based on your experience.😌
I SO appreciate you.........
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Grammy80
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Personally, until this Covid thingy gets out of the way.............I would just not bother dropping..........but if you feel you must..........are the 2mg non enteric coated, if so buy a pill cutter, if not, they cannot be cut.
You could also try the plan you have found.
BTW, what is the hurry, you are putting yourself under stress looking for them......the means you are running the risk of a flare.........so settle down for a week and relax and probably things will become clearer to you.
Another one on its way...............then off for a cuppa and my book. I could not beleive what I had thought in the past - here is the proof. It is blowing my mind.
'Sex Matters' by Dr Alison McGregor.
No it is not about 'sex' in the normal sense you would use it.
Who cares about the sex of the sim bodies (they are all male and white) in a medical school?
The answer is, we all should care. Sim labs use male bodies only.
This system ultimately creates doctors who ascribe to the false belief that, aside from sex organs, men and women are bio-logically identical.
Not just hurting - killing ... PPE is not designed for women's sizes and shapes whatever the context. Stab vests and medical gowns may be fine if you are a 6ft bloke, not so much if you are 5ft in your socks and curvy.
That is such caring advice! I want to try again....s-l-o-w-l-y because I have drippy crusty nose bleeds and have so many blood vessels rupturing under my skin I look like a globe of our planet.
I will wait to start until next Monday .....I'll fill in my calendar sheets with the dosages DorsetLady gave me in that ultra-slow taper and do some cutting and create my 2 mg...
I was hoping I'd hear from you....I have the various plans printed out...but this one will go on the fridge. Also, I will go ahead and fill out the dosage amounts on my blank calendar pages otherwise I would never keep track. Until GCA I was so organized and had my 'medication system' down pat...now, not so much because the 'rules' keep changing.
Your advice and suggestions are invaluable and I think my rheumy will be suggesting this for other patients. Thank you so much...being the tortoise is just fine with me. xo💖
Well if you give me your email address in private message not open forum I can send either an excel spreadsheet (which wI’ll update the dates for you) and/or PDF document.
The same applies to my DSNS slow taper as DL says - start with a very long gap between one day of the new lower dose, say 1 day new dose, 10 days (or more) old dose, 1 day new dose, and then reduce the number of days between one at a time if it feels right, If it doesn't feel right, do another stretch of the same gap.
It was partly developed because people with enteric coated pred can't cut the tablets and the smallest you could get was 2.5mg . It worked for them.
Someone on this site suggested a journal and it really helps keep track of things. I keep a separate pill box just for my pred. I write which week I’m starting a new taper and fill my box each Sunday morning. The journal helps me keep track of symptoms too. Good luck. Never a dull moment!❤️
PMRpro I am so thankful to you for this taper. My rheumatologist was not impressed but told me to go ahead and try it. He believes it’s a race to get to zero. On the other hand my GP loved it and made a copy for patients who were struggling with tapering. ❤️
I really don't understand this desperation to race to zero - it is a chronic illness, you are looking for a longer term dose. Surely an approach that works is the important factor?
Me too and it is also fine with me. I have a friend who just cannot go without that last 1mg of Prednisone...and she has been on it 12 years by now. xo
That is awesome...with the help of these gals..and patients like you and me in the states...it will get passed around and help many others. All things considered...I don't understand the hurry to get to zero...I get the side effects...but I also get what the flares do.
Thanks 👩🏿🤝🧑🏼👨🏾🤝👨🏽👨🏾🤝👨🏾👩🏾🤝🧑🏼👩🏿🤝🧑🏽👩🏿🤝🧑🏽👩🏽🤝🧑🏿👩🏽🤝🧑🏿👨🏻🤝👨🏻👩🏾🤝🧑🏿👨🏼🤝👨🏼👨🏻🤝👨🏻👨🏼🤝👨🏻👨🏼🤝👨🏻👨🏼🤝👨🏻👨🏼🤝👨🏻👨🏼🤝👨🏻👩🏿🤝🧑🏻 You rock!!
You know I never thought of increasing the days between tapering. I thought about repeating the taper as I go along but I’d got fixed into 6 days old dose etc - 6 days being the slowest taper for me. Funny how you sometimes can’t see the wood for the trees and unable to think outside the box!!
Marilyn, I too am on 8 and my Dr. wants me to drop by 1 mg. I'm not going to.. Will do slow taper with, 8 and 7.5 beginning Monday. My suggestion would be slow taper schedule using 8 and and 7 if you can. Will pm you later tonight.💖Jean
I'm in the UK and I've noticed I'm only getting 1mg tabs in my repeat prescription and no 5's. So I've assumed they've run out. Snowed under with 1's. But not EC coated. Things are getting crazy. I wish I could help you out.
Had same thought. I’m in USA and have been getting 1mg from Walmart. Also 5mg and 2.5 mg as needed. Never a problem. Hoping for a solution for Grammy 80. 🤗
She is on methyl prednisolone/Medrol - which comes as standard in 4mg, 8mg and 16mg tablets, equivalent to 5,10 and 20mg pred. It is theoretically possible to get 2mg but there seems to be a problem. Medrol is mostly used in what are called Medrol packs for acute conditions where there is not so much of a problem tapering.
I've been told to alternate 5mg/2.5mg for 6 weeks, then a further 6 weeks doing 5mg /2.5mg /2.5mg, following a recent flair after spending a month at 2.5mg. This was suggested to me by rheumy nurse after I asked about getting 1mg tablets to help tapering. So far, so good, but I'm keeping an eye on other tapering schedules, just in case.
I'm puzzled too, as prednisolone comes in 1mg tablets - plain or gastro-resistant. (Edited: Sorry, I've realised you are in USA - you confused me by writing 'Prednisolone'!)
I still have some 20mg which I can cut into 4, I have 2.5mg and 1mg. Using a pill cutter, I manage to get what I want in mgs. I am now down to 3mg. and at times 2.5mg. If you don't have pill cutter I would suggest you get one. For me it has been, and is, a great help
I have two pill cutters both from the firm starting with A! The round one never seemed to cut cleanly but the newer oblong shaped cutter is excellent and cuts very small tablets very well. My Amitriptyline is small and I cut those in half.
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tapering advice, yet again!
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