Currently down at 10 mg Pred but feeling exhausted- is this usual?
To add to the picture I also had a heart attack around a month ago - I’m not sure whether the tiredness is a heart or steroid issue or a combination of both?
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks x
Thinking back to hubby and his heart issues, would say mainly that, but maybe a combination of both…
Full recovery from a heart attack can take anything up to 3 months for some people, so continue with your exercises, but don’t push it too much….and the extremes of temperature, whether that be very cold or very hot can make you fatigued.
As for your Pred, I know you are trying to reduce due to incorrect (?) diagnosis, but don’t try and push through that too quickly either….it will put more pressure on you.
Thank you - GP
says 1 mg per week which was going well but now I’ve hit 10 mg I’m thinking I may need to slow a little. I feel worse now than I did a couple of weeks ago and it suddenly hit me today that it may be the Pred taper that’s the issue
Could well be —-but you should be aware that if that’s what it is, it may be even more difficult as you get lower and your Adrenals need to start working again.
if you have been on pred more than a few months that is a bit fast from here on - 1mg per 2 weeks maybe. But you need to see how you feel
Been on Pred for a year so perhaps I need to slow the taper - I think a chat with my GP is in order. Thing is hearts and steroids don’t go together !
Depends how you look at it - currently I need 15mg pred to keep my cardiac problem (atrial fibrillation) nicely under wraps. Always gets worse with a flare and flares come with stress which also doesn't do the a/f any good.
Plus, remember that if you shoot down to too low a dose then the PMR symptoms will return with increased generalised inflammation, also bad for the heart, and poorly managed PMR may require a higher dose again so you have lost all your perceived advantage in reducing so fast. The main problem with 1mg per week is there are no signs waving to tell you stop here - and at that speed you aren't allowing time to know that the new dose is still enough, it can take a week or two to find out. By then, you have no idea where it went pear-shaped. You are taking (say) 6mg when the symptoms resurface - but the dose you need is more, but how much more? Will 7mg be enough? Or is it really 7.5mg you need? How far back must you go? If you try creeping up 1mg at a time, it isn't enough to help immediately and in the meantime the inflammation is building up and you will need even more to clear it out.
I was misdiagnosed with PMR so it’s just a straight taper
In that case it doesn't matter but you will find that you probably need to go more slowly for return of adrenal function after a year at doses above what suppresses adrenal function. But only a year shouldn't pose too many problems and really down to 5mg you could maybe continue as you are and then spend a month at 5mg to catch up. HOWEVER - the stress of the MI and recovery MAY mean you need more corticosteroid to replace the cortisol your body is still not making because at 10mg pred the adrenal glands won't be producing any yet.
But only a month post MI - I'd think it is also your body reminding you you have been ill. All depends on how much damage was done by the MI.
My friend had a heart attack and she felt wiped out only a month in and it took months to feel anything like normal. I know heart attacks come in different sizes but the point it is, once again it’s something we can’t see so it is difficult to see just what the body has had to deal with.
Thank you - hope your friend is now better x
Hi. My Doc tried an experiment with me. I was on 40 mg of pred for 4 days. Then we thought we’d try “cold Turkey” going completely off, no tapering. It doesn’t work. I was so tired I could hardly stay awake. Legs felt weak, will not do that again. It’s been 5 days and today I’m beginning to feel a bit normal. I don’t recommend it.
In what context? Had you been on pred before that?
Oh yes many many times, but never stopped cold Turkey like this. Never again. Pred needs a gradual lessening of dosage
I'd forgotten - you don't have PMR do you? No-one here would ever drop to zero after a short course of pred but it is OK after only a few days
In a muddle now with Pred tapering
Switching to enteric pred and tapering
Tapering Pred, on methotrexate 
PMR Shingles and tapering pred
Tapering from 2.5mg pred.
