Shall I or shan't I .......

[Queenie1901]

Hot debate of the last week......shall I add 5mg for a short period or is it just general aches and stiffness? Since January and my 11 days positive testing for Covid I stayed at 4 mg for several more weeks. Then started a DSNS taper from 4 to 3.5. All ok after a couple of weeks so I started the next one from 3.5 to 3. Been at 3mg for 2 - 3 weeks now. Over the last week I seem to have more aches and stiffness. Always had them in the morning but they have seemed to have lasted into the afternoon this week and my knees have become particularly stiff. I have done some gardening and some longer walks than usual and admit to being busy at home with some planning of a Platinum Jubilee fete. So probably too much if I am honest. Paracetamol has been effective when I took it as a test on some days . Last 2 days I have been so concerned that I was possibly ignoring signs of dropping too low that I took an additional 5mg today and will do so for a few days. Advised my GP by econsult today. At 3mg I have not had any major fatigue, just the usual tiredness at some points in the day., not had any real pain, and generally feel my old self ( with limitations!). So was it a sensible decision to up the pred just in case? Don't want to hold out and potentially get worse.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If you notice a speedy difference - yes it was probably a good idea. On the other hand, if paracetamol worked it may not have been necessary. But I would say that 2 weeks between tapers wasn;t long enough. No hurry - you get slower at the low doses, not faster

[Queenie1901 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you. It's these lower tapers that I have to re-think. I felt really tired today so did very little but now feeling more rested and a lot less achey so feel happy with the decision

[Queenie1901 in reply to Queenie1901]

So I did notice a very welcome difference! During the afternoon and evening yesterday but most noticeably this morning when getting out of bed with less stiffness. Now I need to look back on my dosage and symptom notes and decide where to drop back to after the additional 5mg days. I suspect 4mg and perhaps going down to that in several hops. First 6 mg then 4mg? Thank you for your help

[piglette]

The best way to find out is to try it!

[SnazzyD]

My approach at this level was to reduce 0.5mg sneakily over 10-12 weeks and do less so as not to challenge the body. Walking was all, gardening a no no, much to my distress. It was my mission not to increase because I was doing too much for my level of adrenal function. Doing things that would push me over the edge wasn’t negotiable because I didn’t want to get stuck in the loop of doing too much and having to up the dose to recover. It was dreadfully dull but I’m glad I did it. So yes, you did the right thing and although we’re all different I’d suggest avoiding getting yourself into the position of having to up the dose in order to accommodate what you want to do. It’s brain numbingly tedious but I guess it depends what you want in the short term and longer term.

[Queenie1901 in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you. Yes I can see I need to slow the taper down at this lower level. Looking back with more focus now I can see a very gradual increase in aches and stiffness over the past 1 - 2 weeks. I have held off increasing because I have read so much about not getting into that pattern but it was clearly not going away. Lesson learned!

[SnazzyD in reply to Queenie1901]

This whole thing is fraught and it’s so difficult trying to second guess what’s happening, I do sympathise. Just make sure you don’t overstep your current capabilities so you are forced to up the dose, then second, reduce slowly.

[Queenie1901 in reply to SnazzyD]

Thanks again. Those are the hardest things, keeping sight of only what you are capable of and trying to work out objectively what's going on. Certainly pulls you up when you don't get it right!

[SnazzyD in reply to Queenie1901]

Yup!

[Queenie1901 in reply to SnazzyD]

I assume you can view my reply above to PMRPro this morning which is an update and a thank you. It is relevant to include you too and thank you for the important reminder about pacing myself. I was doing things and resting in between but not quite getting it right. So easy to see when you look back!