Adrenal glands

[Pmrinsein]

What are the signs that my adrenal glands are working? I’m currently down to 4mg 2 days prednisone and alternating to 3.5 one day in attempt to get to 3.5

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Better question is -what are signs they aren’t!

This link has various info.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[piglette]

If you feel OK they probably are working OK. To really prove they are working they really need to be tested.

[borednow in reply to piglette]

Ah, but that would mean contacting my GP who seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth!! Think I'll have a chat with my dog ...........

[piglette in reply to borednow]

They said on the news today that the number of attacks on GPs had doubled in the last five years. I was wondering how that could have happened as there are no GPs around to attack! Or the ones who are around are putting up with a lot of abuse.

[yorkieme in reply to piglette]

😂

[borednow in reply to piglette]

Mine is hiding but I WILL find him. He needs to be afraid, very afraid !!!!!!!

[piglette in reply to borednow]

The area in UK with the fewest GPs per 1,000 people is Portsmouth. The Mirror has a list:

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/a...

[SnazzyD]

If they are working you don’t feel tired for no reason or hit the wall after not doing much. Basically, you don’t have to think about it. However, it’s still worth carrying around a medic alert because you still have no idea if you will overreach their capabilities if something more extreme happens like an accident or something.

[Pmrinsein]

I do not have fatigue and I’m pretty much like I used to bee. I have way more energy that some people younger than I and am able to do most everything. I’m starting tapering to 3.5 by alternating it with 4 every 3rd day and it seems to be working and will go to every other day next week. Just wondered if I needed to be aware of something. So thank you…I won’t worry about it!

[Jayveedee in reply to Pmrinsein]

I’m tapering on the instructions of my rheumatologist to come off steroids and I wondered about my adrenal glands working. I’m down to 2 mg and will go to 1 mg in a few days. I started taking them in September and expected some sort of withdrawal symptoms but to be honest I feel much better on the lower dose than I did when I was on 15mg. , apart from some stiffness which is manageable. Seeing my rheumatologist in a couple of weeks by which time I should be off them completely! His instructions!

[PMRnewbie2017]

The only thing I would add, is for how long have you been on Pred? I see you joined us in 2021, so if you've only been on Pred for just over a year, the taper you describe may work for you. I know we often talk about 7.5mg as being the pinch point where this dose of pred is equivalent to the amount the adrenals produce everyday yet endocrinologists prefer not to test until the patient is taking below 3mg. This is because pred is more potent than natural cortisol and a 3mg dose of Pred will not exert much suppressive effect on the adrenal cortex but 7mg or so does. So my advice is, now that you are trying to reduce to less than 4mg I would follow a slower reduction plan like DSNS which takes 6 weeks to complete. It sounds as if you're doing really well so it would be a shame to spoil it now. I am a huge advocate for sticking to the max of 10% rule. To put this into perspective I'm starting to reduce from 2.5mg having stayed there for a month. I've taken one dose of 2.25mg and wow did I feel the difference. The following 3 days of 2.5mg have set me right again. This is why DSNS is so beneficial because it is a gentle taper.I've had adrenal insufficiency once. It happened at 2.5mg two years ago.! It's very unpleasant hence my mantra of slow slow slow below 4mg.

[Telian in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

I got to 3mg in 2018 and felt normal. From 5mg to 3mg I had symptoms on a daily 45 mins of extreme pain (the same time each day) in my whole body before they just disappeared. Took 9 months. After 18 months on 3mg I had a flare and have never been able to get below 8 mg. My Rheumie wants to start me on MTX. I’m following dsns as slow as you can and halfway to 7.5mg BUT the adrenal symptoms (I recognise from before) have already returned with vengeance. I have the all over body pain with severe fatigue 24/7. It wakes me at night. My legs are so painful, weak and heavy I have to lift them when trying to get out of bed or trying to stand from sitting. Does this sound like the adrenals are not working? No Dr can give me an answer. My Rheumie thinks it’s possible the adrenals might be trying to do something even though my pred dose is higher than normal. This has been going on for three months and really debilitating. I see her on 6th July so wait to see what she says when it’s still not subsiding.