Accidental overdose of prednisolone!: My current... - PMRGCAuk

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Accidental overdose of prednisolone!

Mack100 profile image
18 Replies

My current dose is 3mg daily taken in the morning. I get the medication ready the night before and when I did so just now I found that I had accidentally opened my "emergency" pack of 5mg tablets last night so it seems I took 15mg this morning instead of 3mg!😃

I just want to check that it's quite safe to return to my normal 3mg dose tomorrow morning.

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Mack100 profile image
Mack100
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18 Replies
SheffieldJane profile image
SheffieldJane

yes, we have all done it. You might be a bit lively and sleepless but you’ll be fine to go straight back down.

123mossie profile image
123mossie

enjoy your day on 15mgm! Yes you’re ok to drop straight back down, I’ve done the same. Put a coloured ribbon or something round your 5mgm box so you don’t mistake it again.

piglette profile image
piglette

Much better than forgetting to take them altogether. A lot less painful too!

Mack100 profile image
Mack100

Thanks for the encouraging replies, in retrospect I probably did feel better yesterday. My 3mg dose is just about OK for me. I still get stiff and painful if resting for a while but once I'm active I'm much better.

Oddly enough I was better at 3mg a couple of months ago but when I tried a 2.5mg taper I wasn't very good at all in terms of pain and stiffness so after a month I went back up to 3mg but I don't feel quite as good now as I did before the taper.

As per Prof. Dasgupta I'm going to stick at 3mg as a maintenance dose probably until spring and then try to reduce again.

Great place this 👍😊

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Mack100

There are rheumies who say not to try to reduce during the winter!

It is very common to struggle to get back to where you were after a flare. Did you try a few days of adding 5mg to the flare dose? If you are on the borderline on a dose and then have even a small flare, you have no buffer and the previous dose isn't enough to "spring clean" before settling back to "daily dusting". If you see what I mean.

Mack100 profile image
Mack100 in reply to PMRpro

Good point, I just went straight back to 3mg and haven't felt as good since. Maybe it's a good idea to go back to say, 7mg and gradually reduce from there. Would I then need to do a DSNS routine?

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Mack100

If you just use it to do a "springclean" - 5mg/day for up to 7-10 days - you can drop straight back to your chosen lower dose in a single step if you want. Some others like to do it in a couple of steps but no, after such a short time you don't need a full DSNS approach.

Mack100 profile image
Mack100 in reply to PMRpro

Thank you, I've been like this for a couple of months since that reduction to 2.5mg, I'll top up from today by 5mg then do a weekly 1mg reduction after 7/10 days and monitor the situation. I feel better already after discussing this, I should have done this sooner.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Mack100

That is the usual story!

whitefishbay profile image
whitefishbay

You will feel great all day. Enjoy it.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador

Must be the time of year - someone did exactly the same a couple of weeks ago! But they took it for rather longer than one day if I remember rightly.

Mack100 profile image
Mack100

Could well be the time of year but in my case it's probably time of brain!

Bedwell profile image
Bedwell

I could wish the tablets were different colours!

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Bedwell

The gastro resistant ones are....but not the bulk standard cheapies...

Mack100 profile image
Mack100

It's funny that colour should be mentioned, I was thinking the same myself two nights ago while sorting out the next mornings meds, the 1mg and 5mg look identical.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Mack100

A thick black felt tip marker and a very large number written in the original container helps!

Mack100 profile image
Mack100 in reply to PMRpro

As does wearing your glasses when sorting out meds.😀

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Mack100

Ah well!!! But the big black figure mitigates that too! Actually - I have to take my specs OFF to see the numbers on my pred tablets! The 3 doses have very slightly different pale yellow coatings which can only be seen in good light and the numbers are tiny, At least the numbers on the original tubs are visible :)

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