Should I follow sick day rules?

[Elispeth]

I've recently needed to take a quick trip over to Spain which didn't quite go to plan! We ended up experiencing a 30hr long delay due to a cancelled flight. We ended up on a four hour coach trip down to an alternative airport and had an unexpected overnight stay in a hotel before encountering a longer than anticipated journey to our accommodation - which ended up being up a flight of 47 steps in the early hours of the morning! The whole week long trip left me chasing my tail and not really being able to rest and listen to my body - which I am usually quite good at!I have now been back home 12 days and despite completely resting up and listening to my body I am just continually exhausted and my legs in particular are stiff and aching. At the time of travelling I was just at the end of a slow taper from 6.5mg down to 6mg and seemed to be doing well enough considering my adrenal glands now need to catch up.

My question is what shall I do now in terms of getting myself better. Should I do a 5mg increase for the next 7 - 10 days and then drop back down to just above my previous dose or shall I remain on my current dose and hope that continuing to rest up will do the trick?

Thank you so much for any advice that you can give me 🙏 x

[SheffieldJane]

It’s always a bit of a gamble but doing the sick day rules may save your taper in the long run. Your holiday sounds very stressful and demanding.

[Elispeth in reply to SheffieldJane]

Thank you Jane! I am very tempted to take that gamble especially when you say that it might benefit me in the long run, tapering wise. I had no option but to go really as we have just moved back to the UK from Spain and we had to return to tie up a lot of lose ends! The unexpected travel delays and bad choice of accommodation put the top hat on what was already a difficult task for me physically. I wish you well Jane. Thank you for your reply 🙏!

[SheffieldJane in reply to Elispeth]

A real stress fest then!

[123-go]

Sounds like a nightmare, Elispeth! In your place I would follow sick day rules to get back on track. I hope you feel better soon.

[Elispeth in reply to 123-go]

Thank you 123-go!

[agingfeminist]

What an ordeal. A few days of extra pred won't do any harm and you can drop back to where you were. Obviously not something to be often repeated but the experience sounds a real trial. Hope everything else goes smoothly.

[Elispeth in reply to agingfeminist]

Thank you aginfeminist. We are hoping to be a bit more settled now!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Not so much SDR as following procedure for a flare -see link for info on how to proceed- pretty much as you describe -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

Sorry to hear you had such a difficult time -

[Elispeth in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you DorsetLady. It's one of those times where you are not really sure what to do. As you say, not really sick but have overdone it! Take care 🙂!

[nuigini]

I lived a similar travel nightmare not too long ago, with similar results. Initially I increased by 5 mg, but after a few days with limited relief I increased to 20 mg for 5 days and slowly reduced to the level before the horror story began.

We're all different though and the decisions were made based on my personal history with flares.

[Elispeth in reply to nuigini]

Thank you nuigini. Sorry to hear about your own horror trip 😕! We would never contemplate organising such a stressful trip for ourselves would we - then when it turns into one we have no other option but to do our best to cope with the conditions. I did pay for an extra two hours in the hotel room to rest. Everyone else on the trip (other than my husband who understands) thought I was mad, but it did help 😴 💤!

[Elispeth]

Thanks to all ❤! I have now taken the extra 5mg and will continue to take it for at least a week before reducing back down!