Having got down to 10mg I’ve been tapering prednisolone by approximately 0.5mg a month. I’m now at 1mg and looking to reduce further in a couple of weeks but a little nervous about a 50% reduction to 0.5mg.
Has anyone successfully cut plain 1mg tablets into 4 to produce a 0.75mg dose or is there a better way of doing it?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I have done it with a pill cutter. Not always completely accurate but happy with it
I messed about for a year with cutting bits of 1mg. No idea if it made any difference but given that the dose was so small, I didn’t worry too much about accuracy.
Hi,
it’s a bit fiddly - and some brands are better to cut than others…when I got to that point, I used my slightly longer slow taper version - the 7 week one. But there is an ultra version taking 14 weeks [repeating each step of the 7 week one]
See this - healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
Yes thank you for the link. I was wondering if one of your slow taper methods might be the best way to go. I’ll probably give it a try.
Each taper seems to cause more anxiety but, touch wood, it’s always turned out ok in the end 😊
I’d go for the slowest one at this stage - and if you feel a wobble at any time -just repeat that stage. Doesn’t matter how long it takes -just be comfortable with it…
Good luck
Thank you.
I will do that and see how it goes 🤞
Good…
I was using the Dead Slow method and took a year to get from 2 mg in .5 mg steps by doing much what DorsetLady suggests. I did each step twice, therefore taking three months to taper each half mg. My last "new dose" was zero.
However that was 2020 and it seems I wasn't ready, because in 2023 still taking half mg most days with an occasional zero day. Still astonished by how much effect a half mg can have!
No matter how slowly you go, if your body is still needing even a tiny bit you can't trick it into accepting zero! But I do hope your slow taper works for you. You will let us know? 🍀
I do it. the flatter tablets are easier to cut than the convex ones. When cutting it into such tiny bits, it can be easier to use a sharp knife rather than a pill cutter, depending on the shape of the tablet.
I use a pill cutter (easy to find on Amzn) or at your local pharmacy. Works fine with the pills I am prescribed, convex, no cutting line, same size whatever the dose. If the pieces aren't exactly identical, it evens out over a few days.
Can anyone head me in the direction to locate the Steroid taper application so I can get a schedule to reduce my prednisone 5mg daily use?
TIA
See this has been answered elsewhere…good luck
Given the size of the 1mg tablets I get, cutting them into four would be "interesting". Personally I, like DL, would be looking at using a longer taper regime and not be particularly worried about the time scale. If 1mg is doing the job with QOL it doesn't really matter if the next stage takes months rather than weeks.
Yes I agree. 1mg is a low dose anyway but feel I should try and push a little lower if I can.
Try and get lower by all means, but not by pushing…gently nudging is the way to go…😉
Understood 😄
I have had to drop by 1/4s even from 11mg and use an Amazon cutter successfully about 90% of the time. Good luck !
Yes, I got very nervous as I approached zero on a 0.5mg per month taper. I’d already been cutting the 1mg to get 0.5mg with a kitchen knife on a plastic chopping board so I knew it wasn’t accurate. I’d take the ‘bigger half’ one day and the ‘smaller half’ the next in the hope it all balanced out, and just did the same with my ‘quarters’. I used a weekly tablet cassette to store all my tablets and just placed the odd shaped quarters in an order that roughly balanced size of pieces. Hardly scientific but when needs must…..! It worked, I got to zero exactly a year ago next week ( although still on MTX but should be off that by next spring all being well)
It does work with a good pill cutter - a bit fiddly and probably not 100% accurate but doable. Good luck.
I use a pill cutter for 1/4 tablet cutting. If I nudge the two halves back together before the second cut the 1/4s tend to end up a very similar size.
I use pill cutter for quarters. You get the total amount over four days even if there may be minor variations each day, it evens out.
I use a cutter , brought off Amazon . But beware of the blade . My problem is the pharmacy supply me with non scored very powdery small 1 mg tablet and they just crumble on cutting .
Yes I’ve had that problem with the larger tablets too and have been known to eat as many crumbs as possible 😄
Thanks for your reply.
Having lost a lot of powder with a standard pill splitter, I bought an EqualSplit Pill Splitter from Amazon. It is relatively expensive but I am in for the long haul and it does split without loss.
I’ll look into that, thank you 🙏
Had that problem when I placed the cutter on a surface. I'd get one good half and a lot of crumbs. Accidentally found out if I hold the cutter in the air and snap it shut, firmly but not too forcefully, I nearly always get two roughly even intact halves. My cutter was a freebee from the pharmacy (obtained in 2015) with a drug company logo on it, long since worn off!
Yes I’ve been doing it for some time. As long as it approximates to 1/4 I’m happy, and any excess on the cut I take the next day (7 day pill sorter). BTW, I began to have a flare at Wk 4 of my 1/2 to 1/4 taper - bilateral shoulder pain - so returned to 1mg for a week, then dropped to 1/2mg. At some point I will return to the last taper, but try Dorset Lady’s 7W taper this time, or even the 14W one!
That’s interesting, thanks. Just shows how much impact 0.5mg can have.
Wishing you the best of luck with the next stage.
I cut my 1 mg tablets in half with a very sharp knife. You need a swift heavy cutting action on a paper towel and cup your other hand over it to prevent it shooting off. I’ve found it to be more accurate than a pill splitter which tends to shatter the tablet. Hope this helps.
That's how I did it Dorothy. Don't cut lots in advance. If you use the 4 quarters of the same pill over 4 days, or if at .75mg, just cut 2 and sort it so that most quarters are from the same pill, it becomes pretty accurate.
I bought a pill cutter that cuts pills into 4 pieces on Amazon. Sometimes they break apart a little so I take what looks like 1/4.
Good Luck!
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