fatigue as I taper

[Northernarcher]

hi just stated my tapering journey gone from 15mg (3 weeks) to 12.5mg (4weeks) now on 10mg been on 10mg for 12days now I am starting to feel tired all the time and lack energy is this normal?

[SheffieldJane]

I am afraid it is normal. I cope by having a regular nap after lunch and pacing activities quite strictly. There is the option of wider gaps between drops.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hi and welcome!

Not normal - nothing is in the PMR world really - but fairly usual I fear. And I have to ask - have you adjusted your activity levels? Being on pred is not a free pass to go back to your previous normal just because you don't hurt any more!

DorsetLady will be along with her welcome post with useful links at some point but just to be going on with, here is the link to my post on fatigue that is included in it.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk......

I personally have never planned to have a regular nap - I did try, as soon as I get into bed I'm wide awake despite having found myself nodding off in front of the TV and then my mind is playing at being a washing machine!! But careful planning does help and so does a smaller step between doses as you reduce.

The basic rule is not more than 10% of the current dose and that lets your body adjust a bit better when it doesn't get the dose it was expecting. However, that it took you a week to feel more tired suggests to me that 10mg is about your limit for now - there may be not quite enough to manage the daily new batch of inflammation and it could be building up again. So do keep an eye out for worsening of that and consider going back to 12,5mg and then reducing by less next time. If you are on plain white tablets you can cut them again using a pill cutter - doesn't have to be accurate, just so it is nearer 1mg than 2.5.

We also have a selection of slowed taper plans in the FAQs that also help to smooth the transfer from a higher to a lower dose. An overnight change from every day one to dose to every day a much lower one can be quite an adjustment to make.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi and welcome,

Not for everyone, but certainly not unusual for many… but don’t be fooled into thinking that now you are on the medication everything returns to life as it was pre PMR. Some doctors may give that impression- ‘taint necessarily so!

As PMRpro has mentioned, maybe have a look through this -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...