I'm in week 2 of the slow taper. I feel like sleeping all day . I don't recall feeling this way at higher doses when I tapered a ,5 mg dose
I also spent two weeks on vacation and walked about 60 miles. I felt really good and haven't had any symtoms pf PMR for at least 3 months. I waited until after trip to taper. At first i thought I was exhausted from trip so I've been resting a lot, but i got back two weeks ago and should have returned to feeling ok.
Just soooo tired feeling .
Probably adrenals stuttering.. and also a bit of a hangover from holiday.
Maybe just tread water on the tapering or better still return to 3mg for a month or so and let the adrenals catch up..
A 0.5mg reduction may seem the same, but there’s a lot of difference percentage wise dropping that at 3mg to 2.5mg [16.67%] than from 10mg to 9.5mg [5%].
It is likely that your adrenal glands aren’t yet making up the shortfall of Pred so you are paying the price. Under about 8mg (roughly) your Pred no longer covers the body’s natural level of steroid for every day operation. Normally your adrenal glands squirt out cortisol but haven’t needed to because there has been so much Pred in your system. So they have laid dormant and the sequence of events that make them work. Until the message gets through you can suffer from a deficiency of Pred/cortisol and feel dreadfully tired along with other symptoms potentially. Waiting is the only thing you can do and for how long is anyone’s guess. Have a read through these links to have a good idea of this process.
healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
It might be something else of course but I’m going on timing.
hi I'm exactly where you are re tapering from 3 to 2.5. I started by reducing very slowly to 2.75 first by going 2.5 one day then back up to 3 for 6 days then 2.5 and back up to 3 for 5 days etc. until I was taking 2.5/3 alternate days. I'm now on the slow taper to 2.5. I have been diagnosed as adrenal insufficient so know to take it very easy. So far even with the minuscule tapers I feel the fatigue but generally able to cope with it. As Dorset lady suggested you could go back up to 3 until you feel a bit better then start to drop again but very slowly. Good luck and hope you feel better soon
hi
As others have said, you need to take it slowly, they say the lower the slower!
I was down to 2 mg in January and have just reached 1 mg in august. After many failures I have learned this lesson. I tend to reduce.25 mg on the DSNS taper and then I stay on each reduction for at least a month before the next reduction . I was diagnosed in 2016 and this is my second time at 1 mg so taking it slow x it’s quite a journey so good luck x
Carole
I am in process of tapering to 3.5
But how on earth can we reduce 1/4 of dose the tablets are so very small?
I know, the pills are small. I have a pill cutter which works well you can get them on line . I actually got mine from the vet !! Ha ha
🤣
Yes, they are small but as 9lives says, a pill cutter should do it. Mind you, sometimes you end up with powder - if only one could sniff it up! Generally it works - just fiddly. I am reducing by .25mg now that I am under 7mg. In the past I have flared between 5 and 7mg or the adrenal deficiency has been dreadful. Good luck.
My GP a prescribed 1/2 mg tablets so I only have to halve them
Should you feel like this? It isn't uncommon as you get to low doses of pred to feel really fatigued if your adrenal glands waking up lags behind the reducing dose of pred as the others have already explained.
The only way it will improve is to stick at the lower dose to trigger the adrenal glands to satrt producing cortisol to replace the pred, so if you can stick it out, that is best. However, if you can't function and need to - live alone for example - then maybe go back to 3mg and give them a few months to catch up, which they should at that low a dose.
You have gotten some great advice from folks who have walked the walk. I know with GCA, the lower, the slower the bump/stutter here and there, Just offering support to you💞
I love reading posts from members already tapering. I have only been diagnosed about six weeks. I know my GP wants this so I am looking at how best to approach it in a few weeks. I like the slow taper approach here. I was a bit scared of the plan I was given at diagnosis 😧
Tapering down....from 35 mg to 12.5 since August 31st
Tapering from 2mg to 1 Mg 
What to expect on 3mg/day pred, and monthly tapering... 
Down to half mg pred
Advice please. Just don’t know where to go from here on pred dose.
