reduction in steroids

[steph1]

My G/P has reduced my steroids from 20mg to 15mg daily to see how i get on , i dont know if its the reduction or something else but those nasty sweats have come back and my hands have started shaking again ( not all the time ) any ideas anyone.

[2watsons]

Yes 5mg down ,never have sweats but feel tried and a little low ,IIt is quite a jump from 20 to 15mg,So take care a few days on hope feel better when your body has got used to it .

[Hidden]

Hi Steph,

If you don't manage this drop don't be surprised. A 25% drop is a lot. After 20 mg I managed to go to 17.5mg, but after that I could only drop 1mg at a time. It took me quite a few weeks to adjust to from the 16mg down to 10mg. There was quite a few days of side effects before I got back on kilter.

My advice is that after 4 or 5 days if the nasties have not gone then go back to the dose that you felt good on and drop more slowly.

Pats.

[jinnyone]

i am down to 15% and have the sweats and shaking not nice i had to up mine by half the effects were dramatic. its up down up down a long slow process am sure in the end get correct leval. I just grin bear it don't want the really bad cramps and pain good luck jinnyx

[hannmorr]

I didn't have the sweating when I reduced but had the shakes and light headed and lots of aches and pains...it is a big drop from 20-15 mg- as others have said- I guess it is gets down to what you can tolerate...

Good luck.

[Pipistrelle]

Hi -- hmmm that is much larger than is recommended by neurologists. Is your GP familiar with this document below -- the standard rheumatologist guidelines for managing PMR? This should really only have been a 2.5 mg reduction to 17.5, not a full 5mg. Correctly following the treatment guidelines, which have been drawn up by some of the top researchers and rheumatologists in the UK (similar standards now exist in the US as well), vastly increases anyone's chances to manage this frustrating condition and avoid bouncing back and forth on steroid dosage which is known to extend the length of time of overall steroid treatment.

I'd print this out and take it to your GP.

rheumatology.oxfordjournals...

[Pipistrelle]

Actually this is a better version to print out or keep as reference, as it is a PDF:

rheumatology.oxfordjournals...