Stopping intake of Prednisolone prior to Sali

[Benos123]

Hi Folks,

As I want to have another Salivary Cortisol Stress Test done by Genovo, I would appreciate if someone can advise me as to how long, or if at all, I should be off a 10mg daily dose of Prednisolone which I'm taking for Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR).

Kind Regards,

Ben.

[Hidden]

10 mgs of Prednisilone is quite a high dose so it's going to take a long time for you to get off it. How long have you been on it? There is a very high risk that due to being on it for a sometime your adrenal glands may have stopped working all together meaning that you have adrenal insufficiency & will need to be on steroids in order to live. Tapering your dose may reverse that but do it really slowly to avoid any crashes. Personally I would reduce it by 1 mgs every 10 days or more but if you get any side effects then increase it again until the subside & then try again. Symptoms of crashing would be vomiting, diarrhoea, heady feeling, slurring speech, fainting & confusion. I do wish the rheumy wouldn't put people on long term steroids as in the end result can be worse than the initial reason. These days there are plenty of other drugs that can be used, (I have both Psa & inflammatory osteoarthritis & am on lots of different rheumy drugs. Good luck!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Benos123

Do the instructions that come with the kit not tell you?

I use Regenerus and their instructions say

Cortisol/Glucocorticoid supplementation

Consult with your provider for instruction if you are taking a cortisol supplement for adrenal support (or any other glucocorticoid for medical reasons). Note: certain medications, including hydrocortisone creams and asthma inhalers contain cortisol. To evaluate your natural cortisol production it is recommended to stop using cortisol containing products 5 days prior to sample collection. Consult with your provider prior to stopping cortisol containing medications.

[Benos123 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for the reply and I shall read the instructions once the kit arrives and which can take anything up to a month, in rural Irealnd.

[Hidden in reply to Benos123]

You can't just stop your Prednisilone you will be extremely ill & risk going into crisis, you will need to wean down very slowly. Endo's won't test for cortisol levels until you down to a very tiny dose as it' will give elevated results & it won't be a true reflection of your levels.

[Angel_of_the_North]

I contacted Genova before doing mine as I take DHEA and they were very helpful

[Benos123]

Thanks for the reply but I did that when ordering the saliva kit, and the guy said that he couldn't advise me on medical matters and that I should contact Thyroid UK for an answer. And so I emailed them that afternoon about 10 days ago and the reply is awaited! LOL