Tapering prednisone

[Lili18]

Hi guys

I have a question, hopefully you can help me. I started with 30 mg prednisone and was tapered slowly to 10 mg on 8 October. It’s been a month now on that dose. My doctor didn’t say anything about going lower than 10 and i didn’t ask him then as my head was spinning. I am seeing him on the 14th.

Do you think this means that i will stay on that dose as maintenance? Needless to say, i was hoping to go lower. Until i see my doctor, what are your thoughts? I don’t want to get my hopes up and then crash

[MEW53]

Lili18,

I was on 35mg of prednisolone for a very long time starting in August 2014 and then over time it was reduced to 5mg. I’ve been on 5mg as a maintenance dose for about 2 years now as well as other meds and mycophenolate mofetil for Myositis with a Scleroderma overlap. It’s good that you are down to 10 mg don’t be in too much of a hurry to get the dose reduced. Have a chat with your doctor and let them know if you are having any side effects. By reducing too much you mat get the side effects. Try and keep a diary it may help.😀

[misty14]

Hi lilli

Well done for reducing the prednisolone to 10 mg from 35 mg. no mean feat as I know myself as I've gone from 30 mg to 7 .5 mg over two years as I find refucing so hard!.

It's good your seeing your Rheumy on the 14 th as you can discuss how you are on 10 mg and between you decide what dose you must aim for. It becomes harder refucing below 10 mg so the slower you do it the better. Sadly 10 mg is still regarded as a high dose that you can't stay on permanently . 5 mg is regarded now as a safer daily dose so my guess is your Rhrumy will want you to aim for that like mine does.

Hope that's helpful and let us know how the 14 th goesX

[eekt]

Just wishing you all the very best, I have no experience of Pred 😚 xxx

[Melbourne-Girl]

Hi Lili18 I totally agree with what the others have said. You have done a wonderful job titrating your prednisone to 10mgms.

When you see your Dr next remind her/him that you are on 10mgms & is that what they want for a while. It may be that they are getting you used to 10mgms before they titrate you down further. As mentioned already it will go down to 7.5 for a while then 5mgms. They may leave you on 5 mgms for maintenance, I could not tolerate Prednisolone so I was Titrated to 2.5 for a while then 1mgm for a while before it was ceased. It’s a shame as it’s a very good anti inflammatory, I got Cushings Symdrome from it and my whole body blew up and my face looked like a close up of a huge full moon!

Let us all know how you get on.

All the best xx

Melbourne-Girl (M.G.).

🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

[Nelly10]

Hi there- I have an appointment tomorrow with the same problem/situation. I was prescribed prednisona over a month ago after several flare ups and a bad reaction to hyd ??? can't remember now. It's the one that a lot of people take for Lupus and other immune diseases/illness. My rheumy put me on 15 mg for a week tapering it down to 10 mg the week after, then 7.5mg for a week and now I am down to 5mg and seeing her tomorrow. I felt pretty bad for a while with stomach ache and rushing to bathroom when I was tapering down from 15mg to 7.5mg. I feel better now on 5mg but still not 100%. I am having problems still with aching joints, skin rash etc.

[Lili18]

Hi everyone, thanks a lot for all your replies. It’s nice to know that we’re in this together. Lots of soft hugs

[Crazy_Cat_Woman]

Hi Lili18, I have been tapered from 40mg to 15mg in the last 8 weeks. I was doing OK pain wise until I hit 15mg but I’m getting worse again now. I was about to drop to 10 but my GP advised me not to rush it. He wants me to go at my own pace to reduce the dose from here on. If you think about the dose in terms of percentages, it’s a much bigger drop to go from 15 - 10mg than 20 - 15mg. He tells me that it’s not an exact science and we will lower the dose when I am feeling better on my current level. I think just having it explained to me really helped. Perhaps you could ask your doctor to explain more clearly what his/ her thoughts and plans for you are?