Prednisone--What a Difference 0.5 mg Makes

[Sangye]

I've been on 4 mg pred for the past several months. A couple weeks ago, I started tapering it. The plan was to taper 1mg/ month until I was off. My doc said I could go slower than that, but not faster.

I decided to begin by going to 3.5 mg. I couldn't believe how much more energy I had for the first week. However, Wegs symptoms were creeping in-- nothing major, just noticeable. By the end of the 2nd week I conceded that the symptoms were past my safety level. I went back up to 4 mg last week. That day I was incredibly exhausted and depressed. That continued for a couple more days.

I couldn't take it, so I decided to alternate days of 3.5 mg and 4 mg. I'm way better. The symptoms aren't firing up and I can function. I'm planning to stay at this level for at least 2 weeks.

I finally realized my body is so sensitized to pred (from prior massive doses) that each mg acts like 10. On 4mg I feel exactly how I felt on 40mg. Same facial swelling, etc... My JHU ENT agreed. It's amazing to think that 0.5 mg of pred can make such a difference.

[pberggren1]

That is amazing Sangye. I'm sad to hear that just half a milligram of Pred can make such a difference. But if it means you can function from day to day then 4mg it is eod. I hope that at least you can feel half decent every day. I sent you a private message regarding my brother and Gout.

[renidrag]

When you wean off Prednisone how slow should you go? I started at 80mgs in August 09 and am down to 5mgs today. I will stay here for another seven days and then go to 2.5mgs for two weeks. Then I am done. Is this a safe program?
Dale

[Jack]

5 mg is where the problems tend to start (I can't even get that low). From 5mg down, I would only drop by 1mg every two weeks at most and keep a check on how you feel. Last time I tried to reduce from 10mg I dropped 0.5mg every two weeks, but after 3 months the problems were building up too much.

[Sangye]

Dale, in addition to Jack's wisdom, Elephant posted a reply in the last few day (different thread) describing a good taper program in detail. When Andrew is back on, it'd be a good candidate for a Sticky.

[TBulger]

I have been slowly weaning off of Prednisone for the past several months. I've been on for over a year with a high of 40mg per day. I've just dropped from 2mg to 1mg three days ago and I am really feeling it.