Suggestions -how to tapper preds from 10mg

[DEE]

Hi Guys
Now on 11mg -10mg alternative days just cant make my mind up were to go to after ten .
Hope to get to 8- 7 1/2mg is my next wg consult goal , depending on how my body reacts to the change. Both wg consult and doc said to ring if I need help but i thought my first port of call is you guys as some of you have been there ,done that .
Having bloods done for infection markers ever three weeks as some still not in normal range yet
DEE x

[DEE]

ps Next goal is about ten weeks maybe !!

[Sangye]

Hi Dee, how are you feeling on that new dose?

[stikker]

I have no answers for you. I also look forward to the replies. I go from 12.5 to 10 today. After that I don't know how slow to go either.
I got to 7.5 once in the 2 years I've been sick. 5mg hurt. I was so afraid of going back to that initial level of pain that I panicked and went back up. Now I see that every time I dropped by 5 mg I hurt for about 5 days. In hindsight, I would have sucked it up a little bit longer. I think I would have succeeded then and I have hope for it this time.

[Sangye]

Stikker, do you mean you had pred-taper pain or Wegs pain? If it was truly pred-taper pain then yes, you need to just tough it out.

Since you've been on pred for 2 years, you might have to taper even slower now. Dr Seo told me the longer you're on it--even low doses-- the longer it takes to taper. Elephant can probably help you guys out with this. She's been doing a super-slow taper from 10mg.

[stikker]

I don't know how to tell the difference between weg pain and pred pain. To me it feels the same. Muscle pain. Like I said I just reacted and said I'm not going there, soI upped my dose and stayed there. This time I am determined to succeed. I have been on it WAYYYY to long.

[DEE]

Hi Dee, how are you feeling on that new dose?

Hi Sangye
Not to bad just abit worried about pulling the muscle ? whatever in left thigh the moment i start to tapper. Alarm bells ring and say GO slow !!
tried to stay on 10 mg last time and joint pain ans swelling returned and sinus etc played up .
As far as i understand wg consult not in a rush to get me off them he just wants me to get them lower for now as i have been on them for so long.
Like you i've had four yrs uphill struggle I dont want to slip down again
Was really sleepy when first lowered but leveled sp out now. water retention alittle better
and i been watching what i eat this week DEE x

[Daggar]

Trying to gain knowledge on the pred tapering now so bare with me if I ask some odd questions.

Is there any difference between the WG muscle pain and the pred tapering pain? When you say "you increase the pred"... how much do you mean and for how long?

[stikker]

Daggar, if that was addressed to me, I went back to my previous dose 7.5 mg and stayed there a long time, until I flared and went back up to 40.

[Sangye]

Daggar, Wegs joint pain and pred-tapering pain can be easily confused. Both can be quite severe. For me, they feel completely different. Others can't seem to tell them apart--especially people who didn't have severe Wegs joint pain before starting treatment. Wegs joint pain means the disease is still quite active and you shouldn't continue tapering the pred. Pred-induced pain doesn't mean anything-- just the body's response to losing the hit of cortisone-- and it's safe to continue tapering.

The best way to tell them apart is that pred-pain will disappear in 2-3 days on the new dose. Wegs pain won't.