Another Pred. question

[Debbie C]

ever since the one dr. I see here in town put me from 10-5mg of pred a day I have been having problems. When I saw the reumy at CC he said I was in remission and put me back up to 8mg a day then taper down 1mg. every 2 weeks. Well I have been feeling horrible ever since I went down to 5 the first time and today I went to the E.R. because for the last 4 days I have been having chest pains, getting really dizzy, had having a hard time breathing and having terrible headaches. I was chalking it up to the weather and my sinuses, the dr. at the ER said it was just my anxiety. So he gave be 2 ativan. Well when I left there I was still the same as I went in but a more dizzier with the ativan. Has anyone else had these problems weaning off pred. I just don't know what to do next ,I don't think this is normal. I go tommorrow for a brain scan to see if I have had any TIA's lately.

[Sangye]

Call your CC doc and let him know what's going on. I still think you need to go back up to 10mg to stabilize again.

By "dizzy" do you mean light-headed? Or is the room spinning?

[Debbie C]

Call your CC doc and let him know what's going on. I still think you need to go back up to 10mg to stabilize again.

By "dizzy" do you mean light-headed? Or is the room spinning?

I just get very dizzy..yesterday I thought I was going down for the count a couple of times.And today in the hosp. they had that thing on my finger that measusers your oxygen,it was fine while lying down but when I sat up or had her help me to the bathroom it went down to 89-90. So that isn't anxiety

[Debbie C]

How long to u think I would have to go back up to 10 since I haven't been on it for about a week and a half ?

[Al]

Debra, this sounds potentially serious, and not necessarily connected to the pred issue. (One question: Do you also have trouble catching your breath when you exert yourself?) The low oxygen when you stand up sounds vascular, though we can hope that it doesn't come up to the definition of TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack), which would be a more or less total loss of oxygen (though short term, TIAs are sometimes responsible for a lot of damage). 90% oxygen, as measured by the pulse oximeter, is not so bad in itself (though you wouldn't want to run a 10K with it!), but the sudden drop is worrisome. Yes, track down the pred problem, but please figure out about what is happening to your oxygen.

Al

[Sangye]

While other things definitely need to be ruled out, I think it's due to pred. If the adrenals aren't getting what they need, your blood pressure drops when you stand up. That can cause a temporary drop in oxygenation as well. It doesn't necessarily have to put you in the danger zone for you to feel uncomfortable.

I don't know how long you'd have to stay at 10 mg again. Could be several weeks, since it's been more than 2-3 days since you were stable. I don't advise you to make the change on your own, though. Gotta get your doctor's input and okay.