Hi Mrs LovinLife,
I'll add my two cents worth about prednisone tapering...
I think part of your problem is the up and down between 60 mg and significantly lower doses. My rheumy agreed that getting off prednisone is a good thing for a lot of reasons. However, her approach was a slower taper. On my current taper, I was at 60 mg and reduced 10 mg/month down to 20 mg. From 20 mg, I reduced 1 mg every two weeks down to 10 mg. From 10 mg, I reduced 1 mg/month down to 3 mg. at that point, my creatinine began rising, so I've held at 3 mg while increasing methotrexate from 15 to 20 mg/week. My creatinine has returned to normal. Last month, I dropped from 20 mg of methotrexate back to 15mg/week. I'm still holding at 3 mg of prednisone.
At the moment, I'm able to live a normal lifestyle. I'm going to discuss with my rheumy the pros and cons of either getting off methotrexate or of getting off prednisone. If I had my 'druthers, I'd rather be off methotrexate and continue holding at 3 mg of prednisone while we see how I do with no immunosuppressant. If I stay stable, then I'll ask to finish the prednisone taper and get into a full remission.
It's taken me 14 months to get here, but I haven't had a bad day during this time. Please discuss your symptoms with your wegs doctor. Good luck.
Pete
dx 1/11
"Every day is a good day. Some are better than others." - unknown
"Take your meds as directed and live your life as fully as you can." - Michael Chacey, MD
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