6 Week Check-up

[KyleB]

Saw my Rheumy on Monday August 10th. He is very happy with my progress. We are starting to taper down from 60 mg of pred started yesterday on 55 mg . Going down 5 mg a week for 8 weeks. Hoping this helps with my sleep. My lung Xray has went from lots and lots of Cavitative lesions to almost none !! The Pred has done its job Rheumy seems to think that the Rituxen will start to do its job any time and hopefully kick me into remission.
Sounds like i may be one of the lucky ones if i get into remission this easily. I am still very fatigued but it could be way worse. My mental state improving daily.

Hoping the tapering goes well and i am on the mend

[Pete]

Good news, Kyle!! Hope it keeps up. Once you get down to 20 mg of pred, the taper needs to be much slower. I went from 20 down to 10 at -2.5 mg/month and then tapered at -1 mg/month to as low as I could tolerate (3-5 mg/day). Be attuned to your body for subtle symptoms - joint pain, etc. as these may indicate you've gone too low.

[mishb]

Sounds like you and your doctors are doing everything right.
I second what Pete has said. It does get harder the lower the dose you are on.
Mine was extremely slow at .5mg every 6 months

[drz]

Sounds like you and your doctors are doing everything right.
I second what Pete has said. It does get harder the lower the dose you are on.
Mine was extremely slow at .5mg every 6 months

I did .25 mg every two or three weeks depending how long it took my body to adjust to the lower dosage. I stopped at 5 mg and remain there.

[kaysee]

Saw my Rheumy on Monday August 10th. He is very happy with my progress. We are starting to taper down from 60 mg of pred started yesterday on 55 mg . Going down 5 mg a week for 8 weeks. Hoping this helps with my sleep. My lung Xray has went from lots and lots of Cavitative lesions to almost none !! The Pred has done its job Rheumy seems to think that the Rituxen will start to do its job any time and hopefully kick me into remission.
Sounds like i may be one of the lucky ones if i get into remission this easily. I am still very fatigued but it could be way worse. My mental state improving daily.

Hoping the tapering goes well and i am on the mend

Good news Kyle. Congratulations. Hope things continue to improve.

[vdub]

Always nice to hear a good success story. Let's hope it continues. My pred is at 7.5mg over my physiological 5mg. -- I'm comfortable with that.