Question for Pred Experts

[Hopeful]

Psyborg, though I haven't been on massive doses of Pred, I was at 25 mg for 6 months. I think everyone has that magic threshhold where reducing at your regular rate makes the wg symptoms reappear, albeit not as bad as before diagnosis. Mine was when I reached 15 mg. After a week at 15, the doc upped it to 17.5 for a few weeks until I stabilised, then I went down 1 mg per week or two (doc let me decide) until I reached 10mg where I now reside. Thanks everyone else for the warning on weaning off the rest of the way!

[elephant]

Hi Hopeful...I was wondering how long are you staying on 10 mg? Are you on any other medicines like cellcept, methotrexate, ect....just curious.

[marta]

I'm in the process of tapering down to twenty (-5 per week from 40 to 20). I'm down to 30 now and finding that I'm having some pain in my knees, wrist, and the side of my hand (one of the weird places i got pain originally). Is this just a normal part of tapering, or do I need to be concerned? It's not nearly as bad as it was before, but obviously anything reminiscent makes me a bit nervous. I do feel a bit better today (third day at 30) so I thought maybe I'm going to feel a bit of an issue at each drop off maybe? Honestly after the taper from 40 to 35 I actually felt better, so this is a little disappointing.

Psyborg, I say it again, you and I (and Miskey) seem to be on parallel paths. That's how I felt when I went to twenty. My regular doc told me to up the dose to 35 for three days and then go back down. My rheumy told me to split upt the pred in two and see if that makes a difference. I didn't do either because by the time I got to them (or they got back to me) the symptoms had stabalized and are now gone - the symptoms stuck around for a week and a half or so - then started to mellow out slowly. I've been told after 20mg to go down 2.5mg every two to four weeks - up to me based on how I feel - and held at 20mg for three weeks. I'm starting my second week of 17.5 today. I think, barring any unforeseen yuckiness, I'm going to drop 2.5 next Sunday.

I'm totally doing what Jack is talking about in his post, and, touch wood, it's working. I don't want to jinx myself.

It might be worth pausing for a week or two at the dose you are now on to see if things improve.

[elephant]

That is how I tapered starting with 20 of prednisone....every two weeks...tapered down to 2.5...So it went like this 17.5, 15, 12.5,10. The tapering below 10 has been a struggle. It has been trial and error...now I am tapering ( starting at 10 of pred) 1/2 mg every four weeks. Remember everyone is different...some of you will be able to taper 1 mg every month...you just don't know!

[marta]

I was thinking about this yesterday when I was trying to cut my crumbly little 5mg pills in half. How on God's green earth do you cut them to 1mg or even better to .5mg - I don't get it. I heard - I might be wrong - that they only make them in 50mg and 5mg. You'd think that since pred is used by so many people for so many things and needs to be tapered always - almost always - they would manufacture smaller increments.

[Sangye]

ROTFL-- Marta, pred comes in 1mg, 5mg, 10mg and 20mg. (I've never seen 50mg, but maybe it exists). It really should come in 0.5mg since so many people have to cut 1mg in fourths.

[elephant]

I have two big bottles filled with 1mg...then I break them in half. Sometimes I don't cut them perfectly..

[pberggren1]

ROTFL-- Marta, pred comes in 1mg, 5mg, 10mg and 20mg. (I've never seen 50mg, but maybe it exists). It really should come in 0.5mg since so many people have to cut 1mg in fourths.

In the boonies, where I am, Pred comes in 50, 5, and 1.

[Psyborg]

I've got some 2.5mg pills too. I've heard that cutting pills isn't a great thing to do as the medication is not necessarily evenly distributed through the pill (I think most of the pill is filler?). Not sure if that's just to sell me more pills though

[elephant]

I should ask a pharmacist that question. I cut my atenenol( tenormin) daily in half.