Question:
well, i guess even this 1/2 mg drop was too much too fast, since my hands hurt today. bummer. guess i’ll wait til i see my doc later this month and see if we can come up with a plan. tho i know his plan is to keep me on pred for the rest of my life. diane
Yeah, I feel that way too. I don’t want to take pred for the rest of my life. I’m sick of it. I hate it. I just want to stop. When I see my doc on Jan. 23rd, we’re gonna have a conversation, you can be sure. BTW, what happens when you just stop taking pred? I mean adrenal-wise, not joint stuff. Just wondering, cause I’m not planning on doing that. — Di "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world" John Muir Diane_Abell at msn dot com http://loveyourmother.homestead.com
Response:
Diane I’ve been tapering off Pred off and on for a year. I’ve been taking 5 mg for 10 years and my Doctor wanted me to try to get off it. I tapered to 2 1/2 mg pretty easlie. Then went back to 5 while going through a Vioxx test last spring. Now I’m down to 2 mg a day and skip to every other day occasionally with no bad effects. Hopefully I can get off it soon. Slow is the word here though. 1/2 mg ever few weeks sould be fine but keep your Doctor informed what your doing. I do understand that your body will start producing it after you taper off to 2 1/2 mg per day or less. Somebody tell me if I’m wrong here. Good luck. ~~~Kenny~~~ http://usslowrydd-770.com
Response:
of pred i’ve been on
My Rd said 1mg a month and if that does not work can cut back 1mg, then back to the 2mg for a couple of days or even more, then the lmg again, etc. He was talking abut my 8mg at the time, but it would apply to any amount I think. This has worked for me so far, am down from 8mg to 4mg. Peggy
Response:
ok, i should know this by now, but i don’t remember. i want to get off the 2 mg of pred i’ve been on forever. if i reduce to 1 1/2 mg for a week, then 1 for a week, then 1/2 mg for a week, then none, should that be ok? diane
If that doesn’t work, try reducing initially to 2 mg one day and 1.5 the next for about a week and then on down. That’s what I did and was able to get off it without a flare when my remicade kicked in. Sarah L "Friends are those people who know the words to the song in your heart and sing them back to you when you have forgotten the words." (unattributed)
Response:
ok, i should know this by now, but i don’t remember. i want to get off the 2 mg of pred i’ve been on forever. if i reduce to 1 1/2 mg for a week, then 1 for a week, then 1/2 mg for a week, then none, should that be ok? diane
Response:
Start by talking to your doctor and take her advice. I think you are proposing to go down too fast. About 1 mg in two months sounds more reasonable. I have a happy to share. I am finally off the pred. I took my last half mg a little more than a week ago and I am less achy finally and not quite as irritable today so I think the worst is past. Susan Tillery – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ok, i should know this by now, but i don’t remember. i want to get off the 2 mg of pred i’ve been on forever. if i reduce to 1 1/2 mg for a week, then 1 for a week, then 1/2 mg for a week, then none, should that be ok? diane
Response:
diane, sorry but no no no…If you have been on prednisone that long a week taper of 1/2 mg is not going to get it.. Have you got the docs permission to do this…I don’t mean to sound harsh here but I think you need to call the doc and ask him about this taper stuff… I have had 3 different docs and all say the same…slow slow and slower…..I even had one that point blank said stop..stupid me did, and that was before I found out about lupus and arthrits and rheumy’s…so don’t ever ever do that one…bad….let me tell you.. Please call the doc, and ask him how to do this, and if you should ok??? Janers
Response:
ok, i should know this by now, but i don’t remember. i want to get off the 2 mg of pred i’ve been on forever. if i reduce to 1 1/2 mg for a week, then 1 for a week, then 1/2 mg for a week, then none, should that be ok?
That timeline is what I would do for myself (having only been on this round since late November), but if you’ve been on it for longer you probably need to be more careful. The bottom line is that you need to give your body time to adjust so it can take up the slack as you stop supplementing your built-in systems with the external supply. I’d say the other replies here were right on target – start by asking your doctor! And be guided by your doc’s advice throughout the process. The idea of getting off pred does have some merit to it, but you need to do it carefully and with the advice of someone who knows all the gritty little details of *your* medical history. We can give you hugs and support, but you need to count on the doctor for this sort of advice.
Response:
diane, that might be too fast/it might not. We are all so different. Its not a high dose your taking so your adrenals must be functioning. Work with your doc/I’m going to start a reduction next month in an attempt to get back to 5mg. every other day. I’ve been on 10mg. since my surgeries but I havent found a Dmard that I can take so we will see. I dont know yet how fast I will taper but hopefully I can pull it off over 6-9 months. Unfortunately there is no one formula for doing this. Its always an experiment but you dont want to set off a flare so slower is generally better. johnie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ok, i should know this by now, but i don’t remember. i want to get off the 2 mg of pred i’ve been on forever. if i reduce to 1 1/2 mg for a week, then 1 for a week, then 1/2 mg for a week, then none, should that be ok? diane
Response:
well, i guess even this 1/2 mg drop was too much too fast, since my hands hurt today. bummer. guess i’ll wait til i see my doc later this month and see if we can come up with a plan. tho i know his plan is to keep me on pred for the rest of my life. diane
Response:
Diane, I have been on prednisone for 17yrs, I try to keep it to the lowest dosage as possible. Generally I am taking around 20mgs but have been down to as low as 8mgs. I taper so much that I find each time I react differently,sometimes I go down 1mg. and do not feel the effects of it for maybe 3 days. It seems to me(and I can only say this for me) that if I have a reaction and can stand it for a few days it goes away. Please do not be disheartend if you find you will be on Pred. for a long time as some people can take it with out all the bad side effects. Good luck to you and hang in there. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -well, i guess even this 1/2 mg drop was too much too fast, since my hands hurt today. bummer. guess i’ll wait til i see my doc later this month and see if we can come up with a plan. tho i know his plan is to keep me on pred for the rest of my life. diane
Response:
well, i guess even this 1/2 mg drop was too much too fast, since my hands hurt today. bummer. guess i’ll wait til i see my doc later this month and see if we can come up with a plan. tho i know his plan is to keep me on pred for the rest of my life. diane
Hi Diane, His plan is not too bad if your system is not producing enough to control your problem. Talk it over with your doctor. I know you would like to not take pred at all and that is understandable. I felt that way for years. Harv
Response:
well, i guess even this 1/2 mg drop was too much too fast, since my hands hurt today. bummer. guess i’ll wait til i see my doc later this month and see if we can come up with a plan. tho i know his plan is to keep me on pred for the rest of my life. Hi Diane, His plan is not too bad if your system is not producing enough to control your problem.
Very good point. The main reason it’s important to taper a med like prednisone is to allow time for your body to readjust, and that really does mean that it’s something at least very similar to something peoples’ bodies produce naturally. If your system isn’t producing quite enough then the idea of supplementing it over the long term isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 2 mg of pred a day really is tiny compared with what some folks take, and if that’s what keeps your system in balance then I’d be reluctant to jack around with it too much. Talk it over with your doctor. I know you would like to not take pred at all and that is understandable. I felt that way for years.
And now you know to count your blessings. There was a time not really *that* long ago (a few decades) when there simply was nothing like pred available, and I don’t think it was necessarily better for arthritics that that was the case. I say let modern medicine do whatever it can for you, and be glad of it.
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