Can I up my prednisone without telling the doctor?

[Jenny06xx]

Hi again lol
Well I'm down from 40mg pred to 25mg and although I've been in a continuous flare since sept the pred has been helping with the pain but everytime I get to 25mg I start to get worse I'm up all night with diarrhoea as well as the day, gurgling noises and just feeling generally unwell and miserable.
My question is last time this happened the doc upped me to 40 mg again but I can't get to the doctors as it's a weekend now so can I just up the dose myself and let him know when I c him next?
Sorry sooo new to all these meds lol
Jen xx

 

[Jennifer]

Can you leave a message with the office? Someone may still be able to get back to you as many doctors do check their messages or have someone else check for them. If its an emergency, then they will get back to you.

40 to 25 is quite the drop. Your GI may want to try a slower tapper from 40 to 30 or even 35 and see how that goes. I've never been a fan of self medicating. There are walk in clinics you can go to (at least here there are and are open on Saturdays) and there's always the emergency room where they can instruct you.

I don't think anyone on this forum is going to tell you to up your dose without your doctor's permission as none of us are doctors. If it were me, I'd call and leave a message, try for a walk in clinic or if the pain is really bad then head to the ER and then wait till Monday to get back to my GI doc and tell them what's going on and let them make the decision.

 

[effdee]

I'd say it depends on how well you feel you know your body. If I felt that's what the doctor would have me do, I'd go ahead and take more rather than risk getting worse over the weekend. You said this has happened before, so, if taking more prednisone helped, then it seems logical to do it again. Tell your doctor what you're doing, regardless, as soon as you can. He may say you did the right thing but the worst case would probably just be him saying you shouldn't have done it and he'll tell you to taper again.

 

[Jenny06xx]

Thanks both
I'll hold off for now just incase I haven't given the new lower dose enough time to work an for my body to adjust, I don't think anything serious would happen by Monday so I'll phone my ibd nurse and leave a message (she will only get back to me Monday) an be on the safe side
Thanks both
Jen XX

 

[Nica]

Jen,

I would never up my pred dosage without talking to my doc. Pred is one of the nastiest meds out there for side effects so the taper is going for a reason. I got CD before biologics were common place and now have massive problems from long term massive dosages of pred, so be careful with it. It takes time to adjust to a taper, but if you are not doing well I would go to the ER or call my GI. Most docs will call back fairly quickly, the ER can direct you for the weekend or give you pain meds.

 

[vonfunk]

I'm pred dependant and have been on it continuously for 2 years.

I'm going to be honest, I'm a bad patient, but a smart one. I've been going to my doctor for a couple years and have been through the taper several times, so I do exactly as he has told me to do numerous times in the past. I up my pred when things are rough. I stay on that dose until things sort themselves out, and slowly taper first 5mg a week and then 2.5mg a week until I get to my normal maintaining dose.

 

[lynx]

My GI told me that if I were to start having problems or increased symptoms to stop tapering and continue or up the dose I was on to a level that resolved the symptoms. I started at 60mg, now I am down to 40mg. But when I got to 30mg I started noticing some bad things so I upped my dosage to 40mg and have stayed there for a bit to see if it would help. I am going to start tapering again tomorrow to 35mg and see how that goes my fear is the Dr. told me I will probably have to go on imuran and remicade if the steroids do not work....

As far as I know you can take a higher dose of the steroid and it will not hurt you...its when you stop them you MUST taper or you can have a lot of problems. (clarification: taking a higher dose that you have already been on in the past...)

I would go ahead with an increased dose since you have done it before but be sure to notify the doctor as soon as you can and let them know what you did and why.