Prednisone tapering

[spcwife23]

hey everyone, can someone go down the list on how they cut up their prednisone for lower than 15mg, especially when it gets to 7.5 mg and below. Thanks so much..

 

[minnietoty]

Take care that you don't go down very quickly. I have been on pred for 8 months now. I started with 40 mg and am now on 2.5mg and can't go less than that. It was easy to go down till 20 and then I started to lower the dose 2.5 mgs every week. It took me long time, I admit, and whenever I try now to wean it off every other day, I relapse and have been on the 2.5 mg for more than a month now.
I've read on this forum that there is a 1mg pred. Ask your doc about it. Also, search this forum for pred and you will find invaluable pieces of advice. A last word of caution, don't cut pred now as long as your flare is not under control yet.
Take care!
__________________________________________________
Diagnosed with undetermined crohn's 2007.
GERD for 13 years, gastritis and duodenitis for 4 years.
Current medication: pentasa enema x2, 175 mg azathioprine, pred (tapered to 2.5), nexuim 80mg,
Other meds for unknown severe infection: ceftriaxone 1g iv/ 12 hrs and tavanic 500 x 1.

 

[Jennifer]

My GI would go down by 5mg at a time. Never more than 10mg when on higher doses. If I were at 15mg, he would cut it down to 10mg and see how I did for about 2 weeks. If all was well then he would taper it again to 5mg for the same amount of time if all went well and then cut the 5mg tab into 2.5mg for about a week then come off. It all depends on how long you're been taking it and if you handle the taper well. Every time I got sick again he would up the dose by 5mg until the symptoms went away. My GI never had me taper it myself. We'd keep in contact by phone and he would tell me when it was ok to cut the dose and by how much. In my opinion, that's the best way to taper (with the guidance of your GI).

 

[spcwife23]

@Minnie thank you so much for that information, I thought they all come in 20mg and then you cut it up lol.. I'll definitly talk to him about the the different types of mg you can get..

@crabby, thanks for answering and you are right about tapering with out him.. He told me to do 40 but I did 35 for a week and see how I'm feeling and if I feel like I'm not ready, then stay on it for another week, then taper to 30 well it would of been 35 for him but since I did 35 it will be 30.. He told me stay there till i see him next month.. We are pretty much tappering 5mg till I can get my self to 15mg and that's where we will have to take it extremely slow till i get off.. I told him to please take it slow I dint care how long it takes because i rather get it done right than try and get off and get back where I am now..

 

[silveyk]

The length of a steroid taper depends on the disease and its severity. In the case of most autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's, it is better to taper off slowly for two reasons. 1) You need to suppress your body's immune reaction until it chills out. If you drop your steroid dose too quickly, the immune system can roar back with a vengeance, flaring worse than ever. 2) Steroids suppress your adrenal glands, which secrete glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, and androgens (stress hormones and hormones that regulate your electrolyte balance). If you stop the steroids, your body cannot rev up the adrenals fast enough to make up for the deficit. This can lead to shock, coma, and death.

Now that I have your attention...understand that steroid tapers can last from anywhere from a week to close to a year. The important thing to know is that if you are on chronic steroids or have recently been on steroids and find yourself hospitalized for something other than Crohn's (like a motorcycle accident or pneumonia), your doctors need to know that you are/were on steroids. Adrenal hormones kick into high gear under stress and illness. If you have been on low-dose steroids, your adrenal hormones will be suppressed and not working at full capacity.

Dr. S (spouse w/ crohn's)

 

[lostpanda]

I mg pred tabs

@Minnie thank you so much for that information, I thought they all come in 20mg and then you cut it up lol.. I'll definitly talk to him about the the different types of mg you can get..

@crabby, thanks for answering and you are right about tapering with out him.. He told me to do 40 but I did 35 for a week and see how I'm feeling and if I feel like I'm not ready, then stay on it for another week, then taper to 30 well it would of been 35 for him but since I did 35 it will be 30.. He told me stay there till i see him next month.. We are pretty much tappering 5mg till I can get my self to 15mg and that's where we will have to take it extremely slow till i get off.. I told him to please take it slow I dint care how long it takes because i rather get it done right than try and get off and get back where I am now..

Hi SPCWIFE: The name is Bob . I have had Crohns sense 98. In 06, they removed my entire large colon then they started my final taper off the Pred. It took me almost a year to get down to 1 mg (they do have them). On my last visit to my RA doctor, he decied to leave me on the 1 mg of pred going forward. He told me because I was on it for so long he didn't want to pull me off completely. I hope you can get off the pred when the time is right. It was my drug that I loved to hate. Good Luck from Maine, Bob E

 

[Zalanicht]

Make sure you taper properly. I went from 40 mg for 3 months to nothing. Doc said I was lucky nothing happened.

 

[hainman]

hey,ive been tapering down 1mg a week and am on 9mg,my gi nurse says that my recent colonoscopy and blood works suggest i shouldnt be on them at all but time will tell.everytime i come off them my symptoms flare up,think my body is dependent on these bloody things........

 

[spcwife23]

hey everyone thank you for your respinse and comcerns..
i am definilty listen to everything and taking this slow as a snail.. i am still on 35 and i refuse to move till i know my body can handle going down to 30.. the gi told me that he feels im intune to my body so i would no when things are ready.. he told me if by next week friday i dont feel like my body is ready then stay on 35 for another week and then if i know its ok go down to 30 mg.. i am not russhing this at all.. to be honest i rather gain the weight and have a fat face and get this done properly than rush things and hurt my self even more..

the past 2 days i been feeling great tho to be honest, have energy to start excersising, and since this government shut down thing is still not sure about next month i cant buy what i need to make the juices so i can start doing things healthier for my self and my son...

anyways to be honest looking how things are right now i may not be ready to move the dosage but only time and god can tell... i think maybe i had more infection in there than the picture from the colonscopy is showing who knows.. but im gonna take it slow this year and take care of my self so i dont end up hurting my self more...

again ty sooo much for the help..

 

[crohns5-0]

Be careful with tapering. I went from 10mg to cold turkey and went into 3 days of mental instability! I'm on them again and at 15 right now, this will be the last time I ever go on them, I'm suffering from bouts of extreme anger and rage!!! :ymad: I'm 6' and 230lbs so it's not pretty when I start losing it.

 

[TheMrs]

Once I get to 10mg I taper by 1 mg every couple/few weeks. I was the lowest I'd been in two years before a set back last week. I get extremely edgy and get hot flashes every time I increase. I'm only 5'1 ish but people quake in their shoes I tell ya!

 

[spcwife23]

Hi, If y'all suffering with the rage thing at such a low dosage what will happen to me when I start tapering.. I have the rage thing now, not as bad as when I was at 40 mg but I really feel bad for the people I rage on.. I try and breathe through it but that only helps 2 percent of the time... Thanks for the tapering advice so soon as I hit 10 mg I'll taper 1 mg at a time.

 

[TheMrs]

Oh sorry, the edginess starts at about 15-20 mg for me and usually lasts til I adjust to the new dose. Sorry I wasn't more clear!

Eta: always discuss tapering with your doc so they know where you are at. Seems like diff docs recommend diff tapers. My husband was on a month of pred following five days of solumedrol and his **** of a neurologist didn't bother telling him he should taper. :runaway: