Tapering off prednisone

[lilninja]

tapering off prednisone

Hi Everyone,

I've been on Pred. since jan 29 2010. i have been great on it. alittle pain here or there but nothing major. I have been tapering down 5mg a week. on monday i dropped down to 20mg a day. i noticed that the last two days i've had more BM than usual. i usually have a bm every morning and sometimes in the afternoon. but the last two days ive had 4 bm a day. everything looks the same, just having more. is this normal with coming off pred? or is it that my bodys not ready to come off? its my first time taking pred. I could just be over thinking this.

thaks for any help

 

[Crohn's 35]

Hey lil ninja, unfortunately yes, it is common when you taper off Pred that the symptoms come back slowly. My own opinion it just keeps it at bay in higher doses and soon as you wean it means symptoms show up. I have been off and on Pred for many years and only good for higher doses. Usually a GI will have another drug kick in so when you wean off you are on a maintenance drug to be on longer term. Some people start on one of the biologics because it takes a few weeks to months to kick in. I would ask your doctor since you are having symptoms what the next course of action is. There are many routes to go because the Pentasa is a milder drug and may not hold your symptoms back. When do you see your Gi again? Ask him.

 

[Astra]

Hi Lilninja

how weird!
Me & Penny were just talking about tapering the Pred, and I'm exactly the same, on 20mg this week and now feel poorly, with the runs!
so I'm phoning my Gastro tomorrow to ask for a back up plan of action, and nipping it in the bud now, before it gets worse.
he mentioned Remi to me a couple of months ago, so gonna ask if I can start it sooner rather than wait til Pred has finished, give yours a ring too
Good luck
xx

 

[lilninja]

I see my gi on April 27th. I might need to move up that appointment. lol i'm also on pentasa 500mg 8 pills a day.

 

[ameslouise]

Having the same issue over here. I was fine at 20mg - tried to go to 15 and things went haywire! Back up to 20 - fine. Just went down to 19 a week ago and already things are going bad. It seems like 20 is the magic number for alot of us.

Try to move up your appt - you don't want to have to wait so long to get some relief!

Good luck to you - Amy

 

[ChefShazzy]

it's true, in the past when i tapered to 20 mg i would also get recurring symptoms. this time, though, i have managed to taper to 15mg without getting symptoms too badly... i am still having only 2-3 solid bm's a day. but this time, i am on humira.

i am getting really sore and tired, though - which i attribute to the tapering of the pred. when i am up on the 40-60mg dose of pred, i have crazy energy... but now i'm just exhausted all the time. also, on high doses of pred, my appetite is out of control. thankfully it seems to be returning to normal now. how exciting to think there's only 3 or 4 more weeks of steroids for me. definitely will have to celebrate.

 

[ameslouise]

Is anyone else having random sweating issues while tapering off pred??? the last few nights I have woken up in the middle of the night SOAKING in sweat. Also happens after I eat lunch - major hot flash.

OH GOD! Could I be starting menopause???? Please let it be the pred taper! I'm too young! I can't handle one more thing on top of this all!!

 

[lilninja]

I dont sweat alot at night. but i have noticed i sweat alot more when i'm working out. before pred. id bearly sweat, now the sweat is dripping off me. and i didnt change my work out. got to love these pills