Tapering too fast?

[dammlm]

Hello, this is my first time posting. I have a couple questions about tapering off of prednisone. First of all I was diagnosed about a month ago after a colonoscopy and my Dr. put me on 40mg of prednisone for 14 days, then I was supposed to go down to 20mg for 14 days. I also started Pentasa at 1000mg 4 times a day about two weeks ago.

While I was taking the 40mg of prednisone, I had some of the not so lovely side effects but not nearly as bad as some I have read about. Mostly moodiness and a sore jaw. I also caught a particularly persistent cold a couple weeks ago.

So, back to my question, today is day four of 20mg of the pred and I'm feeling pretty terrible. Partly, I think it is the cold I'm fighting, it seems to have settled into a sinus infection. So that is causing me major headaches and facial pain. But then I have been doing a lot of reading about tapering and all the crazy effects that can cause, and that's got me wondering if more of it has to do with the pred taper or the cold? Is it just bad luck that I happen to have a tasty cold at the same time as my taper, or is it the taper? Also, based on my reading here, jumping down from 40mg to 20mg is a darn big jump. So, I guess I'm just looking for some insight if anyone cares to help out a newbie

Thanks in advance

 

[DustyKat]

Hi dammim and :welcome:

That is a strange regime and one I am not familiar with. You would have seen through reading posts here that the most common taper is something along the lines of say...40mg for 2-4weeks, then taper by 5mg every 5-7 days until finished. That is a very general outline and sometimes as someone approaches the end some GI's slow the taper even further.

I don't think the cold helps anything but a drop of that size in Pred is more likely to cause issues than not particularly when the initial dose has been longer than one week.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

I too am tapering from pred right now. What my doctor has told me in the past is when I start tapering to go from 40mg to 30mg first. I'd stay on the 30 for a couple of weeks and then taper down 5mg every couple of weeks until I'm off.

I do get a bit of a headache going onto the pred and sometimes coming off it as well. But, those colds going around are pretty nasty too. Hopefully you'll start feeling better from both soon. Take care.

 

[dammlm]

Thank you for the replies. I am thinking that this taper is to fast. I'm thinking maybe I should take 30mg for a week or so? I will put a call into my Dr. on Monday and see what he says, but going to 30mg in the meantime might make me feel a bit better. Thanks again.

 

[Susan2]

Yes, I'd definitely talk to your doctor about the effects that you are having. I was on Pred for 25 years and was able to adjust my own doses, but I would never have tapered as quickly as that. Here's hoping that they get it right for you.

 

[UnXmas]

I think this is something where even your doctor will only be able to guess, albeit an educated one. It could just be a cold or it could be tapering, or it could be a side effect of the prednisone if you're still on it. (I found the side effects built up over time to a far greater extent than they were dose dependent. I.e. I had few side effects at the begining on a high dose, and far more after some weeks even at a lower dose.)

The only way you'll really have an idea is if it seems to get better when you increase the dose or taper off completely or whatever. Make sure your doctor knows about any change in dosage because this medication isn't one you should mess around with too much - and definitely don't stop too suddenly - which I'm sure you already know.

 

[dammlm]

I got an appointment for tomorrow morning to see my Dr. so hopefully we can sort it all out. When I talked to the nurse she acted as if the taper they have me doing is the ordinary one they prescribe. She said he likes to get patients of pred as quickly as possible. But he did agree so see me right away so maybe we can at least compromise. Hopefully I will learn some more as I feel very in the dark about my condition still.

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Glad to hear you'll be seen. Hopefully you'll get the answers you need and will start feeling better! Thanks for keeping us updated. :hug: