Weaning off Prednisone...

[slightlysilly]

My GI is having me wean off prednisone 5mg per week until i'm done. I am now down to 5mg per day and today and yesterday have been interesting... i'm winded doing the simplest of activates and just jumbly with thoughts. I get out of breath very easily. My stomach is hurting especially after eating. And my crohns pain (left flank and ilium) is back with a vengeance.

I read a little about adrenal crisis but im not sure exactly what to look for. I have 2 more days of prednisone and then im done. Does any one know of THE sign I should look for in case my adrenal gland decides to stay asleep? Does that make sense?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ameslouise]

Pred withdrawal symptoms can be varied, and adrenal failure is obviously very serious. Check with your doc, or google both and see what you can find.

On my last round of pred, I tapered by 2.5 mg. I was fine until I got to 5 mg. Everything came back 'with a vengeance' as you said.

good luck -hope it turns out to be unrelated!

- Amy

 

[slightlysilly]

What did your doc do when you were weaned? Did he/she up the dosage?

 

[ameslouise]

I had been on pred before for a year. This last round was 6 months. After I was weaned this time, and we realized that the Humira and the Methotrexate weren't working.... well, my surgery is scheduled for March 15th!

You can't be on pred forever, but if you are weaning too fast, they might up you again, and then take you back down slower, like by 1mg. You really should call your doc and tell him/her what's going on.

Hey! You're right down the road from me in Lancaster! Do you go to Hershey for treatment or a local GI?

- Amy

 

[slightlysilly]

Amy -

My Crohns isn't exotic enough to get a Hershey doctor...yet... I have an upper endoscopy scheduled for the 10th. Im wondering if Im one of the "lucky" ones who gets to have Crohns in the stomach. I was told that if I did turn into a Crohn's freak, I get to go to Johns Hopkins...are there super docs in Hershey? Im at Lancaster GI. I've been crazy pleased with their whole set up so far. My doctor is masterful at dumbing things down for me. Im not dumb but I've taken nothing but a multivitamin for the past 36 years...it's a weird transition and my doc totally gets that. Do you have to trek all the way to Hershey?

I was warned about the possibility of problems with weaning off the prednisone.. but I guess I didn't anticipate the complete return of symptoms ALONG with the weaning symptoms. Im keeping in mind that im also on Remicade and Entocort and I think we're waiting for at least the Remicade to take effect. Im starting to lose hope on that though.

Pottstown...that's east of here right?

What im a tad excited about is this juicing thing....

 

[TheNewGuy]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone could tell me the syptoms of getting off Prednisone. I have been on it for a month now from 40mg a day, to 30mg a day, to 20mg a day, to now 10mg a day and Im starting to feel some pain in my abdomen/stomach along with some serious headaches.

Im only taking it for 3 more days and Im worried about what will happen to me when I am completely off it. I am also taking Pentasa.

I feel OK. Not great.. certainly not as good as I felt during the first two weeks on Pred where I had no pain at all. Im hoping this is just some kind of withdrawral and after a week or so off Pred I'll feel good again... should I be worried?

 

[joshw2011]

How long were you on 30, 20, and 10? Talk to your doctor, and try going to 5 a day and then even 2.5 a day or 5 every other day.

I was on 40 for 3 weeks, weening now doing 30 for a week, 20 a week, 15 a week, 10 a week, 5 a week, and then 5 every other day for a week. This is my typical pattern and I never notice any problems coming off the steroids. Besides my crohn's still not fixed that is lol

 

[hainman]

hi guys,ive been on the dreaded preds on and of for 3years now and have developed osteapenia as a result of them,i has tried to taper down from 20-25-10-5 and wham symptoms flare back up so the next time i came down at 1mg a time but got to about 3-4mg the last time and same thing,sh*t hit the fan so to speak.so got taken of the imflixamab and now on humira and 6mp so wont be long before i start the tapering down again,fingers crossed 3rd time lucky....

 

[Jackques]

I have been taking prednisone a while but right now i am facing some of the side effects mentioned here prednisone side effects daily i am struggling to sleep, i am taking sleeping pills these days. looking for some advices pls..

 

[SdN]

From my experiences the symptoms you may experience once you've completely tapered off of prednisone include extreme fatigue, possible psychosis (depression, anxiety etc.), headaches and generally feeling unwell. Just google prednisone withdrawal symptoms and you'll get a host of results. It's important to taper verrryy slowly. That might mean you have to start cutting those 5mg pills into 2.5mg for a week or so. Your adrenal glands produce 5mg naturally so dropping to 2.5mg gives your adrenal glands time to ramp up their production while not totally being on empty so to speak. The symptoms of the disease may also return so that could include a lot (abdominal pain, D, blood etc.)