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Can you split Prednisone dose for GCA?

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jun 21 9:08am | Replies (35)

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@dadcue

I like the sound of a 50/30 split. I'm partial to 2/3 of the dose in the morning and 1/3 of the dose in the evening. That would be closer to a 55/25 split but it doesn't need to be precise.

I'm impressed with what that Chief of Rheumatology said ... "find what works so long as it's 80 mg per 24 hour period."

When you taper to 60 mg daily, the split dose can be 40/20. If all goes well you can taper in 3 mg increments with the morning dose decreased by 2 mg and the evening dose decreased by 1 mg. The 2 to 1 ratio is maintained that way. 38/19 ... 36/18 ...34/17 ... 32/16 ... 30/15 and so on. Fun with numbers!

It helps to have a good supply of 1 mg tablets! Actually 20 mg, 10 mg and 5 mg tablets are all good to have. My doctors would order all the different strengths of tablets and the number of tablets to be dispensed. My instructions were "take as directed" without spelling it out. The pharmacist dispensing the prednisone will appreciate it being ordered that way. This depends on your doctor trusting you to take prednisone as directed and not going rogue!

When you get below 10 mg, I would consider going back to taking the entire dose in the morning. The issue is about adrenal suppression when a person is on long term prednisone. Supposedly taking the entire dose in morning reduces that risk of adrenal insufficiency. At higher doses above 10 mg daily, the adrenals will be suppressed whether you take the entire dose in the morning or split the dose.

I have never tapered for GCA. However, I have followed these guidelines many, many times for uveitis which can also cause vision loss. How fast one tapers depends on what is being treated. There is no single best way to taper prednisone!

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Replies to "I like the sound of a 50/30 split. I'm partial to 2/3 of the dose in..."

I forgot to say that Actemra worked extremely well for PMR. I tapered off prednisone in one year after being on prednisone for 12 years to treat PMR.

I had a flare of another autoimmune disorder soon after I tapered off prednisone the first time. It was a flare of uveitis which is unrelated to PMR. Some adjustments were made to my frequency of Actemra injections. I was able to taper off prednisone a second time.

I'm currently doing a monthly infusion of Actemra. My rheumatologist controls the dose of Actemra that I receive now. I have been prednisone free for 2 years and counting.