What steroid dosage did you start on? Did you find the right dosage?

I started on 10 mg daily about 4 months ago and still on that dosage. It worked for me literally within hours.

Do you mean immunity from Covid or PMR? The CDC now admits that the “vaccine” doesn’t prevent anyone from having Covid. Nor does it lessen the severity as it has been shown all over the world that more vaxed people are being hospitalized and dying from Covid now than unvaxed. As for PMR, haven’t heard of immunity from it.

Does your doctor talk about tapering down? That usually should start after a minimum of one month.

I was wondering the same thing?

Really? Everything I’ve read about it says that tapering, in most cases, doesn’t start for at least a year.

Here are a few articles discussing the reasoning for tapering schedules.

"How to taper GC: The intuitive reasoning behind rapid tapering is to reduce possible GC-related side effects. However, disease flares occur more frequently when a rapid dose reduction is used, although spontaneous disease flares can occur independently of GC dose. The general view is that 10 mg prednisone equivalent daily should be reached within 6–8 weeks, followed by tapering at a rate of about 1 mg/month. Shorter tapering schedules have been proposed, which permit to reduce prednisone from 12.5 mg daily to nil in 7 months. The baseline risk profile mentioned above should be taken into account when the tapering regimen is tailored. The main question is if rapid tapering, apart from the obvious disadvantage to the patient due to the increased number of relapses, corresponds to a lower cumulative dosage or not."
--- Steroid schedules in PMR: https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/53/suppl_2/i6/1819999

--- Prednisone withdrawal: Why taper down slowly?: https://www.mayoclinic.org/prednisone-withdrawal/expert-answers/faq-20057923

"What is the best prednisone taper schedule?
Some typical recommendations for prednisone tapering include:
- Dosages above 40 milligrams (mg) per day: Decrease by 5 mg at a time until you reach 20 mg per day.
- Dosages of 20 mg: Decrease in 2.5-mg increments until you reach 10 mg per day.
- Dosages of 10 mg: Decrease in 1-mg increments."
--- How to Avoid Prednisone Withdrawal: https://www.verywellhealth.com/does-prednisone-tapering-minimize-withdrawal-190242

My doctor started me on 15mg prednisone for 14 days with a prescription to fill of 12.5 in two weeks. Waay too soon. I tried it and had to go back up for two more weeks. I then went to 12.5 successfully and where I am now for 30 days total. The next rx will be for 2mg pills in order to taper to 11.5.
I would look into tapering soon to be honest. Corticosteroids are to reset the inflammation and it shouldn't take a year in most cases.

Hello,
I have started on 5 mg Prednisone about 2 weeks now while I wait to see a Rheumatologist. My Dr. said this dose is just to carry me over until then.
I am wondering how the proper dose of Pred is determined- I seem to have good days and not so good days, and I'm wondering if increasing the dose would be a good or a bad idea, and if the good/bad days are caused by other factors (diet, weather, etc) or is it just the nature of this disease that the pain increases/decreases? It's a little crazy making as I doubt feel very confident around making plans to do things, or I make plans and then I have to let them go because I'm just not up to it.
Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you so much.

All I know is taking the "proper dose" of Prednisone is very complicated!

Prednisone replaces the hormone cortisol which your adrenals produce. Your cortisol levels are variable during the day depending on many factors such as stress levels both physical and psychological, infections, and whether you are active or sedate. The amount of cortisol in your system is regulated. Cortisol levels are high when you need it and low when you don't need it. The body has a mechanism to regulate cortisol levels and it is called the HPA axis.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-hpa-axis-5222557#:~:text=The%20hypothalamic%2Dpituitary%2Dadrenal%20(HPA)%20axis%20involves%20the,adrenal%20glands%20to%20release%20cortisol.
Prednisone overrides the HPA axis and takes this mechanism out of auto pilot. There is no such thing as a normal dose of prednisone because your body's need for cortisol is variable and depends on all the factors already mentioned.

The best you can do is to take enough prednisone to meet your body's needs. Your 5 mg dose of prednisone is called the physiological dose. It is enough for your "average days." It might not be enough for those days that aren't so average. That is why you have good days and not so good days. It is hard to predict what a day will be like so therefore it is hard to know how much Prednisone to take on any given day.

Approximate Prednisone Dose Ranges
Physiologic: 5mg (usual average adrenal output)
Supra-physiologic: 10-20mg
High supra-physiologic: 50-250mg (max adrenal output)

In the following link there is a table about Prednisone doses depending on the condition being treated. The overall Standard dosage for adults is anywhere between 5–60 mg per day depending on the condition and other factors.
https://www.singlecare.com/prescription/prednisone/dosage
The normal range for PMR is said to be somewhere between 5 -25 mg. Your 5 mg dose is in the lower range but generally you should take the lowest dose that is effective. It is better to let your doctor help you decide what prednisone dose to take. The patient is in charge of monitoring their symptoms and communicating to the doctor what those symptoms are. Anything else is called "self medicating" and that is frowned upon. However, self medicating happens all the time.

I wish you well and I hope things go well for you as you progress in your PMR journey. Everyone has a different journey so there is no "correct dose" of Prednisone. However, a "stable dose" is important because the body likes stability and maintaining homeostasis.

"Homeostasis is defined as a self-regulating process by which a living organism can maintain internal stability while adjusting to changing external conditions. Homeostasis is not static and unvarying; it is a dynamic process that can change internal conditions as required to survive external challenges."

Hi @deborah57, I combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled, "What steroid dosage did you start on? Did you find the right dosage?" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/proper-steroid-dosage/ so you could meet the many members discussing prednisone dosages.