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← Return to Tapering off of Prednisone
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@epvb, I also want to welcome you to Mayo Connect. As of Dec.9, 2016, I am successfully off prednisone!! So I am going to tell you in all honesty, "I feel your pain".
I was on 5 mg daily for 7 years. In April I was tapered to half dose (2.5 mg) and my body was aarghhh! - achy, nausea, poor sleep, tired, grouchy, headaches. This surprised me because of the small dosage. After about 10 days I experiences a slight improvement. And after a month I was feeling okay. I did take some Tylenol to relieve the discomfort.
Then, when I was tapered to 0 mg, the symptoms returned:-( But at that time some other medical issues complicated things for me, and I was instructed to resume the 2.5 mg dosage. Finally in early Nov.2016, I was ready to taper again. This time I was advised to try the every other day approach. This worked well for me. After 6 weeks I quit completely.
I think that some people might just need longer for their body to adjust. You might want to talk to your doctor. I want to say that my taper was done with my medical team approval, and my routine labs were carried out to monitor my particular health concerns.
Here is what Mayo Clinic has to say about coming off prednisone.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/prednisone-withdrawal/expert-answers/faq-20057923
I hope I have been able to give you some answers. Let me know how you are doing.
Rosemary
Replies to "@epvb, I also want to welcome you to Mayo Connect. As of Dec.9, 2016, I am..."
Thanks for posting the link Rosemary!
@barbararene, Yes, every other day meant that I took my 2.5 mg dose one day, and then I skipped a day. Then took it , then skipped a day.
After doing this for about a month, with no pain, I even began to break these tiny half pills into half again, and followed the same every other day pattern with the teeny piece of pill (1.25 mg). Then I got brave and skipped two days, then quit. 🙂
I find it interesting one of my doctors said I should have no problem going off that small of a dose (5 mg). I guess that just shows that we really are all different in how our body reacts to different medications. It was my transplant team who suggested the NASA countdown taper: 5...4...3...2...1...And it was my PCP who suggested the every other day taper.
I hope you find a taper pattern that works for you.
Rosemary
Rosemary: That was wonderful advice you gave epvb. Thank you so much as it helps me also. And I am sure others. My heart goes out to all other suffers of Autoimmune illness.
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To clarify, when you say the every other day approach, were you taking the prednisone every other day?