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Testing for Cortisol levels during taper of prednisone
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (28)Comment receiving replies
@dadcue
I’m guessing I would have held off prednisone for 20 to 22 hours between my last dose and the blood test. So it probably told him what he needed to know. He determined my cortisol level was normal and felt I was producing cortisol. I tapered to 3 mg yesterday and feel ok so far. Maybe having had 4 kevzara injections has also helped.
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@caroljeand
I would have never been able to taper off prednisone without Actemra.
I was on another forum and the experts said Actemra does nothing to the adrenals to promote recovery. I thought that was comical because one advantage of Actemra and Kevzara is that these biologics do nothing to the adrenals. They don't suppress adrenal function in the way Prednisone does.
You still need to taper off prednisone slowly because it takes time for adrenal recovery to happen. It doesn't happen like a light switch where the adrenals are either on or off. The adrenals don't suddenly "kick in" like some people say.
If you are lucky --Kevzara should make it easier to taper off Prednisone. It is about a 50/50 chance that you get completely off Prednisone. I think this is mostly due to how suppressed a person's adrenals get. My endocrinologist said I had resilient adrenals after I got off prednisone.
Good Luck with Kevzara!