john what kind of any symptoms have you incurred when tapering? Myself I may sleep 16 hours of the day and still feel tired nausea confusion.

@spice when I try to taper too quickly the pain comes back a little stronger and the aches and joint stiffness is a little worse than the previous dosage. I try to tolerate it for a few days to see if it will go away and then if not I switch back to the previous dosage. My first round it took me almost 6 months or so going between 1 mg and 1/2 mg until I was finally able to stop taking it without significant pain. I think the exercise helped in that respect...not a lot of it but whatever you can do. I have a recumbent exercise bike that I ride 4 to 5 days a week for about 30 minutes when I first get up. It helps get my legs going and sets me up for the day.

I'm getting around 7+ hours sleep a night and feel tired but I don't have any nausea. I also have back and forth taking flu shots and last year convinced me never again...hadn't been sick with the flu like stuff for a couple of years and a local supermarket was giving 25 cents a gallon off on gasoline if you got a flu shot there in their health clinic. Mr Never Pass Up a Bargain got the flu shot and within a week got the flu. Over the years I've had similar experiences with getting the flu shot so I'm just trying to keep my hands washed and keep my distance when I hear coughing...☺

Have your doctors or rheumatologist given you a tapering schedule? I would start with their tapering schedule and work with them to see if that helps.

John

always have been on their tapering schedule, biggest hurdle I cross is the care of my animals and my household chores I can only be down so long before they need attention and I don't receive much assistance there and yes we start 1mg at a time. I am pretty convinced my body will never produce cortisol again its just trying to manage the meds.

Hello @spice

I appreciate your letting us know more about some of your physical responsibilities, "care of my animals and my household chores." When we have chronic illnesses, physical activities do drain our energy reserves much faster. You mentioned in an earlier post that you have show dogs, while I don't know anyone who has show dogs (I have only had household pets)I can certainly understand the extra care, time and attention that they would need.

I'm going to present some questions that might be helpful to you in thinking through this situation that you find yourself in. Please do not feel that you have to post an answer back to Connect, just use these ideas to help you work through your responsibilities.

You say that you don't receive much assistance. What type of help have you asked for? Who might be available to assist you? Is there anyway that you can reduce the number of animals that you care for?

Also, what type of exercise program do you have in place right now to help you deal with stress and anxiety? I understand that when fatigue is paramount, exercise is the last thing we think might help - but sometimes it can restore energy by helping us relax.

Like I said, please feel free to think about these thoughts and use them for a "plan of action" if you will.

Teresa