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← Return to Tapering off of Prednisone
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I am 55 was diagnosed at beginning of November 2022 - started at 15mg prednisone had to go up to 20mg then back down to 15mg. I am at 12.5 mg now but pain creeping back in mostly in shoulders/neck and behind my knees. I really don’t want to go back up to 15mg if I don’t have to. I am meant to go down to 10mg this week but my Rheumatologist is letting me go with how I feel pain wise. I have had some side effects with the higher dose of prednisone and also just diagnosed with osteoporosis which was a big surprise for my specialist and I as I am (or have been) very fit, healthy, no osteoporosis in my family…. So now have to have an infusion to strengthen my bones. I also have started getting headaches and not sure why…. So if anyone else has just tried to battle through the pain creeping back and keep with the tapering I’d love to hear your story. Thanks!
Replies to "I am 55 was diagnosed at beginning of November 2022 - started at 15mg prednisone had..."
When I have been tapering off, it is usually one mg at a time. Currently I just went from 4 to 3, and i am feeling the effects of the change. I started at 40 a year and a half ago, and almost every time I went down there was a terrible transition. I would not feel great for about 4 days and then I would start leveling off - I hope this helps you?
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Hi @michwest, When I have an increase of pain like you mention, I also didn't want to go back to the previous dose. It sounds like you have 2.5 mg tablets. Do you also have 1 mg tablets of prednisone? It you dropped from 15 to 12.5 and felt an increase of pain, you might try adding 1 mg to your daily dose or splitting the 2.5 tablet and going up half of the previous dose. Then if the pain goes away, you can taper from there. I kept a daily log of my level of pain when I got up in the morning along with the dose I was taking that day. If it was time to taper but my pain level was above a 2, I delayed the taper or I bumped it up a little trying to stay lower and not go back to the previous dosage of prednisone.
Not sure if you've seen this discusssion but you might find it helpful:
-- PMR Dosages and Managing Symptoms:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-dosages/