Prednisone and insomia

Posted by robtlhughes @robtlhughes, May 29, 2023

I have IPF and they put me back on prednisone, again. 40 mg/day for two months and then taper. I'm getting no more than six hours of sleep at night, often less than five. Any advice?

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Jun 7, 2023

@robtlhughes, this is rough since sleep is so important too. While not related to pulmonary fibrosis, you might be interested in this related discussion in the polymyalgia rheumatica group.

- PMR, prednisone and Poor Sleep or Insomnia https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pmr-prednisone-and-valerian/

@oliver22 @sueinmn and @johnbishop may have more to add. Rob, what time of day do you take the prednisone?

robtlhughes | @robtlhughes | Jun 8, 2023

I take the prednisone--all 40 mg of it-- with breakfast. Thanks for the link, Colleen. I'm on my way.

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jun 8, 2023

In reply to @robtlhughes "I take the prednisone--all 40 mg of it-- with breakfast. Thanks for the link, Colleen. I'm..." + (show)

Hi @robtlhughes, Some members with PMR have found that splitting their dosage of prednisone helped them with less pain in the mornings. You may want to discuss splitting your dosage with your doctor or taking a larger part of it in the morning and the rest in the evening to see if that helps you sleep better.

SusanEllen66 | @SusanEllen66 | Jun 8, 2023

@robtlhughes I used to set my alarm for 4am to take it.
That works for me because I would go right back to sleep. I hope you feel better.

Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jun 8, 2023

Hi Rob- Can I jump in here with my experience? I was put on 60 mg for more than 2 months then I was tapered. I'm petite, and boy was I flying for a while on it. I didn't sleep much, either.

I had a very bad reaction to radiation treatment for lung cancer and should have gone to the doctor a month earlier than I did, but circumstances had my mind in a different place. I did take Melatonin to help me sleep. I know that some places and doctors say not to, but mine said to go ahead. It didn't seem to calm the prednisone down, but I could sleep a bit more. This is not something that I'm advocating doing. I'm just relating what I did. I also took prednisone doses in the AM. I'm off of it now.

It's a very tough medication and I hate to say this but you'll just have to grin and bear it. Your body will adapt and you'll get used to it. This is what I felt. I hated every minute of it, but it worked like a charm in reducing inflammation in my lungs. My lungs were so bad that I had to be put on oxygen. My oxygen level went down to 87%.

This was not good! But, after I was off prednisone for a month my O2 level was back up to 95% after a walk.

I know that for right now things might seem ugly. What was it like for you when you had to have it before? Does it feel different? More ugly?

Merry