Posted , 5 users are following.
i think I have read suggestions about when to take the daily dose of prednisone, but this is a little different situation. I take my prednisone all at once @8:00 a.m. For a long time now I find that I do not have pain and stiffness in the morning at all...it comes on later in the day and then may dissipate until bedtime. Is this typical?
I am taking 9m, catching a flare...thank you.
0 likes, 7 replies
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adette01750 kathy67492
Posted
I am on larger doses but I have pain on a morning and then teatime ish, so I take most of my dose morning, and then at about 3-4pm take a 5 mg dose to have a comfortable evening and then sleep better than if I take it 7pm. If I have any stiffness before bed 2 paracetamol to get me through the night seems to work well.
I hope you find relief soon.
Take care.
If you are having a flare up then obviously you may need to increase your dose to make you feel better which of course depends on how much pain you are in and what dose you take, there is no point taking a low dose and getting no relief.
Take care.
kathy67492 adette01750
Posted
ann57025 kathy67492
Posted
kathy67492 ann57025
Posted
it is so discouraging to flare!....hope you get back on track soon😊
dan38655 kathy67492
Posted
One advantage to taking all of the dose early in the morning is that the effect of fatigue has a minimal effect on one's daytime activities.
I too suffer a recurrence of skeletal symptoms in the last hours of the day, but I am less likely to be doing physical tasks by this time.
Only when pmr symptoms are preventing me from getting a good night's sleep do I split dosage at all, and thankfully I have been sleeping well of late.
Mrs_Hobbles kathy67492
Posted
I think prednisone is a slow release medication over a 36 hrs period, not 100% sure but think I read it somewhere, so the level is being topped up all the time. It was recommended to me to take it in the morning as it can make it difficult for you to sleep at night if you take it too late, so I think it'd be best to keep to your routine. If you find its not really helping the stiffness or pain, maybe the dose needs to be increased, you should ask your doctor!
Anhaga Mrs_Hobbles
Posted
There is an enteric coated kind which passes through the stomach and is released a couple of hours later in the intestine. As far as I know prednisone is not a slow release medication at all. The average time for most of it to be in your blood is about four hours, and it is pretty well cleared from your system within a day. This is why some people find it helpful to split their dose - the benefit wears off too quickly for some. There are two reasons for the recommended morning dose. One is, as you say, your chances of getting a good night's sleep are increased. But some people find increased pain at night disturbs their rest, or they are incapacitated when they get up, and taking part of their dose in the evening alleviates that. It may be worth trying, rather than automatically increasing the morning dose, in case it works as that would keep one's total lifetime consumption of pred down. I believe I've read somewhere, probably on this forum, the usual split is 2/3 in the morning and 1/3 in the evening. Both times with food to protect the stomach, of course. You shouldn't take it just before lying down to sleep!
The other reason for the morning dose is it more closely emulates the body's normal production of cortisol, but I think there may be another smaller spike in cortisol production later in the day so splitting the dose is not as counter-intuitive as it sounds.