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Can I cut my 10mg Pred in half

Posted , 14 users are following.

mike42494
mike42494

Has anyone ever cut their Pred in half?  I take 10mg in the morning and 10 mg at night, I would like to try 5 mg at night and see if I notice any difference.  I have been getting some light stomach pains occaisionally.

1 like, 22 replies

22 Replies

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  • Anhaga
    Anhaga mike42494

    Posted

    As long as you have uncoated tablets you can cut them.  Enteric-coated tablets must not be cut.  Are you always careful about eating something that will line your stomach when you take your pred?  Probably not a good idea to take pred too soon before lying down for the night lest you provoke reflux problems.
  • Charko
    Charko mike42494

    Posted

    I say that's Dodgy!  I have 5 and 1 mgs tablets.  I hope you can get some 1 mgs.  You can cut your 10 mgs in half but only if you are down to 5 mgs not if you are cutting 10 mgs just for the sake of convenience and for saving money.  I presume you are at the 5 mg stage...
    • Anhaga
      Anhaga Charko

      Posted

      Yes, that's a good point - I was taking the question a bit too literally I think!
  • pam7653
    pam7653 mike42494

    Posted

    I've bit mine in half or just split them with my fingernail. Mine have a groove to make it easy. I always take mine after I eat breakfast.
  • shawn99
    shawn99 mike42494

    Posted

    Hi there,

    Cutting your dose in half could be setting yourself up for a big flare up.

    I was at 10mg and tried to to cut to 9mgs in a week and had a major flare up.

    You might get lucky and succeed. If you have read some of the responses on this site, you'll find that everyone recommends a very slow taper, having learned the hard way.

    You might try to eat a bit more when taking your pills to avoid stomach issues.

    Good luck,

    Shawn

    • erika59785
      erika59785 shawn99

      Posted

      Lowering from 10 mg can be really tough.....I tried 9 1/2 for three days and it did not work well.  I need to take 9 1/2 one day and go back to 10 mg for 4 days, and then take 9 1/2 again and take 10 mg for 3 days etc.

      Worth a try!.

       

  • danielle_65358
    danielle_65358 mike42494

    Posted

    Mike

    2 things;

    One,I thought you had said on another thread that you tried a quick taper from 20 to 10 like I did. You had to back up to 20. Why not ask for 1mg and take it slowly?

    Two,you also mentioned you'd been drinking cranberry juice. If you're drinking too much or drink it too fast ,this could explain your upset stomach.

  • Handbrake
    Handbrake mike42494

    Posted

    Hi Mike, if you mean literally I cut my non coated tablets in half with a knife ..bit tricky though! I believe you can buy a pill cutter at the chemist. if you mean dose age I cut my tablets in 2.5 mg increments( Drs orders) until I reached 5mg then a lot slower but I was on a rapid taper so don't know whether the length of time you have taken prednisolone affects how wise that is .
  • margaret22251
    margaret22251 mike42494

    Posted

    I am not on 10mg now, but before i got 5mg tablets i used to do this, tongue hanging out and lots of steady hand work, can your doctor not give you five, i now cut my 5mg tablets in half with a knife as there is a line to help as i am now on 6.5 mg.
  • Daniel1143
    Daniel1143 mike42494

    Posted

    Mike - quite a bit of chatter on this site about the perils of rapid tapering.  I would strongly recommend against tapering that fast.  Some would advise no more than 10% per month. My tapering regimen from 20mg was 2.5/mo until 10mg, then 1/month thereafter.  There are strong reasons for this. And you will hear from a lot of folks with experience of having tried why it's best not to.

    With 2.5mg pills, my Rheumatologitst had me drop an average of 1.25/month by alternating 20 on one day, then 17.5 the next over a 30 day period to average out at 18.75mg. 

    By the way, I always eat a banana before taking prednisone 

    • mike42494
      mike42494 Daniel1143

      Posted

      Since I just re started taking Pred again the end of March (1 week) That's why I went from 20mg to 15mg otherwise if I had been on it longer I would have tapered more slowly.
    • Anhaga
      Anhaga mike42494

      Posted

      Also a drop from 20 to 15 is not as drastic as 10 to 5 would have been!  You should certainly be more careful when you start tapering from 15.  My gp had me do it by one mg per week, and for me that was good until I tried to get to 9, when I had to really slow down.  However I've been successfully reducing by 1 mg per month or six weeks since then and am now feeling well at 5 mg.  Started at 15 mg June 2015.  I have 5 and 1 mg tablets so can do .5 mg reductions.
    • mike42494
      mike42494 Anhaga

      Posted

      I don't plan on tapering any lower than 15. I am already tapering off all of my chronic pain meds that I've been on for 12 years.

      I am on day 3 with stomach pains and I'm not sure if it's from the Pred or from reducing my 4 other pain meds or something else.

    • erika59785
      erika59785 mike42494

      Posted

      Pain meds can be bad long term and almost worse than prednisone.  I was advised to take Tylenol daily for pain while tapering down from 12 mg of prednisone.

      I had used Tylenol for the last 3 months while tapering, but would not like to repeat it.  It can have a side effect on the liver (I don't drink), and I believe Ibuproven on stomach, kidney and liver long term.

      For now I try to put up with aching shoulders and 10 mg of prednisone.

      It's tough to be on this PMR journey!  All the best to you.

       

    • mike42494
      mike42494 erika59785

      Posted

      You're right, after 12 years as a Chronic pain patient with a back injury and 2 failed back surgeries with cages, rods and screws I have Stage 4 Kidney Disease from the various pain medications throughout the years. I always see my doctor every 90 days for a blood and urine test to keep a watch on things. I now have very little pain using 20 mg of Pred.
    • erika59785
      erika59785 mike42494

      Posted

      You have had a tough time - I am so sorry!  I found it easier to manage pain with prednisone when it comes to PMR and or RA.  Just difficult to reduce carefully and VERY slowly, but I hear it can be done.

       

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