Posted , 6 users are following.
I recently got shingles. As part of the prescribed meds 20 mg. Of prednisone was prescribed for one week. I was already weaned down to 7 mg and now wonder if it’s necessary to taper down from the 20 mg prescribed for just a few days. Hate to start all over with the gradual weaning.
0 likes, 4 replies
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Anhaga susanjeanne
Posted
I don't think so. A member of my extended family also has PMR and a number of other comorbidities, and he has recently had to take a very high dose of pred to manage one of the other things. In fact the doctor handling that must not have paid attention to the fact that he was also taking pred for PMR and reduced his dose too low, expecting him to stop altogether, but that got sorted out. He had no difficulty getting back to his regular dose of about 8 mg from a high of, I think, 60. He did step down over a number of days, but his therapeutic dose was very much higher than yours.
BettyE susanjeanne
Posted
I'm pretty sure not. I had to increase to 20 for 7 days when I had reduced to 8mgs. because of an adverse reaction but was told to then go back to 8. I remember saying " Is that all right?" and was assured it was. All was ok.
EileenH susanjeanne
Posted
No - if you were just on pred for a week you can go straight back to the 7mg - though that may not be enough if the shingles is still active. It's the same as being given a short course when not on pred - just your baseline is higher.
Were you given acyclovir for the shingles? That should have helped too.
susanjeanne EileenH
Posted
I was on Valacyclovir (anti-viral) plus 20 mg of Prednisone.
I had the vaccine a few years ago but I guess that’s no guarantee.
I had a mild case and they cleared up quick!
Back to my 7 mg of Prednisone with no adverse effects! Thanks!