Reducing too fast?
Posted , 15 users are following.
I just want to let people out there know that my method was to reduce down from 15mg as quickly as possible as this is not generally well regarded. However it has worked fine for me, I very soon got down to 5mg and I guess within less than a year to 1mg. For a while I have been on about 1/2mg and occasionally I try to do without (to check if I can!) but unfortunately I still seem to need just a small amount.I thought for a while that the sodium bicarbonate I have recently been taking may have taken the place of the pred but alas apparently not.
0 likes, 20 replies
amkoffee brian75018
Posted
You are a very lucky person. Just curious, how old are you? It has taken me almost 2 years to get to 6 mg (I started at 20 mg). And I tried every kind of schedule under the sun. I could not get below 11 mg without being symptomatic. But finally after numerous tries I past 11 mg and then got down to the single digits. I just saw my rheumy on Friday and she actually said that I might be better off if I stayed where I am for a while. I'm having other health issues that I think she thinks might be helped by staying at 6 mg for a while.
Dennis123 brian75018
Posted
Michdonn Dennis123
Posted
brian75018 Dennis123
Posted
Hi Dennis, I started on 15mg and noticed a marked improvement of about 80% within a day or two and proceeded to reduce s fast as possible as I was always reluctant to take the steroids anyway. Now I'm about 90% better and on less than 1mg per day.I have been taking bicarb of soda but not sure i it does any good.
Joydeck brian75018
Posted
Your fast taper, Brian, is fascinating although there have been a few others. I reduced from 24 to 6 mg in 9 months but, in the past few days, have retreated to 7 mg.
A few questions. Were you ever entirely free of PMR symptoms during the taper, and how often did you retreat to a higher dose? How quickly did you taper from 5 to ½ mg? Did you experience pred withdrawal symptoms or pred side effects?