Was told to reduce pred ASAP by dr.
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Hi, am not long back from drs. New dr., my own gp has left. I started pred on 12th November last at 20mg pred. I have been reducing very gradual from that period and was at 10mg on 1st June. Was told by new gp today that I must reduce 1mg per month. I was not a happy bunny so we agreed that I would reduce 1mg every 6 weeks instead of 1 month. Apparantely Consultant Rheumy who is "an expert" and the medical profession knows best and (my words) I should do as I'm told. I am fit to be tied. Had PMR undiagnosed this time last year or maybe before that but was only diagnosed on 12th November and have had no flares so far. All comments welcome and Thank you in advance.
0 likes, 14 replies
tavidu pat38625
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Firstly, congratulations on reducing from 20mg down to 10mg successfully in little over 6 months, something most of us just dream of.
If I were you I would heed what the "experts" advise and go by your own instinct. So as not to undo all the work you have done remember the rule is slow from 10 onwards. I would even consider 0.5mg to start with rather than a full 1mg. Good luck whatever you decide. Dave
pat38625 tavidu
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tina-uk_cwall pat38625
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inwould definately only reduce by .5 and reduce either, 1 day old dose, 1 day new dose for 1 month then onto the new dose for 1 month or follow Eileen's dead slow and almost stop method. Sod them! You are quite happy to reduce but it's the way they want you to reduce that's in question. Personally I reduce using Eileen's method, and if I was ever questioned I'd just make up a load of lies as to why I did it the way I choose then end on the line. "However, given ALL that I've told you i still managed to reduce, which is after all your current aim for me".
because you've managed to negotiate a 6 week time spam, you'll only be a tad out of their expected reduction plan. Good luck, regards, christina
pat38625 tina-uk_cwall
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tina-uk_cwall pat38625
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pat38625 tina-uk_cwall
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lodgerUK_NE pat38625
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Couple of questions - what dosage did you start at and when? There is a reductionplan here https://patient.info/forums/discuss/pmr-gca-website-addresses-and-resources-35316 Best of luck - don't rust it!
Follow the link Oregonhohn has provided, the email the northeast
Then once you get to that thread.
Subject heading Reduction Plans. two plans will then be forwarded to you. One Eileens and one devised by Lodger. Both of us worked on the original plan from Ragnar (who lives in Sweden) and we tweaked them and found one or t'other worked.
pat38625 lodgerUK_NE
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carol20979 pat38625
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pat38625 carol20979
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tina-uk_cwall pat38625
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so the way I do it is to get a calendar, and write up all the doses onto it, so for example you want to start on Monday, so Monday new dose, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, old dose, then Monday new dose, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday old dose, then Sunday, new dose, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday old dose, Saturday new dose, etc etc.
so 1 day new dose 6 days old dose
1 day new dose 5 days old dose
1 day new dose 4 days old dose
1 day new dose 3 days old dose
1 day new dose 2 days old dose
1 day new dose 1 day old dose
1 day old dose 2 days new dose
1 day old dose 3 days new dose
1 day old dose 4 days new dose
1 day old dose 5 days new dose
1 day old dose 6 days new dose
then every day new dose
or you could simply try 1 day new dose 1 day old dose. I sometimes use this method but only reduce by .5. You could do this for 4 weeks then reduce by .5 for a further 4 weeks, this way you've reduced a whole 1mg in 8 weeks, so you're only 2 weeks over the 6 week period specified by the Dr.
personally when I dropped by 1 mg I had a flare because the drop was a bit too much for me and I think to drop by .5 is small enough for your body to get use to it better. Regards, Christina
pat38625 tina-uk_cwall
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I reduced from 20mg pred by 2.5mg each time and am now on 10mg with no flares, weakness and fatigue yes, but no flares as yet. I may and I mean may be lucky enough to get away with reducing 1mg every 6 weeks. We shall see but thank you so much Christina for explaining it to me. You are a gem.
linda17563 pat38625
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pat38625 linda17563
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