prednisone dependance....???

The general rule of thumb is that if you have been on prednisone continuously for 4 months or longer, and cannot taper off without flaring, then you are prednisone dependent. If this description fits you then I would suggest you meet with your GI to talk about the next steps of treatment.

Sue

I agree with Ugh. I don't think because you've been on pred for a while that you will never get off. Sometime it's going to take a while to find what works for you. I've seen some people on here who were on pred for LONG amounts of time, much longer than 4 months and have gotten off but it usually requires adding more medication. You could try imuran/6mp or Remicade or cort-enemas. Hopefully your GI has mentioned some of these options to you. Imuran/6mp can take a a while to be effective so you would want to start ASAP so you can get off prednisone sooner than later.

Zippy, I was on for 7 months this year and got off with not problems. I feel fine! :o)

When hubby was on and off the prednisone (became steroid dependent) one thing I learned from this forum was INSISTING on a long slow taper and that is how he successfully weaned off it and that was over 3 years ago. OMG the prednisone took a very mild mannered easy going guy and did a 180 with his personality, couldn't sleep, constantly jittery and anxious...etc.

(The taper we did was by 5 mg increments and then as low as 2 1/2 increments when we got to 15 mgs (12 1/2 , 10, 7 1/2, 5, 2 1/2)...splitting those pills into 1/2s and 1/4s seemed kind of silly but it worked for him to finally get off it)

I was on pred since May till december and did a long slow tapper and still got sick when I stopped completly even though my Dr thought my body would not notice if I stopped at 2.5mg...I have no GI right now, he moved and we're in a small community...if my primary can't put me on something else I'll have to fight to get to one in another city...most of my care this year is from ER docters and my primary when I can see him, he's in his 70's and has a large patient load :(

     I was afraid I would have no adrenal function after being prednisone dependent for two years.  However, I was able to taper off the prednisone within a month of my surgery.  My family doctor sent me for a blood test for my adrenal function and it is perfect...yaaaaaa

That is one of the reasons we recommend a long slow taper of pred....especially if one has been on it for a long time. It is to help the adrenal glands start producing on their own again. If one is on pred for long periods of time and if you stop too quickly, it can pretty much "shock" the adrenal system. Also, too a long taper can help stop a flare from coming back.

Super, I am steroid sensitive so I know how horrible it is to be on steroids. Once I was given an extremely low dose for my arthritis and I couldn't even go to three days before I had to quit. Even on steroid enemas I get side effects almost instantly. If you go see your doc, ask for Rowasa (if you don't already use them or have them) and use them nightly until you can successfully get off the pred. Using rectal meds in conjunction with pred gives you a higher success rate of stopping the pred.

there is no GI doctor here and my primary has to decide if he wants to try and advocate GI's in other cities for me...Arg

I've been decreasing at a ridiculously slow pace since I got below 10mg. I think even 2.5mg could be too quick if you've had problems tapering in the past. I also think trying to do a weekly taper doesn't make sense. You shouldn't go down after a week if you're not feeling well. If you taper and you're unstable, chance are you will become more unstable and you could possibily have a full relapse that will cause you to have to go back up to a high dose - it happened to me!

Are you on some type of anti-depressant to get you through the prednisone course? You might want to use sleeping pills if you are not getting enough sleep.

It's really awful. Many of us understand what you're going through. I feel hopeless sometimes and it's especially hard because I've put on some weight and weight was never concern of mine, now it is. I hate worrying about weight, I have enough problems. I hate how I look and I've lost all of my confidence. I guess it's good that I am not feeling depressed right now. I am trying to stay positive. Have you been decreasing at 5mg a week or what? Ho long have you been on 20mg? I know the feeling of just wanting to stop.

I've been flaring almost non-stop since may and the only thing that puts it in remission so far is high doses of pred...I've been going down 5mg a week and thought at 15mg I would start going down by 2.5mg but I'd also really like to just stop the whole thing...