HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Need off prednisone asap!! how to safely taper fast because of pregnancy

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/16/2013 1:27 AM (GMT 0)
I was diagnosed with uc about 3 months ago. gi put me on pred 60mg lowering 5mg every 4 days until I get to 15mg then down to 5mg for 2 weeks. well symptoms started getting worse at 15 mg so he told me to stay there and added Liadla. symptoms cleared up sooo fast it was amazing!! so I started tapering again. 2 nights ago I went from 15mg to 10mg and a little ill. slight nausea very tired and flu like but nothing too bad. well tonight its worse.. I am so nauseas, extremely tired, and feel awful. the only issue is I just found out I was pregnant last night... my ob said I need to get off the pred because its not safe while pregnant especially in the 1st trimester. but I cant get ahold of my gi... hes on vacation till Monday and answering service said to call primary dr so I did and she said she cant answer the question (whether to just stop taking it all together or to wean) because she doesn't know the details. I called a few pharmacies and they said the same thing. I don't know what to do! any advice?

Post Edited (arisher89) : 3/15/2013 9:00:44 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/16/2013 1:56 AM (GMT 0)
you definitely can't just stop it. just cut down slowly since you aren't feeling well. i would do 2.5 mg per week.
Posted 3/16/2013 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
can you talk to your obg again?
Posted 3/16/2013 2:16 AM (GMT 0)
arisher,

welcome to the forums and congratulations :-)

I didn't know pred wasn't save when pregnant. Don't taper too fast. The withdrawal can be bad. See if you can talk to your GI he might know about pregnancy and which meds are save.
Posted 3/16/2013 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
maybe edit your post subject too indicate you are pregnant too - that way perhaps others who have been in your situation might pipe in.
Posted 3/16/2013 2:23 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah, you cant stop it cold turkey, especially pregnant, taper down... you may be able to do it quicker but you may not, you may have to go 2.5 a week instead of the 5 you are going (which already seemed to be effecting you alot). It is really hard without knowing how active your disease is. darn doctors and their desire to vacation! Sorry to say you gotta hold tight until monday. You already tapered down 5 mg this week. 10mg is going to be okay till monday. Neigh, it is BEST till monday. Youve had enough adrenal fun this week.

Congrats on your pregnancy. Try your best not to obsess about it till Monday. I was on the path to become a midwife for almost a decade and although Im not a doctor I would have said this condfidently to any clients who called me. Consider it a blessing you were already tapering.

Maybe you will get lucky...My pregnancy was the best remission I ever had from UC.... after about 16 weeks The first 12 weeks I was just convinced my UC had reversed and decided it prefered to come upwards instead. ;)

Post Edited (PathogenKiller) : 3/15/2013 10:23:43 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/16/2013 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
I was in a very fast taper and it was very dangerous according to everyone here. I can only image it being more dangerous while being pregnant. I do not think it would be good for the baby for mom to be having withdrawals. I went from 40mg to 20mg to 10mg then 5mg I did it once a week. Unfortunately I got stuck there and had to go back up. Think it was because I tapered too fast. It has also caused a new symptom of pain.
Posted 3/16/2013 4:24 AM (GMT 0)
You should wait until your GI is back. Your tapering too fast would cause you to be in flare, which can cause you more risk for miscarriage, and your body is saying that you are tapering too fast from what you are already experiencing. I remember GI telling me before becoming pregnant you need to be in remission or else the miscarriage risk is high. I know that my heart can stop if I was to stop suddenly taking steroid, because my body cannot produce the hormone anymore. Being pregnant and having hormonal imbalance...I cant imagine what it will do for you and the baby.
Posted 3/16/2013 6:08 AM (GMT 0)
You're close to getting off pred, that's great! I would just finish tapering off - you can go at 5mg a week or whatever your doctor recommends. It sounds like you've had a good response to Lialda, it's too bad your GI didn't let you try that before prednisone. During my first major flare up, I was very sick and I was able to get my health back with Asacol and Canasa alone. It shocks me when doctors skip to something like prednisone without trying the safer medications. Congratulations on your pregnancy. I hope your symptoms are due to the pregnancy and not from Lialda, some people with intolerance to mesalamine have flu-like symptoms when they take Lialda... Some people also end up flare free throughout a pregnancy and long afterwards. Hopefully this is the case for you.
Posted 3/16/2013 9:19 AM (GMT 0)
thank you all so vey much for your advice! I have been pretty much symptom free for a couple weeks so thankfully it was perfect timing. im just going to comtinue with the 10 mg until I can talk to my gi Monday. I did some research and the only reason pred is not recommended in pregnancy is actually because there hasn't been enough research to say its safe but also not enough to say its not safe, I think the risks of suddenly getting off them are way higher for me and baby than the risks of staying on them a little longer... I just hope I am making the right decision. again thank you all so much! this is such a great forum :)
Posted 3/16/2013 12:41 PM (GMT 0)
First, congrats on the pregnancy, although I imagine you're a bit scared right now!

The risk of pred in 1st trimester is that there's a slightly increased risk of cleft palate. I think it's relatively small, though. There's an article in the UC resources thread up at the top of the page that addresses it if you want to read it.

My gut feeling, though is that 10mg likely isn't high enough of a dose to really harm the baby at this point, so try to not worry too much until your GI is back. Also, while it's certainly not "fun" to have a baby with cleft palate, at least it's fixable. A friend of mine had a baby with it, and he had 2 surgeries (one to fix the palate and one to fix the lip) and he's doing great now. He'll have one more cosmetic surgery when he's older to fix his nose, because it still droops a bit on that side.

I'd also recommend you ask you GI about mesalamine enemas. I had my baby girl 11 days ago and she's absolutely perfect! I used the meds listed in my signature throughout the pregnancy and had zero UC symptoms.
Posted 3/16/2013 1:54 PM (GMT 0)
Ditto what everyone else said about the taper. I'm really surprised that the OBGYN wanted you off the prednisone so badly. I've dealt with two autoimmune diseases, my first one had many people taking 80 -100 mgs of pred and the consensus seemed to be that it did not really seem to be bad to be on pred while pregnant. Maybe you've got some other issues and the OBGYN just wants to be as cautious as possible. From everything I've heard most OBGYN's wouldn't have an issue with this.
Posted 3/16/2013 3:10 PM (GMT 0)
Pred is the oldest drug in the world. I'm surprised there hasn't been enough research re: pregnancy. I think you'll be fine on the taper.... My mother was on pred for two years because of hives and she had a safe pregnancy.
Posted 3/16/2013 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
That is crap. I was on prednisone when I was pregnant. Actually, I was trying to get pregnant and went into a flare. He put me on pred, and that is what spurred me to take a pregnancy test. I freaked out and called both my GI and my Ob. Both said that at 30mg or lower, I was fine. That it was a drop in the bucket to what my own body was making. I was fine, and my baby was perfectly healthy. IN fact, she is the healthiest of all of us.
Posted 3/16/2013 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats :)

Im also in early preganancy and my GI is talking about putting me on prednisone - he was very certain that the prednisone is safe and the risk to the baby not taking it could be worse. Even with that advice im reluctant to start but i think if things get worse ill be taking it.

Wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy
Posted 3/16/2013 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
First of all, great news.

BUT You are already tapering too fast. Don't stop cold turkey, you may end up getting adrenal shock (and ultimately ER) AFAIK, your regular cortisol levels are equivalent to 10mg of Oral Pred so as long as you are around that number (which you are) you should really be OK. Ask your OB why she wants you off. Not good during first 3 months isn't good enough answer. Ask how will it affect fetus and your health? (Personally, I don't know)

@journey2health,
Most likely the reason, it has not been studied for pregnancy is, it is getting tougher day by day to convince the ethical committee that your drug needs to be tested on pregnant women and future legal complications. So majority of the pharma companies decide not to do it unless they have a solid reason to do that. Get away with label warning i.e. YMMV. Thus, nobody can sue them really.
Posted 3/16/2013 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
You cannot go fast below 15. The body stores a little here and there so at first you are ok but a big drop will come back and bite you. I need to get to zero because I am going into ICU for cath lab surgery from femoral to hand and its safer without pred making those arteries stiff but time is running out for this option so we are going for it. I cannot possibly make it to zero so going as low as I can but safely. I figure 10 or 15 beats the 40 I was on. A low dose is the safe choice for you with a gentle and stead taper, abrupt drops are going to mess with your pregnancy so forget that. Just quietly keep moving down and relax because that will be vastly less disruptive than self-induced anxiety and drops that shock your system. You will be fine.
Posted 3/17/2013 12:07 AM (GMT 0)
I'd just re-iterate what others have said about pred and pregnancy. 10mg is a pretty safe dose so please don't panic.

Two of my closest friends have taken 15mg and 20mg throughout their pregnancy because they didn't have any choice. Both had uneventful pregnancies and healthy children (who are now 2 years old).

Better to stay on pred for a few more weeks than to try to taper and then flare. If you feel really really well then you could try taking it down 2.5mg a week as others have suggested.

Good luck and stay calm - low stress is best for the baby and best for your UC!
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply