Prednisone question..

I see some of yall mention a "quick taper".  What is this?   My doc said when I begin to flare, to start Prednisone 40mg then taper over a month till off.  this usually helps.  Is this different from a quick taper?      Thanks                         Josh

     I wouldn't taper any more quickly than ten mgm per week.  Anything more drastic than that could cause bad reactions.  My friend had Crohn's Disease and quit her prednisone cold turkey and wound up with Addison's Disease.

Yes elt27 is right. If you are on a heavy dosage then you should not taper too fast. You should not even think of abruptly stopping it. The reason being that steroids being immunosuppresants act as a substitute to your own body's system of producing steroids. You have to give sufficient time while tapering so that your own system takes over and starts producing necessary steroids. If you stop or go for quick tapering, the results could be fatal too. The best course is to reduce by 5 mg per week. 60-55-50-45-40-35-30-25-20-15-10-5-2.5 and then off. I know it would take some time, but that is the best course so far. Abrupt stoppage results in drastic withdrawl symptoms as your stamina goes for a six and you may find difficulty in walking, breathing, etc.
Please have prednisolone only under strict medical supervision as they have too many side effects and who knows it better than me.

     No Jo.  That seems like too fast of a taper.  However when I was hospitalized last May they had a PIC line in me and gave me the prednisone through the IV.  One day they gave me 60 mgm and the next day...no prednisone.  This concerned me greatly and I questioned it.  Their answer was that the IV prednisone is stronger and it would stay in the body longer.  ?????  I have no idea...sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me.  The next day they gave me 40 mgm IV and kept it at that until the IV was removed when I was discharged.  I had to take 30 mgm by mouth when I returned home with a 5 mgm per week taper.  Two weeks after being weaned from the prednisone I flared again!  This happened twice.  Not until the doctor upped the prednisone to 40 mgm per week with a ten mgm taper did I reach remission....BUT he had me start back on the 6MP too.  It took three months for the 6MP to kick in.

My doctor put me on 40mg for 5 days, 30mg for 5 days, 20mg for 5 days, 15mg until I see him (7 days), then we'll go from there. Today is my last day of 20mg, and I'm still doing great!