DIY pred taper???

Eva, I haven't taken Pred for years, but I think my doc always started at 40 mg - pretty close to what you're talking about. I just don't know if that quick a taper will help you or not. Plus it always makes me nervous to see people self-prescribing steroids. Sometimes, because we have to take them a lot, we forget they're really serious medications.

I had a pretty severe flare come on in late august, and started on 40 mgs of pred.
Well, I immediately felt awful side effects and did not have the patience to wait for results (I have a long history of prednisone treatments). So , after a week or two on 40, I began dosing down 5 mgs every week or sooner. I added what I thought was a mild med... rowasa enema's , along with my increased doses of 6MP and azulpadine. Well, I am off the pred. and feeling really well. I had a week of total fatigue when stopping the steroid totally, but after a few days I began to get my energy back. So, in my recent experience... I took pred. and dosed down by 5 a week... not 5 each day. My doc had advised I goeven more slowly, but this plan worked for me this time! Good luck and take care....

thanks for the feedback, you guys- I don't expect any miracles, but I'll give it a try. And I am very aware of how strong a drug pred is- I'm not doing this lightly! I have had extensive experience with pred, so I think I'm aware enough of the potential side effects, etc. Although, all the research I've done seems to indicate that a pred course of a week or so should not even require any sort of taper- it's only when you get into a 3 month course, or longer. But still... well, I took my 37.5 dose this AM & we'll see how it goes! I'm half-thinking I may have picked up some sort of stomach bug. And BTW, I haven't noticed any major hair loss from tapering pred- I could've been too busy dealing with the awful joint pains though!