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Posted 12/15/2011 2:26 AM (GMT 0)
Hi!,

I've been reading for a while, but this is my first post. I was diagnosed with UC in July 2011. I started taking 40 mg of prednisone and slowly started to decrease. After my parents and I decided to change doctors in September, my new doctor put my back onto 40 mg of prednisone and started to taper 5 mg per week. After finally getting down to 10 mg last friday my doctor decided to have me take 10 mg every other day. Since then I've been getting horrible headaches almost like migraines. My primary care physician prescribed me a painkiller but Im still getting the awful headaches. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

Posted 12/15/2011 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
Well, i will say I've never heard of an every other day dosage of prednisone--has anyone else? I always assumed it would wreak havoc on your adrenal system, which is why tapering is so important. Did your GI tell you why you are doing every other day?

Headaches are definitely a part of prednisone withdrawal, I experienced them earlier this fall, but I was getting down to 1mg very slowly. Plus, oing on other meds to treat side effects of Prednisone is always a slippery slope.
Posted 12/15/2011 11:32 AM (GMT 0)
I have heard of alternating, my doc suggested it. It should be the same as going to five a day. I did 7.5 and 2.5 also. The headaches could be from tapering, I felt foggy, like a swollen back of the head when I tapered to fast. Tell your GI you think it'svthe pred taper, he might have you go a little slower. I also had a 15 increment before 10
Posted 12/16/2011 9:27 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your post on my thread earlier today.. I came across this on your page and wanted to tell you that you are very fortunate that you can even get down to 10mg. I don't think that 10 mg is a bad maintenance dose for now. I was up to 60mg for awhile and once tapered to 40mg I would begin to flare. Is remicade working for you? How often are you getting your infusion? Be careful with prednisone though.. It made my bones feel really weak and brittle. That drug did some awful things to my body at a high dose. I don't look so hot with a 'moon face'. ;)
Posted 12/17/2011 2:24 AM (GMT 0)
If it were me, I would cut down to 5 mg every day and stay at that dose for 2 weeks or so and then do 5 mg every other day. My daughter has a terrible time when she is at 10 mg and lower, so we always go REALLY slow.
Posted 12/17/2011 3:12 AM (GMT 0)
Hi & welcome!

I am sorry you're going through this. What other medication are you taking for maintenance of your UC? Are you symptom free? If you are, cnogratulations, at 10mg you're almost off! That's a good thing and hopefully the headaches go with it. I used to get horrible migraines before I started an antidepressent. I don't experience them anymore at all. I recommend you work with a neurologist on the headaches, mine worked wonders for me, I am happy I decided to see someone instead of trying to treat with OTC medication. With UC, NSAIDs are seen as a no-no, especially regularly. Tylenol is an option but it never did much for my migraines. Some people say Calcium may help and it's good to take while you're on pred. Have you been checked for vitamin defiencies?
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