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Do you need to wait for 0 blood to begin tapering?

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Posted 3/9/2012 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

I had no blood since Wednesday morning, stools pretty much formed and the urgency is down quite a bit. I was to start tapering Prednisone down to 35mg today, I just went and had droplets of bright red blood(from very close to the anus, it was coming out like tear drops) What should I do?
Posted 3/9/2012 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
Are you at 40 mg today? I think the change from 40 to 35 is pretty small, so if I were you I would taper, but plan to stay at 35 for a while until really no blood for several days or even longer.
Posted 3/9/2012 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
What does your doctor say? I wouldn't start tapering if I still had blood. I also wouldn't start tapering if it had only been 2 days since I had a bloody stool.
Posted 3/9/2012 3:30 PM (GMT 0)
I will be staying at 40mg but I am very disappointed in that. Starting to get the side effects, but I know that in the long run it is better to stay at 40mg for a few more days than to have to go back up.
Posted 3/9/2012 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
How long were you at 40mg? That is a factor in these decisions.

I have had bleeding off and on, sometimes pronounced or sometimes the whole BM was mucus and blood. I used Pred to get the worst of it under control, and have tapered down to and maintained on 15mg for over 14 months now. There is still some blood (low level) a few times a week, and a few weeks where it is more. (Ironically, as my stool improves and forms, it seems to cause friable tissue to bleed a bit more.)

I have now gone down to 12.5mg for 3 weeks, and next week hope to start towards 10mg. I feel like if I waited for NO blood, that I would still be on 30mg of Pred. But it has been a long time for me, and I really want to get off the Pred. IF you have only been on it for weeks or a month or two, then you might wait for no blood.
Posted 3/9/2012 3:38 PM (GMT 0)

DBwithUC said...
How long were you at 40mg? That is a factor in these decisions.

I have had bleeding off and on, sometimes pronounced or sometimes the whole BM was mucus and blood. I used Pred to get the worst of it under control, and have tapered down to and maintained on 15mg for over 14 months now. There is still some blood (low level) a few times a week, and a few weeks where it is more. (Ironically, as my stool improves and forms, it seems to cause friable tissue to bleed a bit more.)

I have now gone down to 12.5mg for 3 weeks, and next week hope to start towards 10mg. I feel like if I waited for NO blood, that I would still be on 30mg of Pred. But it has been a long time for me, and I really want to get off the Pred. IF you have only been on it for weeks or a month or two, then you might wait for no blood.


I started on 40mg last Monday.
Posted 3/9/2012 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
Both times I was on pred I was on 40 mg for at least 2 weeks minimum. Sucks I know.
Posted 3/9/2012 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, prednisone sucks, but I have recognized it as my overlord. I don't start tapering until I feel like my flare is actually under control and for me that means no blood and no urgency (or as little as possible). I've been on 40 mg for several weeks at a time before beginning to taper. As I've said elsewhere, though, my symptoms tend to come back at the beginning of each lower dose. It's a toss-up then as to whether to increase the dose again or wait and see whether my body adjusts to the lower dose. But the thing for me is: I can't rush the taper. That causes more problems than the side effects from prednisone.

Take care.
Posted 3/9/2012 8:18 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on 40mg pretty much since September. I believe I successfully tapered and was off of it for about 2 weeks then I got real stupid and quit my Lialda also. Flared horribly! Was put back on 40mg at the end of January.

I started seeing real improvements about 2 weeks ago so I tapered to 35mg. No problem! This past Sunday, I went to 30mg. By Wednesday, I was flaring with blood, mucus and urgency. A little while ago I talked to my GI's nurse practitioner (who I believe might be better than my GI) and she is putting me back on 40mg and we are going to seriously look at changing the Lialda.

I took 40 mg this morning and I haven't felt near as bad as I did yesterday.

So.... while steriods totally suck, it is amazing at how they make me feel sooooo much better. Fortunately, I haven't experienced too many bad side effects from them at this point.

Hang in there!
Posted 3/9/2012 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
Brian, have you made any dietary changes along with taking prednisone? You may or may not be able to see more of a difference by doing so.

I was on 8mg prednisone for a month trying to taper, not too well, and then I started the SCD diet and was able to get off prednisone, its been about a month now. Just an example.
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