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does anyone get off pred quickly??????

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Posted 4/23/2012 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
I have used very fast tapers in the past (the past 3 times) and they have worked for me. I have stayed in remission etc. But it seems to me that many others have not had the same experience. Have others tapered quickly (my fastest was 40 for 4 days then 20 for 4 then off....and it worked!). This time I have been on for longer.....two weeks at 40 then down to 20 for the past 3 days. I am in full remission and just want to get OFF now. I will speak with my doc about the rest of my taper tomorrow but in the mean time I am wondering about others success with getting off quickly......or not.
Posted 4/23/2012 2:52 AM (GMT 0)
That's too fast in my opinion, as the adrenal glands can go into a shock and you'll be struck with fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is very debilitating, my sister got it after quit cross fit training. When you're tapering off prednisone, keep in mind that your body isnt producing its own cortisol because you put it to sleep with a synthetic drug, it takes a while to wake it up and start production again. That's why doctors urge you to go slow, these are glands you're messing around with, dont forget.

If you're worried about a relapse, Licorice root is a great herb to stimulate the adrenals and awaken the body's natural cortisol -exercising as well.
Posted 4/23/2012 3:54 AM (GMT 0)
The adrenals do not get suppressed if you are on corticosteroids for less than two weeks and one has been off the drug for an extended period- I too use very fast, "shock and awe" blasts of pred for flares very successfully. I am hoping of course never to need pred again ever if I can help it- but its nice to know that if I need it, I can be off in days to a week if all I need is to knock a flare in its tracks and prevent it getting any traction. I did that recently and was on 40 for 3 days, then one day each of 30, 20, 10, and finally I was done- no problems whatsoever (not even enough time for moonface) and knocked me cleanly back into decent remission.

Post Edited (Probiotic) : 4/22/2012 9:59:21 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/23/2012 4:13 AM (GMT 0)
Probiotic

Yes, I am aware a quick ' burst' for pred - keeping it under two weeks and dropping quick. Would you mind telling me, how frequently have you used this pred 'burst'. How many times in total have you used pred and over what time period?

I am concerned that I have know been on longer than two weeks and therefore will have to be on longer......the longer you are on it the longer it takes to get off.
Posted 4/23/2012 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
Your adrenals should still be okay. Probiotic is right. It's usually over two weeks where they begin to let the prednisone take over. I have never tapered fast before but if it works for you, then by all means, do it. Being on pred is hard enough!
Posted 4/23/2012 7:25 AM (GMT 0)
having same issue I WANT OFF ASAP and how quickly can i ... 40 days total on predisone and at 35 mg now . ... i wished i just stuck to the power punch and 1week and got off, after that its been just a pain on me
Posted 4/23/2012 12:20 PM (GMT 0)
I wasn't on it terribly long, compared to what I see on here. I was on it for about 1.5 months total, and a good deal of that time I was on 10 mg or 10 mg every other day. I probably would have gotten totally off sooner, but I had a two-day-long job interview coming up and didn't want to taper totally off before that, in case I slipped back into a flare.

At any rate, I was on 40 mg for 5 days, then 30 mg for 5 days, and 20 mg for five days. After that, I'm not exactly sure how the taper went, except that I was on 15 mg for a bit, then 10 mg, then 10 mg every other day. I don't remember how long at each of those doses, however. I also didn't have any problems tapering off, and I've been in remission ever since then, and that was almost 3 years ago.
Posted 4/23/2012 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Joma- i have been on various doses of pred on and off for years, most of the time on low doses eg 5 mg exceot during flares... I became prednisone dependent for some years on low doses, around 5 mg, to prevent flaring. In spite of that, after starting LDN i had no difficulty getting off pred altogether- my adrenals never lost the ability to kick back in. The body's natural cortisol production, by the way, is about the equivalent of 5-7.5 mg prednisone, so if one's adrenals have gone to sleep, and one is taking a physiological dose, cortisol is cortisol- side effects and toxicity of cortisol are associated with sustained doses above the physiologic dose of cortisol. People with Addison's disease, who need lifelong prednisone to survive, do not suffer from any of the side effects we on Ibd forums tend to associate with steroids- they merely substitute synthetic cortisol (metabolozed from pred) for the body produced kind- the bidy cant tell the difference once it is in the blood though- cortisol is cortisol. That said, i do hate prednisone though not as much as I hate UC.

As for my prednisone surges- i have only done this about 3 times now. I used to follow the standard slow taper path but now that i have been on and off prednisone for years (albeit mostly low physiologic doses with a few months here and there of high dose exceptions years back) but now consider the surge and quick taper within a week my gokd standard to minimize pred exposure. I am trying very hard to use other thinga to avoid ever having to do the pred surges again though. Often times I can kill off a beginning flare with heavy doses of probiotics, a broth diet, a few swig if pepto, some DMSO gel, and other measures. (mesalamines are never an ootion for me as they make my UC much, much worse.)
Posted 4/23/2012 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
I woukd nit advocate the pred surge as a technique for those recovering from a massive flare though- in that case you have to listen to your body and not allow it to relapse. Digging out of a flare is tough going and a relapse just makes it harder... So if symptoms recurr as you taper, bump back up a bit and wait. We are discussing the ored burst ourely as a means if nipping what feels like an upcoming big flare in the bud before it gains traction. Even then, i advocate trying whatever other rescue measures you have known to work in the last before going for the pred- but in that case, I reckon better to not dekay too long and let the flare generate outeight bleedining, in wbich case it becomes very hard to dig out of.
Posted 4/23/2012 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks probiotic and others. I appreciate the info. Its nice to compare notes. I have decided that next flare I am not going to use pred right away. I have been using as my first line treatment for the past three years or so because I have been nursing and/or pregnant. Pred is highly researched during pregnancy and nursing and is considered safe in the short term as I have been using it. Conversely, high doses of mesalamine (asacol and enemas) and cort enemas are way less researched and less safe because usually it takes a lot longer at potentially high doses to achieve remission.

Anyhow, now my youngest is almost 20 months and not nursing very much....hopefully not at all by my next flare:).....I am going to go back to using higher doses of mesalemine and maybe cort enemas again when I feel a flare coming on. They used to work for me so I hope they still will. I will be a big relief when I only have to worry about my own body on meds and not another little body too.

thanks jo
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