Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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Prednisone Taper

melissaenderle
melissaenderle
When tapering Prednisone, is it common to feel worse on the initial day(s) of the lowered dosage? I was feeling better on 20 mg (on that for 5 days), but today with 15 mg, I had more pain, etc. A similar thing happened from 30 to 25 mg.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Yes
BobbiOz
BobbiOz
Try coming down slower. I have 30-20-10's-5's - and 1's.. and go down very slowly.... good luck
melissaenderle
melissaenderle
So, the 5 mg jump MIT be too drastic? Do you reduce by a mg each day instead?
Angelpuss
Angelpuss
I agree with Bobbi.

My Rheumy has told me to drop it by 0.5 and stay there for 2-3 weeks, especially when you go below 5mg. Try going down by 2.5mg rather than 5mg.
I have tapered off Prednisone3 times doing it very slowly and didn't have any problems (except for having to be very patient Lol).