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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> First Pred Taper
        
(Message started by: lennycohen on Jan 2^nd, 2008, 7:05am)

Title: First Pred Taper
Post by lennycohen on Jan 2^nd, 2008, 7:05am

So a week ago, I started my first pred taper.. 5/40, 3/30, 3/20, 3/10, 3/5 - taken in one dose in the am
5 days at 40mg/day - by the second day, I was down to 1 HA/day at night at about 10:30 pm (and they were real monsters, by the way), which continued through the 40mg days - first day on the 30, back to 2 HA's ------
Any thoughts?
Primary care doc didn't want to start pred any higher than 40 - do HA's usually quit before tapering begins? (I weigh about 200 lbs)
I also upped my Tmax to 100am/150pm at the same time

Lenny

Title: Re: First Pred Taper
Post by Bob_Johnson on Jan 2^nd, 2008, 7:49am

Print this and give to your doc:

http://www.plainboard.com/ch/chtherapy.pdf

Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor. It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S. (2002)
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Notice that Rozen recommends up to 80mg as the starting dose, consistent with another comment that CH folks often require much higher doses of meds than is usual. I've seen recommendations up to 100mg in the medical literature.

I suspect that it will be necessary to do another cycle with a higher starting dose in orde to abort cycle.

Title: Re: First Pred Taper
Post by Guiseppi on Jan 2^nd, 2008, 10:26am

I could never abort a cycle with just prednisone, although while on prednisone I get 100% relief from CH. I've started tapers as high ass 80 mg a day, through trial and error I now use a 40 mg taper. I weigh 190 and at doses as low as 30mg a day get 100% block from CH.

As with everything else about this condition, your mileage may vary. Good luck!

Guiseppi