Hey all
I have been doing a pred taper sincelast wed starting at 60 mg for 3 days then 50 mg for 2 days then 40 mg for 2 then 30mg for 2 and so on. I am down to 40 mg this morning I just wanted some input from u all that have experienced the pred taper. I am feeling just out of sorts hard to explain but just a bit anxious and beat up at the same time. Any input would be great! I would love to get some input!
pfw's all
Anthony

Prednisone will do that to you. The one common thread I've experienced while doing a prednisone taper was that I had absolutely NO patience for whiners.

I'm with Brew, I'm the littlest bit irritable while on prednisone...(my wife might go farther then that in her description of me!!!)....my appetitite is incredible, can't stop eating, in addition to feeling irritable I also get that spacey slightly out of touch feeling. While at the higher doses, I get cramps in my back and legs that make it hard to get to sleep at night.

Then when I finally get to zero and stop taking it, my back breaks out with acne like a 14 year olds forehead. ::) It's never busted a cycle for me, but works awesome as a block against the beasty while my lithium ramps up to prevent levels.

Joe

Same here.
I get all pissy.
I eat like a horse.
It never breaks a cycle.

Like Joe, I do pred until something else works.

I rarely do a full blown taper anymore.  30mg will stop them... then I trickle it down as far as  I can go without getting slammed... typically 15mg-20mg a day.

I've been on Predisone on and off for asthma as a child, and now CH. 

I do a similair taper 60x3, 50x3, etc..down to 10mg.

Top 3 side effects for me
1. Definitely more aggressive/moody
2. Eat all the time
3. Night sweats

They do break the cycle cold for me, but if the accompanying ramp up med (verap, etc) hasn't started to work, they clusters come back when I get down to the lower doses.

-Joshua

Yeah Joshua.  I guess I should be clear about that.

It never breaks a cycle, but the CH's stop dead when I am on Pred.  As soon as the doses get too low the slam-o-rama starts again. 

Guiseppi wrote on Jul 25^th, 2011 at 9:21am:

I'm with Brew, I'm the littlest bit irritable while on prednisone...(my wife might go farther then that in her description of me!!!)....my appetitite is incredible, can't stop eating, in addition to feeling irritable I also get that spacey slightly out of touch feeling. While at the higher doses, I get cramps in my back and legs that make it hard to get to sleep at night. Then when I finally get to zero and stop taking it, my back breaks out with acne like a 14 year olds forehead. ::) It's never busted a cycle for me, but works awesome as a block against the beasty while my lithium ramps up to prevent levels. Joe

Ha, what he said!  As a loving supporter though, I try to remember when he's got his Mr. Cranky Pants on that it's the Pred talking. It's nice when the other meds kick in and he's off the pred. That being said, I'm grateful he has it to block the CH's!