Posted by Jackie on March 07, 1999 at 20:20:35:
In Reply to: Re: A rambling first post to this site. posted by pinksharkmark on March 07, 1999 at 15:58:16:
Ok, so here's my experience with the Prednisone.
When my episodes were 1 month, I found it to be
excellent for preventing most of my clusters and
greatly reducing the pain of the ones that "broke
through." I had virtually no side effects that
were "problems." I had some insomnia and some
euphoria. I took the Prednisone with food, to
minimize the possibility of stomach problems. When
I was on the Prednisone, I only needed oxygen
sometimes to abort the minor stuff, and Advil.
I, and my doctor, put together a dosage regime that
would get my through my episode. Dosage regimes
can vary widely. There's no right or wrong. So,
I took 5 20 mg pills of Prednisone for 2 days, then
4 for 2 days, etc., down to 1 for 2 days, then
0,1,0,1. It's critical to taper down slowly. Then,
I went on a second course, starting at 5 again, etc.,
so that my entire episode would be covered. Prednisone
is not a good drug to take for a long time, but
all I can tell you is that for my episodes, it was
a godsend.
If your episode is longer than the way your PRednisone
is prescribed, but not extremely long (like many
months), you may want to consider changing the
dosage regime so that it will last longer, like
80 for 2 days, then 70 for 2 days (it does come in
10 mg tablets), etc. Who knows? If the Prednisone
is real effective, as it is for many, maybe you
won't need the Sansert.
Take care,
Jackie