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A short term course of prednisolone

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 12/30/2020 3:46 AM (GMT -5)
My Coronavirus symptoms deteriorated and though this is day 12 of infection, the chest doctor wants to put me on 20 mg pred. Asked my GI about his opinion esp that I'm now struggling with the tapering of Cortiment (budesonide) and he said that I should take it until my Coronavirus infection resolves.
I've always had a problem with tapering pred and it was only when I started budesonide that I managed to come off of pred.
How can I start a short term pred course with a quick taper?
Btw, when I was on pred 10 years ago, I developed hypertension and had to take meds which was reversible once I stopped it. I don't want it to recur anymore.
Posted 12/30/2020 6:25 AM (GMT -5)
I would press your GI further, explaining your concerns again. Although, when they suggest a short course, I'm thinking 7-10 days, with a daily taper. You shouldn't have the issues you've had in the past, but I understand your apprehension with taking it at all.
Posted 12/30/2020 6:47 AM (GMT -5)
73 monte, thank you so much. Could you please explain more what is meant by a daily taper? How can I do this with 20 mgs of pred? Actually, they didn't say it was a short term course. I'm thinking of that. All what they said was until the infection resolves and when I said I didn't want to take pred, I was informed that the recovery will be very slow. I know people that have been on pred for Coronavirus for 2 months now and can't come off of it.
Posted 12/30/2020 9:31 AM (GMT -5)
Minnie, my son got the virus this past July & was very ill for nearly 4 weeks. His pcp rx'd a steroid inhaler, antibiotic & a methylprednisolone dose pack. He opted to not to do the dose pack & things got really bad. He ended up at ER because of his breathing. The ER dr changed him to 2 antibiotics & convinced him to take the steroid pack. The dose pack was 4mg & the first day he took 6 pills all at once, then 5 pills the next day & so on. It was a 6 day regime.

I think you are in Canada, can you ask the dr if this dose pack is available, I would think it would be. Have you picked your prescription up to see the directions on how it's to be taken? The steroids was the game changer for the lung issues with him. He had taken a steroid once before & didn't like how they made him feel & this is why he was being stubborn. He later said he wished he had started them when he was suppose to.

I hope you get things straightened out.
Posted 12/30/2020 11:29 AM (GMT -5)
I saw you Covid post on the other thread. Lilly or Regeneron Covid-19 antibodies are the best options during the early stage of Covid-19. When Covid progresses to a later stage, patient may consider Remdesivir. I do not know much about pred, so can't say much.
Posted 12/30/2020 8:26 PM (GMT -5)
Minnie,

As @straydog said, I believe a short course would mean a daily 5mg taper. Not sure of the starting dose, but whatever it might be, you would likely taper at a rate of 1 pill a day. Not sure about the "dose pack" that straydog mentioned. Unfortunately, never heard of that. Good luck going forward.
Posted 1/3/2021 7:40 PM (GMT -5)
I don’t know whether this will be helpful, but when I was released from the hospital in November, I was put on a tapering dose, but by no means short term. I started with 40 mg for a week, then 30 the next week, and so on with 20, 10, and 5 each week. Finished a week before Christmas. I hope you don’t have to do anything like that. So sorry for all you’ve been through.
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