remission seeker said...
Current plan: I've begun tapering 5mg every 6 days, which is a little quicker than the doctor's schedule. Hopefully, the less time I spend on high doses the less withdrawal I will have to deal with. Once I hit about 20, and throughout my exams, I plan on tapering VERY slowly. Hopefully, if I taper quickly now I can get a feel for the withdrawal effects, and my body should have adjusted as best as possible by the time exams come. Slowing down during exams will prevent withdrawal effects and relapse of UC.
How does this plan sound? Am I missing anything?
Could you guys provide me with any tips on how to deal with any fatigue or mental fog you experienced during the pred taper?
Are there any supplements that would help? I'm thinking of taking creatine which has given me a cognitive boost before.
I think you misunderstand what withdrawal is, what dosage it occurs at, and why. You are NOT going to get withdrawal until you are less than 15mgs of prednisone. Why? Prednisone is synthetic-Cortisol and pred is given in much higher dosages then your body would ever produce. Your body naturally produces Cortisol at about
the equivalent of 12mgs of prednisone which helps our body regulate the sleep cycle and take care of minor aches and pains. When you are above 12mgs, your body ceases producing Cortisol within your adrenal system which essentially goes to sleep. The whole purpose of a taper is to slowly coax the adrenals back awake as you get to low dosages of pred and resume cortisol production. For example, say you taper from 15mgs to 10mgs of pred then you would expect to feel withdrawal as you now have less pred/cortisol than your body is used to and you might feel tired and ache as a consequence thereof. After a few days your body should produce 2-ish mgs of Cortisol. You drop another step, your experience withdrawal until the cortisol levels are bumped up by the body, which is usually a delayed-reaction of a day or so when we'd experience withdrawal. If your adrenals do not wakeup or respond very slowly then the withdrawal would be a lot more pronounced as you continue your taper below 15mgs toward zero (most likely to occur when you've been on prednisone for extended periods of time 4, 6, 8 months or more total).
You should be on prednisone a couple months total, often that is long enough for your immune system's attack to cease. Therefore short usage of prednisone for a few weeks, in my opinion is a huge waste of time. You'd likely just flare as you lower the pred dosage as the lasting affect was not achieved. I worry that you are changing your pred taper schedule and will result in wasting your time and flaring badly (often occurs at 20-10mgs of pred).
When you're at high dosages of pred, like 40mgs, a drop of 10mgs is not uncommon. As you get close to zero the drops are much tighter and slower (5mgs, 2.5mgs, 1mgs) depending on the total length of time you've been on pred (the longer the slower you go to zero).
Brain fog is terrible, I've had it bad a few times on pred and there is no avoiding it or remedy for it. I write documentation and I'd struggle to think-straight. It's expounded by pred-insomnia. Cortisol levels are highest in our bodies when we wake up in the morning, lowest at bedtime and while we're sleeping. High doses of pred (30-40mgs or more) leave that alarm-clock constantly buzzing and getting and staying asleep for long can be challenging. Taking all of your pred when you first wakeup helps some as it more mirrors your body's natural cortisol cycle. If you cannot sleep then a prescript
ion sleep aid might help.