Activities during pred taper

I'm still transitioning off prednisone, despite having corona. I successfully went down to 10mg and held it for a couple of weeks. Today I went down to 7.5mg. I had a phone appointment with my doctor and she said a 25% reduction is too much and I should consider using 1mg pills to go down 1mg at time. So I have that option too if 7.5mg is too steep. I'm taking a lot of curcumin and boswellia, and they seem to keep the inflammation at bay. I may be trading one anti-inflammatory for another, but at least curcumin doesn't have the crazy side effects of pred.

My question is... what activities are safe to do on a pred reduction? Should I just sit around and do nothing? I know low stress is highly recommended. I mean, I'm sitting around anyway due to being in quarantine, but I do sometimes do at home workouts. Before I got corona, I went for walks and bike rides in the abandoned streets.

So I'm wondering how to manage my activity level during the last bits of a taper? I don't want to set ANYTHING off. And of course I'm really watching my diet and trying not to self-sabotage in that department.

VanJordan said...


My question is... what activities are safe to do on a pred reduction? Should I just sit around and do nothing?

I'm currently at 5 mg, and will be tapering 1 mg every 5 to 7 days until off. I have been getting the usual pred withdrawal headaches that I always get. I went to the driving range today which was pretty deserted and hit a few hundred balls. My energy level was crap but the fresh air and sunshine was nice.

Basically I listen to my body and don't push it too hard if I'm feeling sluggish. No marathons for example or similar physically draining activities. Light to reasonably moderate exercise is fine though.

Cortisol is the stress hormone, so don't go too crazy with things until your body adjusts. For me that will be months because I have been on pred since Dec 1st of last year.

C_G_K said...
I'm currently at 5 mg, and will be tapering 1 mg every 5 to 7 days until off. I have been getting the usual pred withdrawal headaches that I always get. I went to the driving range today which was pretty deserted and hit a few hundred balls. My energy level was crap but the fresh air and sunshine was nice.

Basically I listen to my body and don't push it too hard if I'm feeling sluggish. No marathons for example or similar physically draining activities. Light to reasonably moderate exercise is fine though.

Cortisol is the stress hormone, so don't go too crazy with things until your body adjusts. For me that will be months because I have been on pred since Dec 1st of last year.

I've been on pred since end of September of last year, so a loooong time. You're right, the stress avoidance doesn't stop just because pred stops. It'll prob take my adrenals forever to get back to normal, if they ever do. Sigh.

Spring said...
VanJoran, had long bouts of high doses of pred myself. Have adrenal issues and am still on a bit of hydrocortisone. In my experience, sitting around is not necessary when tapering, but it is easy to over do it. If I did over do it, it would take days sometimes to recover. I say mostly listen to your body as each is different, but I wouldn't be trying to do heavy exercise.

Is the hydrocortisone forever or just for now? I've never been given hydrocortisone before, I don't understand what it's for and why you take it.

Did prednisone cause your adrenal issues or something else?