Is there a prednisone protocol for Crohns

I am going to ask my GI doc about the pred today but wanted to find out the typical treatment schedule for pred.  Do you do a taper up or just a taper down?  What is the usual starting dose and how long does this process take?  I am getting anxious to see results and feel better and it is only 3 weeks on the pentasa/entocort. My daughter when she was 6-10 years old was on very high dose prednisone (enough for a 300lb person) and she weighed only 60lbs!! This was part of her leukemia treatment and I was cooking 24/7 to accommodate all the food cravings!! She also gained alot of weight.  Does everyone gain 30lbs with the prednisone.  The side effects of this drug are not fun but I am not sure what else there is for me to try at this point. 

Thanks

Chris

Hi I started at 40 on the pills don't know the doseage I was on in the hosp. I guess it will depend on how your symn. are and what your Dr. finds works for his patients. Yes I have gained alot of weight I gained more then I needed to but I ate too much sugar.You could try to look at the sugar intake in foods and choose those that have less .Some people don't gain but am thinking that is rare or they must have watched there sugar intake. Hope you do good on it and get relief soon.lol gail

I just started my taper for my second round of pred.  The first time I was on 60mg, and the doctor had me drop to 40 and then drop by another 10mg every 10 days until I was off.  I started with symptoms again about a week after completely going off.  A month later a new doctor put me back on it at 40mg and now I'm dropping 10mg per week until I hit 20 and then 5mg per week until I'm off.

The first time around I went up about 5lbs, but that was from my lowest- just had d for a month and they put me on TPN in the hospital weight- so I probably would have gone up at least that much anyway.  This time around I'm up about 10lbs.  I'm also much more tired than I remember being last time.