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Posted 2/6/2022 8:39 PM (GMT -8)
Hi I’d appreciate any help. Currently down to 10mg. My moods are low and very teary! In saying that I’ve just been told I’m post menopausal. So this isn’t helping. I have used a natural hormone cream in the past which helped a lot. Can I use this on pred?
Posted 2/6/2022 8:42 PM (GMT -8)
I don't know, but ask your GP? You could consider alternating tapering...what dosage did you taper down from?

q
Posted 2/6/2022 9:15 PM (GMT -8)

quincy said...
I don't know, but ask your GP? You could consider alternating tapering...what dosage did you taper down from?

1


My GP gave me antidepressants which make you depressed for the first 3 weeks that puts me right at the end of this taper. Not a good combination. I tapered from 100mg to my last 5 mg then back up to 35 now down to 10mg
Posted 2/6/2022 9:18 PM (GMT -8)
I think I’m better off trying to balance my hormones then play around with antidepressants at this stage! I just don’t know if I can use both together. I’ve read hormone therapy can increase the affects of pred but being on a low dose now would only be beneficial at the stage while I’m waiting on entyvio. I wouldn’t mind betting menopause put me into this flare.

Post Edited (Theanxiousaries) : 2/6/2022 10:21:20 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/6/2022 9:22 PM (GMT -8)
Sorry you’re dealing with this too @theanxiousaries! It sucks! I have a theory that menopause actually triggered my UC at 48. First two flares coincided with my last two periods. I stopped bleeding from one region and started from the other. 😩
Posted 2/6/2022 10:25 PM (GMT -8)
Are you taking any vitamin/mineral supplement while tapering the Pred? That would hopefully help with menopause, too. Here in the U.S. gyns generally discourage HRT in favor of non-hormonal creams or gels now. I pay attention to that because a friend of mine, who was always very healthy, got breast cancer after taking an HRT in late 1990s that subsequently was ruled harmful and removed from production. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)
Posted 2/6/2022 11:25 PM (GMT -8)

Old Hat said...
Are you taking any vitamin/mineral supplement while tapering the Pred? That would hopefully help with menopause, too. Here in the U.S. gyns generally discourage HRT in favor of non-hormonal creams or gels now. I pay attention to that because a friend of mine, who was always very healthy, got breast cancer after taking an HRT in late 1990s that subsequently was ruled harmful and removed from production. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)


I’m with you old Hat. Definitely don’t want HRT. I have an amazing natural cream called Anna’s wild yam cream. It’s simply wild yam, aloe Vera and vitamin E. This Should be find to use with the pred? When I was first put on pred they said no but now I’m tapered to a lower dose it should be fine? Anna’s wild yam works by mimicking all hormones not just one.
Posted 2/6/2022 11:32 PM (GMT -8)

Mariposa444 said...
Sorry you’re dealing with this too @theanxiousaries! It sucks! I have a theory that menopause actually triggered my UC at 48. First two flares coincided with my last two periods. I stopped bleeding from one region and started from the other. 😩


I’m convinced. I’ve read many posts of pregnancy starting a flare. Menopause would be no different. My flare started around the time of my last period. February last year. My symptoms with this flare are worst on certain days on my cycle. Today my stomach is settled and I feel fine. At the beginning of my normal ovulation day they worsen. I highly recommend Anna’s wild yam. I used it for peri menopause and felt like I was 16 again. I was just waiting to stop pred and my Dr confirmed post menopause but surly it can’t hurt to start it now. It might help lesson the symptoms of withdrawal.I still track my cycle even though I don’t get a period! My moods and symptoms with UC coincide with my hormones

Post Edited (Theanxiousaries) : 2/7/2022 12:35:15 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/7/2022 6:23 AM (GMT -8)
I found that taking gelatinized maca root powder (not raw) really helped my moods and my hormone regulation as I was tapering off prednisone. I started with just a 1/4 teaspoon a day and worked up to half a teaspoon. I find it tastes terrible but it really helped boost that low/depressed feeling and reduced the flushing feeling from the prednisone taper. It is also supposed to be very good for menopause and hot flashes.
Posted 2/7/2022 6:49 AM (GMT -8)
I’d keep on the antidepressants for now. The first few weeks can suck on them — made me feel like a zombie a little , but then your body adjusts. Actually last time I went in them my dr advised me to start on half a pill a day for two weeks and that helped my body ease into them.

Hopefully entyvio will start showing you some benefits soon (main one being able to get off prednisone!).
Posted 2/7/2022 7:13 AM (GMT -8)
TAA, I looked up Anna's Wild Yam & everything in it is all natural & should not affect any medication you are taking. I remember when this hit the market & a lot of women said it helped. I looked at several sites & they all listed the same ingredients.

Glad to read you are waiting on being scheduled for Entyvio, please remember it's a slow acting medication & you will not get immediate relief.

Good luck.
Posted 2/7/2022 7:52 AM (GMT -8)
Sorry to hear you are dealing with this. Once you get down to 5 mg and (hopefully) completely off, you should start feeling better within a week or two. Hang in there. I don't know the answer about your natural supplement, sorry.
Posted 2/7/2022 10:54 AM (GMT -8)
So...does anyone actually understand the med alternating tapering process?
q
Posted 2/7/2022 7:44 PM (GMT -8)
No, but I'd recommend tapering to 2.5 mg Pred daily before getting off. (One can cut the 5 mg tablet in half.) In fact, after getting off Pred, I took a 2.5 mg dose maybe on 4 different days when my gut felt unsettled during my first 2 months off the official taper. My gastroenterologist was ok with that when I checked in, and commented that it was "acting like a bandaid on a scrape" to get me past temporary discomfort. During those 2 months I was transitioning back to mesalamine meds. (Still not in complete remission, though, because I had to take Dipentum (oral) daily + Rowasa as needed until I got into a drug trial for Colazal a long while afterward.) *** The irony of our situation is that yummy chocolate relieves hormonal-fluctuation depression from menopause, but we IBDers can't indulge in it due to its bm-stimulating effect, especially while flaring. *** So hang in there, TAA (as Straydog addresses you, for short), because it does sound from your latest posts that you're getting better control of hormonal issues. I haven't heard of Anna's WY, but in my mother's generation in USA, Coca-Cola syrup became touted among women as their reliable monthly mood reliever, believe it or not!!!! / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)
Posted 2/8/2022 4:26 AM (GMT -8)

Old Hat said...
No, but I'd recommend tapering to 2.5 mg Pred daily before getting off. (One can cut the 5 mg tablet in half.) In fact, after getting off Pred, I took a 2.5 mg dose maybe on 4 different days when my gut felt unsettled during my first 2 months off the official taper. My gastroenterologist was ok with that when I checked in, and commented that it was "acting like a bandaid on a scrape" to get me past temporary discomfort. During those 2 months I was transitioning back to mesalamine meds. (Still not in complete remission, though, because I had to take Dipentum (oral) daily + Rowasa as needed until I got into a drug trial for Colazal a long while afterward.) *** The irony of our situation is that yummy chocolate relieves hormonal-fluctuation depression from menopause, but we IBDers can't indulge in it due to its bm-stimulating effect, especially while flaring. *** So hang in there, TAA (as Straydog addresses you, for short), because it does sound from your latest posts that you're getting better control of hormonal issues. I haven't heard of Anna's WY, but in my mother's generation in USA, Coca-Cola syrup became touted among women as their reliable monthly mood reliever, believe it or not!!!! / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)


I think I’ll take your advice Old Hat and go down to 2.5 before coming off. Pred withdrawal mixed with menopause is terrible. I’m crying constantly. Anna’s will definitely help. I haven’t heard of the Coca Cola syrup but will see what I can find here. I love chocolate. Lindt (dark) intense orange gives me the best night sleep. I don’t have it often but when I do I eat the whole block. It’s like a sedative. I often hear of ppl with UC having to skip chocolate and coffee so far I haven’t had to miss out on either though I do make sure I’m close to a toilet when I have my morning coffee
Posted 2/8/2022 7:49 AM (GMT -8)
FYI — Coca Cola used to contain some cocaine when it was first introduced, so that may have been why it was touted as a mood lifter long ago.

Also — I recommend the every other day method when getting down to your last taper amount. You can even take a fourth if a pill at the end.

And you definitely might need some rectal mesalamine or budenoside (both either suppositories, enemas or foam) for the first few months on entyvio. I used them when I had my off days as my symptoms on a whole were lessening and improving.

Post Edited (FlowersGal) : 2/8/2022 8:55:13 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/12/2022 5:10 AM (GMT -8)
I just started with an anti aging doctor that deals with bio identical hormones. Seems to be calming my moods. Dealing with a bad flare now. The doctor doesn’t feel it will interfere with anything I’m taking. Her husband is a GI not that it matters. She could run it past him I guess if I asked.
Posted 2/12/2022 5:33 AM (GMT -8)
TAA,
I cut my Prednisone in fourths and then eighths. (The second was messy. I probably would have been better off just licking the darn tablet... Lol) That helped me. Once I got to the point that it was the eighth.. I had to alternate days.

It's rough trying to get off that stuff. Good luck!
Clo
Posted 2/12/2022 5:49 AM (GMT -8)
Clo, that is so true! By the time you cut those tablets down so small it is basically dust! I am also someone who really has to prolong the prednisone taper to small doses, even alternating at the end with one day at 2.5 and one day off. I also had great luck with alternating my doses for the first 4 days of a taper to help my body adjust down. So if I was going from 10-7.5 I would alternate those doses for 4 days before going all the way down to 7.5.
Posted 2/16/2022 10:17 AM (GMT -8)

Theanxiousaries said...
Hi I’d appreciate any help. Currently down to 10mg. My moods are low and very teary! In saying that I’ve just been told I’m post menopausal. So this isn’t helping. I have used a natural hormone cream in the past which helped a lot. Can I use this on pred?

Bio-identical hormone creams are great for menopause, but I don't think they're going to help a prednisone withdrawal. You probably just need to taper a lot slower. I'm on the slowest taper of my life right now. I got down to 5mg and then had to go down by 1mg per month, I'm currently at 3mg. I used to be able to go from 5mg to 2.5mg, and then to nothing, but for some reason it's taking my adrenals longer this time.

When I tried going 5mg to 2.5mg I got SUPER depressed and lethargic, unable to function. It felt like my life was ending. I went back up to 5mg and now I'm on the super slow taper. It's not ideal but it's working. My bowels are fine by the way.
Posted 2/16/2022 7:53 PM (GMT -8)
An alternate day taper m, or sawtooth taper, is highly recommended when you try to taper below 10mg. 2 weeks for each stage.

I followed this regimen to manage the side effects of prednisone. Luckily I started Inflectra at the same time so my flare stopped and this taper just helped the side effects of prednisone ((still had them, but this HELPED and I was able to get off, been off since September!!!))


Stage 1: Only 10mg every day for 2 weeks
Stage 2: 10mg one day, 7.5mg the alternate day for 2 weeks
Stage 3: 7.5 for two weeks
Stage 4: 7.5mg one day, 5mg the alternate day for 2 weeks
Stage 5: 5mg every day for two weeks
Stage 6: 5mg one day, 2.5mg the alternate day for 2 weeks
Stage 7: 2.5mg every day for 2 weeks
Stage 8: 2.5mg one day, 0mg!!! the alternate day for 2 weeks
Stage 9: 48 hours 0mg, one day of 2.5mg everyday for 2 weeks
Stage 10: off!!! Off!!! Off!!!

It might help to think of how much prednisone is in your system over a 48hour window. So stage 1 is 10+10 = 20mg. Stage 2 is 10+7.5=17.5mg. In other words 20mg to 17.5mg is a smaller sounding reduction. Idk. Deep breathing helps too. Xo
Posted 2/16/2022 7:55 PM (GMT -8)
Ive almoat always just got off it right after 10 mg, maybe once or twice I went down to 5 mg for 5 or 7 days. *shrug.* Always worked for me.
Posted 2/17/2022 8:23 AM (GMT -8)
TAA,
How are you? Has it gotten better? How do you know you need hormone therapy? I'm 61 and so far no hot flashes or anything? I don't know how I'd deal with everything you are going thru.

Oh Sara14 you are so lucky!!

I used to read about people having issues on here and think "Im glad that's not me" then suddenly it was. Once it took me 6 months to taper down from 10 mg. ☹️👿 I was a mess. My spouse wanted to tie my hands to the steering wheel... I was that crazy old lady driving down the highway to my infusions... Impatient, crazy and waving my hands in the air. (And I didn't have one if those self steering cars... Lol)

Mindoverbutter... I think I am gonna try this next time. Thanks!

Post Edited (clo2014) : 2/17/2022 9:30:25 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/17/2022 7:06 PM (GMT -8)
I was lucky until I couldn't get off steroids for years. Much of that was Uceris at least. But yeah, I know it can always change over time, too.
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