JJMom39 Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) My ds is supposed to start a steroid burst tomorrow. This will be his first one. His neurologist called in an Rx for a Medrol dose pack, but the pharmacy said the dose pack is on national backorder so she switched the Rx to prednisone tablets, 5 mg. The dosing instructions are confusing to me. They say "Take 4 tabs daily for 3 days; then 2 tabs daily for 3 days; then 1 tab daily for 3 days." The instructions do not say if I am supposed to give the tablets all at once, or break it up throughout the day. I had hoped to start the first dose first thing tomorrow morning and of course it's too late to call the office this evening. Has anyone done a burst like this? If so, did you give the higher doses over the course of a day or all at once? I'm guessing it would be better to break up the higher doses rather than give them all at once (20 mg at one time seems like a lot!), but I really don't know. Do I give 5 mg in the morning, then 5 mg at lunch, then 5 mg in the afternoon, then 5 mg at dinner? Or do I give 10 mg then later in the day another 10 mg? Any input would be much appreciated! Edited May 12, 2011 by JJMom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimballot Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Break it up over the course of a day. Start in the morning with food in the stomach. Try to do with food whenever possible. It is hard when they are on 4x per day because there are only 3 meals a day! Also, try to make the last dose shortly after dinner. Too close to bedtime will make it hard to fall asleep (though insomnia is likely no matter what). We did 8am 12pm 3pm 7pm I hope that helps! Best wishes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJMom39 Posted May 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 That helps so much! Thank you! When he is down to two tablets per day, should I give one with breakfast and one after dinner? Or would it be better to move the second one up to later afternoon with a snack so that sleep might not be so much affected? I'm starting to freak out about giving him steroids. My non-PANDAS ds had to take them for severe allergies/asthma and he was fine, but I had a bad experience with them so I don't know what to expect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimballot Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 That helps so much! Thank you! When he is down to two tablets per day, should I give one with breakfast and one after dinner? Or would it be better to move the second one up to later afternoon with a snack so that sleep might not be so much affected? I'm starting to freak out about giving him steroids. My non-PANDAS ds had to take them for severe allergies/asthma and he was fine, but I had a bad experience with them so I don't know what to expect! If you can do breakfast and mid-afternoon that makes sense. You will know better once you see if it affects his sleep. Do you use anything to help him sleep sometimes (eg: benadryl, melatoning, valerian root, 5htp, etc)? If you do, be ready to use it if you need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayanne Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 Here is how my daughter was prescribed her steroid tapers by our PANDAS doc, so maybe it will help: First taper: Day one—20mg Week one—10mg 2X/day Week two—5mg 2X/day Week three—5mg 1X/day Week four—5mg 1X/day Second taper: Week 1- 15mg 2x/day Week 2- 15mg 1x/day Week 3- 7.5 mg 1x/day Weeks 4 & 5 - 7.5 mg every other day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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