As you know, I have had a recent MS relapse. This one wasn’t one which I just wanted to “wait it out” for. I’ve done that with very minor bumps/relapses along the road during the recent years. In fact since switching drug treatment two years ago, my MS relapses had been more subtle and my MS has been more stable.
After this round of steroids (four days IV total and two days already high-dose orals), I needed to make a decision. Whenever you have MS, it seems that there are always decisions to be made. This one - to use an oral steroid taper or not.
The general consensus is that if a patient receives five days of IVSM, then an oral taper is highly recommended. The drop-off of steroids is drastic after you’ve just had the equivalency of 5000mg of prednisone pumped into your body, then nothing. But when a patient takes only three days of IVSM, then the taper may be skipped if desired by patient and doctor.
Thursday morning, Thanksgiving morning, I slept in a little later than anticipated. After getting up early the previous three mornings to go to the neurology clinic for steroid infusions, I was glad to not have to set the alarm. I knew I would be awake early enough anyways because of the steroids, so it seemed important to me to start off the day taking care of myself and to let my body do what it needed to naturally. No alarm clock.
I also needed to decide whether to take some Decadron or not (Decadron is my oral steroid of choice as prednisone and I don’t get along too well). I was right in between the two scenarios of whether to taper or not, but actually having had six days of steroids already (with the oral float over the weekend). I was debating with myself.
Read this post in its entirety:
To Taper or Not To Taper: Plummeting Steroid Levels
These decisions are so tough to make...I hope for the best for you.
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