Nancy, I'm very glad you went in and got help! Good for you.

I love when doctors do that arrogant thing and say going off of a drug is no big deal. They obviously have never experienced what adrenal hypofunction feels like. I have, and it is NOT a fun experience.

Prednisone lowers your body's ability to fight infection. I hope someone will also recommend that you see an immunologist to make sure you don't have some deficiency of IgA, IgG, IgE, IgM, etc. that may predsipose you to getting infections more easily.

Ditto on what Brian said. You haven't been on Pred that long but since your body obviously reacts strongly to drugs and already has immune problems, you need to withdraw sort of slowly. I'm not a doctor but in the absence of intelligent doctor advice . . .

You have to go by how you feel when you go off of Pred. There are two issues:

1) How your MG is doing when you taper
2) If you are showing any signs of an adrenal crisis when you taper

This is where it gets tricky. Both can make you feel weak and tired. But the kind of fatigue you get from a low cortisol is overwhelming. It will make you feel like you can't stay awake. MG will make you tired but not usually THAT tired.

Here is a fairly simple article on low adrenal function/adrenal crisis. Now don't go getting worried that you'll have one, okay? You haven't been on Pred so long that it should be too bad for you. But everyone is different.

http://www.medicineonline.com/articl...al-Crisis.html

Another symptom they don't list is sweating, unusual sweating that doesn't stop.

And if you have an infection, it can make the adrenals even more unhappy. Yet another reason to taper Pred.

Do you have a blood pressure cuff? Can you periodically check your blood pressure? A drop in blood pressure can indicate a low cortisol level.

I can't in all good conscience recommend a way to taper, not being a doctor. You could try "halving" the Pred every five days. I think you should call you primary back and run a taper schedule by them first.

I absolutely hate when doctors don't give a patient direction. It's insane. And you need someone who will give you the most concrete and thorough information and instructions, given that all this is brand new to you. Even though you've had Pred before, you've never had it for MG before. It's a whole new thing.

Your primary should be able to look a Pred taper up and reasonably suggest a course of action. These doctors have access to info, like their Physician Desk Reference, that can help them figure things out!!!

Just hang in there, look for any new symptoms and try to relax. Resting more would be good, in case you get weaker. Definitely throw the stress out the damn window!

Annie