Prednisone for ocular MG
Mestinon helps, but I seemingly have to take a lot of it to make a big difference. I would like to hear more about experiences, especially for senior males, on their usage and dosage of Prednisone. I have tolerated that med very well for severe allergy outbreaks but not for a long term maintenance of a condition.
I am a 76-year-old male with gMG, and I take 5 mg of prednisone daily. I wouldn't want to take more than that, but it would be hard to take less. It gives me energy and moderates all my symptoms, in conjunction with my immunosuppressant. I know of several others who are on "maintenance doses" of prednisone: 2.5 or 5 mg, with few side effects. More than that is risky, long term. But don't jump the gun. As long as the mestinon is working, it's your safest option. If it eventually loses effectiveness or the side effects become intolerable, you and your neurologist can devise a backup plan, which might involve prednisone and/or an immunosuppressant. We all need to guard against "medication impatience." There is no perfect med, and nothing that will make you completely normal. I am satisfied with "good enough." When it isn't "good enough" anymore, I know it's time to see my doctor.
I have to reply to my own reply, above, written a month ago. New physical shows an alarming increase in my blood sugar and I am now considered diabetic. That and heart issues are common problems associated with long term prednisone use. Thus I am now down to 2.5 mg a day for three weeks and then off entirely. As my doctor says, there appears to be no safe dose of prednisone for some people. thank for the update. Sorry to hear about the blood sugar issues.
I met with my Neurologist and she's pretty much urged me to stay away from prednisone if I can. I am tolerating Mestinon. I take one ER tablet in the morning and supplement it with the 60 mg tablets a few times during the day. I tried 2 ER's but the gastro issues were too much to take.
Living with it as best I can. Could be a whole lot worse.
I was on 20mg of prednisone for about a year and it managed to push me into remission. That was a couple of years ago.
I had a flare up several months ago and am now back on 20mg again which has again caused a significant improvement in symptoms
The Symptoms I noticed from it are weight gain in the face and stomach and recurrent insomnia issues. Also noticed an increased appetitealso I am a 27 year old man who was diagnosed at 25
I have been taking Prednisone 20 mg for about 3 years. It does keep the ocular symptoms away but has caused me to gain weight around my stomach. Some of that may be due to old age. Also, I now take Huperzine A 200mcg, 2X/day which has allowed me to reduce my Mestinon to 3 tablets a day. I may try 2/day next. Mestinon has been bad for my stomach. Huperzine is OTC.
while you wait for others to share, I found a few articles I hope will be of interest. https://myasthenia-gravis.com/living/managing-medications and https://myasthenia-gravis.com/living/educating-myself. Please let us know if you have any further questions. Best wishes, Julie (team member)
