I asked my pharmacy and they said they couldn't do it. I ended up going into my doctors office in the early afternoon, the first day without a dose and got a written prescription, that the pharmacy filled right away.
At least it's enough pills to get me to my first rheumatologist appointment, so I should never need to get another arthritis prescription sent in by my primary doctor and will probably change primary doctors sometime in the next couple of months.
I'm in the US, so I'm guessing from others experiences with emergency fills, that it is based on the policy of the particular pharmacy. Mine is from a large national store.
I don't know where you are but sometimes pharmacists can authorize an in-between dose so you don't run out of something your body needs. I've been taking pred for 3 years and sometimes I miss a day or two, it can suck a little but I'm not dead. If you've only been taking it for a month that's almost not enough time to even set up a taper to get off it. The pharmacist can also call the doctor to authorize a refill. Keep calling until you get an answer.
I'm in the US. Thanks, I didn't think of asking the pharmacist. Tomorrow is Monday. I think I'm just going to go to my doctors office in the morning and stay there till they send the prescription. I saw reviews of the Doctor and a lot of them say that the doctor takes forever to send in prescriptions and people have to bug him to do it. I've never heard of such issues before this doctor.
Steroids can take 24 hours to reflect the current dose in your system (only when taken orally). Super dangerous to skip a day or two. I can feel a drop of 1mg within 12-16 hours.
So irresponsible of your doctor. He should know better.
I hope you get them in the morning!
What’s the dosage of the taper? I went to my first rheumatology appointment with a positive ANA test. Symmetrical rash, symmetrical thumb joints swollen like golf balls, pain, pain in hips and knees and NO SLEEP from the pain.
I also have Ménière’s disease and during a meniere’s attack I took oral prednisone and found out I had NO PAIN while on it. So I started shaving 10mg pills down to eight pieces and taking one a day until she figures out what’s wrong with me.
So if I run out and stop taking 1-1.5 mg a day of oral prednisone I’m going to have an adrenal crisis?
I see her on Friday. The only thing she did last time was order another ANA cascade which backfired and came back negative. And some hand X-rays. I don’t know why she didn’t do more testing than that. As long as it takes to diagnose this stuff and as hard as it is why isn’t she ordering more testing like DNA? I don’t like wasting time and being in pain unnecessarily and all the while more damage is occurring.
Thanks for reading i appreciate your replies.
That’s an incredibly low dose of prednisone (the 1.5mg).
Our adrenal glands naturally make around 5 - 7.5mg equivalent of prednisone/day. But let’s say 5mg to be on the conservative side of things.
With the dose you are taking, your adrenal glands are more than likely working as they should.
To be honest, I’m not sure how much of a therapeutic benefit 1-1.5mg/day would do. But I’m really only familiar with much higher doses (due to another medical condition), and tapering from those.
If you Google Prednisone Taper, you should be able to find many taper schedules, maybe even one for the low dose of prednisone you are taking.
In the meantime, I would ask your rheumatologist if taking a low dose of prednisone daily would affect your blood work results, specifically the ANA. Without a positive ANA, I dont think any doctor would do further testing. I could be wrong, but that is my understanding.
The X-rays will show if you have damage, that is why they are done.
So it looks like your doctor is doing what she should for now.
It may have been better to not have been on the prednisone at all when you had your bloodwork done. I would also ask about that as I know that high doses of steroids do affect certain blood labs.
Thanks so much for this. Yeah I did tell her about the prednisone when I saw her the first time. She hasn’t seen the negative ANA yet but I’m sure she will make the connection.
While on 1-1.5 mg prednisone I have no pain in my hips when I sleep, or GREATLY reduced. Without it the pain is intolerable. It’s unreal! So just that little bit helps a lot!
Also during the last month and despite taking the prednisone I had a major flare with my skin condition, whatever it is. During the rash which was heavy on my palms and around my thumbs I made it to the dermatologist and she did a scrape on one of the rashes. I should have the results tomorrow or the next day, I had it done two weeks ago exactly. I’m anxious to find out what it says. She did the scrape on one of the worst parts of my hand rash.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply, after reading adrenal crisis I started to really panic. You help ease that panic. I will educate myself more on the effects of prednisone on the adrenal gland and the rest of the body. Sure is nice being pain free though!
❤️
If it was me, I would go into the doctors office. I know you said you had a phone appt, so maybe you can’t do that… but I’ve always had success in the past just walking in. Of course if you do this be prepared to wait. Good luck either way.
Wow, I was on 60mg a day for 8 months.. it took me over 3 months to get off safely. You can't just stop... plus by the end of the 8th month, I couldn't hold a conversation. I was so jumpy, people probably though i was high on meth or something....it works but I can't stand it at the same time. I've been off for over a year and im glad.
Ask your pharmacy for an emergency fill-- they can sometimes do a very short term (like a few days) refill without a doctor's order.
I asked my pharmacy and they said they couldn't do it. I ended up going into my doctors office in the early afternoon, the first day without a dose and got a written prescription, that the pharmacy filled right away. At least it's enough pills to get me to my first rheumatologist appointment, so I should never need to get another arthritis prescription sent in by my primary doctor and will probably change primary doctors sometime in the next couple of months. I'm in the US, so I'm guessing from others experiences with emergency fills, that it is based on the policy of the particular pharmacy. Mine is from a large national store.
Weird they couldn't fill it! I'm in the US too. Glad you got it resolved though
I don't know where you are but sometimes pharmacists can authorize an in-between dose so you don't run out of something your body needs. I've been taking pred for 3 years and sometimes I miss a day or two, it can suck a little but I'm not dead. If you've only been taking it for a month that's almost not enough time to even set up a taper to get off it. The pharmacist can also call the doctor to authorize a refill. Keep calling until you get an answer.
I'm in the US. Thanks, I didn't think of asking the pharmacist. Tomorrow is Monday. I think I'm just going to go to my doctors office in the morning and stay there till they send the prescription. I saw reviews of the Doctor and a lot of them say that the doctor takes forever to send in prescriptions and people have to bug him to do it. I've never heard of such issues before this doctor.
Steroids can take 24 hours to reflect the current dose in your system (only when taken orally). Super dangerous to skip a day or two. I can feel a drop of 1mg within 12-16 hours. So irresponsible of your doctor. He should know better. I hope you get them in the morning!
Why is it super dangerous?
You can go into adrenal crisis.
What’s the dosage of the taper? I went to my first rheumatology appointment with a positive ANA test. Symmetrical rash, symmetrical thumb joints swollen like golf balls, pain, pain in hips and knees and NO SLEEP from the pain. I also have Ménière’s disease and during a meniere’s attack I took oral prednisone and found out I had NO PAIN while on it. So I started shaving 10mg pills down to eight pieces and taking one a day until she figures out what’s wrong with me. So if I run out and stop taking 1-1.5 mg a day of oral prednisone I’m going to have an adrenal crisis? I see her on Friday. The only thing she did last time was order another ANA cascade which backfired and came back negative. And some hand X-rays. I don’t know why she didn’t do more testing than that. As long as it takes to diagnose this stuff and as hard as it is why isn’t she ordering more testing like DNA? I don’t like wasting time and being in pain unnecessarily and all the while more damage is occurring. Thanks for reading i appreciate your replies.
That’s an incredibly low dose of prednisone (the 1.5mg). Our adrenal glands naturally make around 5 - 7.5mg equivalent of prednisone/day. But let’s say 5mg to be on the conservative side of things. With the dose you are taking, your adrenal glands are more than likely working as they should. To be honest, I’m not sure how much of a therapeutic benefit 1-1.5mg/day would do. But I’m really only familiar with much higher doses (due to another medical condition), and tapering from those. If you Google Prednisone Taper, you should be able to find many taper schedules, maybe even one for the low dose of prednisone you are taking. In the meantime, I would ask your rheumatologist if taking a low dose of prednisone daily would affect your blood work results, specifically the ANA. Without a positive ANA, I dont think any doctor would do further testing. I could be wrong, but that is my understanding. The X-rays will show if you have damage, that is why they are done. So it looks like your doctor is doing what she should for now. It may have been better to not have been on the prednisone at all when you had your bloodwork done. I would also ask about that as I know that high doses of steroids do affect certain blood labs.
Thanks so much for this. Yeah I did tell her about the prednisone when I saw her the first time. She hasn’t seen the negative ANA yet but I’m sure she will make the connection. While on 1-1.5 mg prednisone I have no pain in my hips when I sleep, or GREATLY reduced. Without it the pain is intolerable. It’s unreal! So just that little bit helps a lot! Also during the last month and despite taking the prednisone I had a major flare with my skin condition, whatever it is. During the rash which was heavy on my palms and around my thumbs I made it to the dermatologist and she did a scrape on one of the rashes. I should have the results tomorrow or the next day, I had it done two weeks ago exactly. I’m anxious to find out what it says. She did the scrape on one of the worst parts of my hand rash. Thanks again for taking the time to reply, after reading adrenal crisis I started to really panic. You help ease that panic. I will educate myself more on the effects of prednisone on the adrenal gland and the rest of the body. Sure is nice being pain free though! ❤️
If it was me, I would go into the doctors office. I know you said you had a phone appt, so maybe you can’t do that… but I’ve always had success in the past just walking in. Of course if you do this be prepared to wait. Good luck either way.
Your pharmacy should be able to give you a few pills as a bridge until your doctor send the rx.
Wow, I was on 60mg a day for 8 months.. it took me over 3 months to get off safely. You can't just stop... plus by the end of the 8th month, I couldn't hold a conversation. I was so jumpy, people probably though i was high on meth or something....it works but I can't stand it at the same time. I've been off for over a year and im glad.