Prednisolone taper and concerns

[lola200677]

Hi
I know this is not an eye forum but I thought some of you folks might have some info regarding prednisolone...
I have heart failure due to chemo which I had for cancer at age ten. The heart is being treated well as I'm on heart and blood pressure meds. Iv recently had a re activation of toxoplasmosis in my eye for which I was put on prednisolone. I started by IV 300mg for three days at the hospital, then put at 50mg for 7 days, 40mg for 7 days, 30mg for 7 days... Until now I am at 10mg on my fourth day before I get to 5mg for 7 days and stop the steroids.
My question is I am getting a heart rate everyday that's over 100bpm most of the time. Will this stop at 5mg? Or is this normal? Iv read it's a common side effect but obviously with my heart failure I'm just worried. Also, are there any common symptoms after I end this months course of steroids (it will be a little over a month overall) that people get after stopping them? And how long does the immune system take to build back up to normal? And is this doctors taper schedule slow enough seeing as iv been on it for a month and a bit?

Sorry about all the questions I'm just worried.
Thanks

[rumpled]

Hope you feel better soon. Tapering is never fun.

[lola200677]

Thanks so much for replying to me :-) I hope I'm ok in two days when I get down to 5mg.. Otherwise as you said I might up and down the dose / or taper more slow ... My doctor is not very reachable which is why iv reached out here.
Thanks again
X

[rumpled]

The pain is normal. Prednisone and others in the class are often used for its anti-inflammatory action and the body is pretty unhappy when the levels with vary or decrease and it hurts like heck... They say that this weaning process can be akin to an opiod withdrawal. The heart rate is normal... Or at least I got the same, and should decrease in effect as the dose gets closer down to a "normal replacement" but the pain won't decrease unless you can either see saw a bit (up down the dose) or decrease slowly for a while..
As for the immune system, it can vary by person so some bounce back fast and others take a while.  People react the steroids differently. I get very cushingoid and super sensitive to them, while others may go AI and shut down. Others not have much reaction.

[lola200677]

P.s - are excessive leg/hip/ankle joint pains normal and do they subside after the dose gets lower? I'm in agony every day.