Does sleep come in time? | Arthritis Information

I've taken my sleeping meds but they don't do anything ..

 

Hi Winnie,

As I recall, you're on 15 mg of Pred.  That's not a lot, but if you're not used to it, it can surely interfere with your sleep.  When I started (on 20mg), I couldn't sleep past 2 or 3 in the morning.  Very frustrating to say the least. Part of my problem was that I took 10 mg of Pred in the morning (after breakfast), and 10 mg in the evening (after dinner). This was by my Dr's orders as he said it would help with any pain or discomfort getting up in the morning — but it does hurt the sleep.  After sometime your body does get used to the dosage and sleep gets better.

I'd wake up at 2 or 3 am feeling like the picture below RickF2011-02-28 08:18:57Cute picture, Rick!  The British Rheumatology Association (and most other authorities) recommends that pred should be taken as a single dose early in the day as this best mimics the way your body makes its own cortisone, the natural steroid. Your body usually produces it from about 2am, the blood level peaking at soon after waking. There are small surges of it in response to any stresses throughout the day, but the main dollop is early morning. The ideal would be a delayed release formulation to take late at night but that would be expensive and doesn't yet exist! The later in the day you take the pred, the more likely it is it will interfere with your sleep. It's worse at higher doses and in the early weeks of taking it. Some people find the effect wears off after a while - others don't. Does that help? There's more info about it on the UK PMR and GCA support site under useful information on the left side of the homepage. THE BEST THING FOR SLEEP IS MAGNESIUM, NOT SLEEPING PILLS.Give your body some time to get used to the prednisone.  I think you'll see some improvement with some time.  As you taper the side effects will lessen also.  Patience is a virtue when it comes to PMR.ok thanks for that info ..
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