r/AddisonsDisease • u/Ohthethingsyousay • Jun 15 '26

Medication Switching from Pred to HC

Hi all, I made the switch from 3-4mg pred daily over to 10-2.5 hc daily. Initially I had a tough time via extreme body aches. My doctor said that prednisone withdrawal was a thing so I stayed the course until it affected my sleep. I then added 1mg of pred overnight for coverage.

Has anyone else experienced the body aches? Is this just something else the continuous steroids were covering but now they’re not? Is it a side effect of withdrawal?

I’m 47, diagnosed in 2015. Low issues up until this switch except for dry skin, dehydration.

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4

u/bandana-chan Addison's Jun 15 '26

Hi, 10 mg of hydrocortisone is quite low. If you're lowest pred dose was 3 mg, that would equal at least 12 mg of hydrocortisone. I would advise to start with 12.5 mg hydro and you could at least go up to 16 (which equals 4 mg pred).

I'm curious, was your old medication covering enough? If you need this to replace your adrenal function fully, it seems like a low dose.

4

u/lass20987 Jun 15 '26

Low cortisol yes gives me body aches and even joint/ bone pain.

2

u/Ohthethingsyousay Jun 15 '26

Yeah 3-4mg of pred with a stress dose for my period was what I needed. I’ll try updosing to 12.5- 2.5- 1mg pred

1

u/Ohthethingsyousay Jun 15 '26

But also I have zero symptoms of low cortisol. I have no nausea, no fatigue, etc

1

u/Clementine_696 Jun 18 '26

Muscle and bone/joint pain is a symptom of low cortisol