How And When To Take Prednisolone Tablets And Liquid

NHS medicines information on dosage for prednisolone tablets and liquid, how to take it and what to do if you miss a dose or take too much.

It's important to take prednisolone as your doctor has advised.

Dosage and strength

The dose of prednisolone you'll take depends on your health problem and whether you are taking it as a short course or for longer.

The usual dose varies between 5mg and 60mg daily but occasionally higher doses may be prescribed.

The strength of tablets range from 1mg to 25mg. There are 2 strengths of liquid with either 1mg or 10mg in every 1ml.

In children, the dose may be lower than for an adult with the same problem because it is calculated based on their height and weight.

Changes to your dose

Your dose may go up or down.

Once your health problem or condition starts to get better, it's likely that your dose will go down.

Your doctor may reduce your dose before you stop treatment completely. This is to reduce the risk of withdrawal symptoms.

Your dose may go up if your symptoms get worse.

How to take it

Unless your doctor or pharmacist gives you different instructions, it's best to take prednisolone as a single dose once a day, with breakfast. For example, if your dose is 40mg daily, your doctor may tell you to take 8 tablets (8 x 5mg) all at the same time.

Take prednisolone with breakfast so it does not upset your stomach. Taking prednisolone in the morning also means it's less likely to affect your sleep.

If your prednisolone tablets are labelled as "enteric coated" or "gastro resistant", you can take these with or without food but make sure to swallow them whole. Do not take indigestion medicines 2 hours before or after taking enteric coated or gastro resistant tablets.

Sometimes, your doctor may advise you to take prednisolone on alternate days only.

How long to take it for

This depends on your health problem or condition.

You may only need a short course of prednisolone for up to 1 week.

You may need to take it for longer, even for many years or the rest of your life.

If you forget to take it

If you miss a dose of prednisolone, take it as soon as you remember. If you do not remember until the following day, skip the missed dose and take the next one at the usual time.

Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten one.

If you forget doses often, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to help you remember to take your medicine.

Stopping prednisolone

It can be dangerous to stop taking prednisolone suddenly, especially if you have been on a high dose for a long time.

Your health condition may flare up again. You may also get withdrawal side effects including:

• severe tiredness
• weakness
• body aches
• joint pain

These side effects are most likely to happen if you have taken prednisolone for more than a few weeks or you take more than 40mg daily.

Your doctor will probably want to reduce your dose gradually over several weeks to prevent these side effects.

Important

Do not stop taking prednisolone without talking to your doctor - you will need to reduce the dose gradually.

If you take too much

Taking too many prednisolone tablets is unlikely to harm you.

If you're worried, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

If you want to find out more about this particular topic you can visit the Original article on the NHS website. If you are worried by any aspect of your health make sure you go and see your doctor or book an appointment at your local clinic.