Prednisone Tapering

by Hanna
(Arizona)

Rx: Prednisone 40mg daily for 3 days. Reduce the dose by 5mg every 3 days until complete. Prednisone is available in 5mg tablets. How many tablets are required to fill this order.
A. 100 tablets
B. 120 tablets
C. 108 tablets
D. 99 tablets

Reply (by Keith)

Prednisone is a corticosteroid. With steroid drugs, it is important to slowly reduce the dosage over a period of time, which is often called 'tapering'. So, we know that's what is happening here. So, every three days, the Dr. wants to "taper" the dose by 5mg. So, the dosing schedule will look like this:

Day 1 40mg = 8 Tabs
Day 2 40mg = 8 Tabs
Day 3 40mg = 8 Tabs

Day 4 35mg = 7 Tabs
Day 5 35mg = 7 Tabs
Day 6 35mg = 7 Tabs

Day 7 30mg = 6 Tabs
Day 8 30mg = 6 Tabs
Day 9 30mg = 6 Tabs

Day 10 25mg = 5 Tabs
Day 11 25mg = 5 Tabs
Day 12 25mg = 5 Tabs

Day 13 20mg = 4 Tabs
Day 14 20mg = 4 Tabs
Day 15 20mg = 4 Tabs

Day 16 15mg = 3 Tabs
Day 17 15mg = 3 Tabs
Day 18 15mg = 3 Tabs

Day 19 10mg = 2 Tabs
Day 20 10mg = 2 Tabs
Day 21 10mg = 2 Tabs

Day 22 5mg = 1 Tabs
Day 23 5mg = 1 Tabs
Day 24 5mg = 1 Tabs

Add it all up = _____________