Prednisone Dosage for Adults

When it comes to corticosteroid or glucocorticoid medicine, prednisone is the drug of choice for majority of the physicians worldwide. In fact, it is the most popularly recommended oral corticosteroid drug. Despite being considered as a safe and effective steroid formulation for many illnesses, prednisone side effects are reported by many patients. The main reason for adverse body reaction is increased dosage or prolonged intake of the drug. First, let's try to learn some basics about this therapeutic drug.

What is Prednisone?

Patients who are being diagnosed with inflammatory diseases might be already aware about 'what is prednisone' and 'what are prednisone uses'. It is a type of prodrug, taken in an inactive form. This corticosteroid drug is prescribed for treating several medical conditions, including inflammatory arthritis, allergies, skin problems, steroid deficiency, severe asthma, blood disorder, etc. The mode of action regarding prednisone drug is to reduce inflammation responses, thereby suppressing the hypersensitivity of immune system.

Dosage for Adults

Approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), prednisone is formulated in form of tablets and injections. The former is prescribed for patients in specific concentration, while prednisone injections are delivered intravenously or intramuscularly by a medical specialist. Needless to say, prednisone dosage for adults is higher as compared to the recommended dose for children. And to avoid adverse health reactions, every patient is expected to adopt the doctor's prescription stringently.

Following the administration of prednisone, the liver metabolizes it, resulting in prednisolone. This active version of prednisone is then circulated to the bodily parts via blood circulation. In general, treatment starts with low prednisone dosage, after which dose can be altered according to the patient's reaction. For patients diagnosed with cancer, the dosage intake will be higher for prompt results. Many a time, the concerned doctor recommends it for a short-term period to minimize risk factors.

In case of children patients, the daily dose of prednisone is 0.05-2 mg/kg/day. The usual dose of prednisone in adults may range from 5 mg per day to as high as 60 mg per day. For patients with multiple sclerosis, the daily dose is 200 mg; whereas cancer patients require about 500 mg per day. The daily dose is given at one time or divided into 4 times per day. While deciding the prednisone dosage, the doctor takes into account the patients' age, weight, disease type, disease severity, other health problems and current medications (if applicable). According to medical experts, taking 20 mg of prednisone per day for 14 days is safe for adults.

Those who are currently on high dose of prednisone should be supervised properly by a trusted physician. This is because of the increased risk of prednisone withdrawal effects, if the corticosteroid drug is stopped immediately. While a weakened immune system is one of the general signs, severe withdrawal symptoms are reported by some patients. In order to avoid worse cases, high prednisone dosage in adults and children are reduced gradually. This gives sufficient time for the body system to function normally without prednisone.

Thus, prednisone dosage for adults varies from one individual to another. At any point of time, patients should not self administer this synthetic corticosteroid drug. Also, people who are already into this medication should not alter the daily dose, unless directed by the concerned doctor. Provided that this corticosteroid drug is used in prescribed dose for the suggested period, side effects of prednisone shots and tablets are less likely to develop in patients.