Exact Answer: 3 weeks
Drugs and medicines can be used to cure illnesses and diseases. Some medicines can be used to cure minor illnesses and issues, while some others are used to treat major diseases. Yet, there is always a dosage and time limit that cannot be crossed. When crossed, it can lead to severe consequences and allergies. When taking a medicine, it is important to know the facts, side effects, and dosage of the medicine before taking it so that they can know what they are dealing with.
Among many other drugs and steroids, prednisolone is a type of steroid, known as a corticosteroid. They are not the same as anabolic steroids and they exhibit different symptoms and cure different health problems. One must also know how long they can take prednisolone without any major issues. Many factors decide how long the drug can be taken without any sort of effects other than what it is intended to do.
Some sources and researches confirm that prednisolone can be taken safely without any complications for almost three weeks. Some take the drug for just a week before their health problem goes away, while some even take them for a month.
How Long Can You Take Prednisone Safely?
| Dosage and Duration | Time |
| Prednisolone must not be stopped immediately after being taken for | 3 weeks |
| High dosage must not be taken for more than | 1 week |
| Blue steroid card | 3 weeks |
The half-life of prednisolone is about 22 hours. The half-life of a drug is the time taken by the body to eliminate half the drug’s potency and life. The plasma levels of the body will also be reduced into half in the elimination half-life of the drug. Whatever the drug may be, the half-life of the drug must be multiplied by 5.5 to get the time the drug takes to be eliminated. Other factors determine the half-life and complete elimination of the drug from the body.
How much and how long a person takes the drug, the body’s metabolic rate, the age and health of the person, body mass, and much more. The metabolic rate determines how long the drug stays in one’s system and for people who have a slower metabolism, the drug stays in their body longer. When age increases and health decreases, the drug will last longer in the system. When a person weighs more, the drug will last longer.
Prednisolone can be used to treat various health problems like allergies, skin diseases, infections, blood disorders, some types of cancers. It can also help a body prevent organ rejections after transplants. It reduces inflammation, damps down the immune system which will prevent and help with autoimmune diseases.
Why Can You Take Prednisolone Safely For That Long?
In autoimmune illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system will attack its tissues by mistake. Steroids like prednisolone can be used to treat and prevent them. Prednisolone is available in the form of oral liquids and tablets. They are also available in the form of injections, but that is done only in hospitals. Taking prednisolone will keep one awake, so it is important to take them in the morning or at noon, once a day.
It will also make a person more susceptible to infections, so it is necessary to let the doctor who prescribes the medicines know if one has already been exposed to illnesses like shingles and chickenpox. It is also important to maintain the dose.
When one takes prednisolone continuously for at least three weeks, it is ill-advised to stop taking them immediately. There are always side effects when the usage of prednisolone is stopped all of a sudden.
Conclusion
Taking high doses, like above 40 mg for more than a week will also lead to side effects if stopped suddenly. The brands of prednisolone that people buy include Dilacort, Pevanti, Deltastab, and Deltacortil. Some people are not suitable for taking prednisolone, but most adults and children can take prednisolone without any consequences.
It is better to let the doctor know if one is allergic to any sort of medicine, including prednisolone, has active infections, trying to conceive, or is already pregnant.
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