Hi!
A doctor just prescribed me 50mg/day of prednisone for 10 days. This is to cure a problem wich is not related to my digestive system. Should I worry about possible bad effects on my j pouch?
thank you
Rich
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I don't think the short course of prednisone will do your pouch any harm. If you have any simmering pouchitis it could improve. I'm on a six-day course of prednisone right now (though a lower dose). About twice a year it's needed (at least in my life) for one thing or another. Is your doctor planning to taper it, or stop it abruptly? Tapering is most important after a longer course, but most docs do it routinely, perhaps out of superstition.
No there is no tapering planned .
thank you for your answer. It helps!
Rich
50mg is a very high dose not to taper, even with only 10 days of it. My rheumatologist does a taper even with a starting dose of 20mg and a total course of about 2 weeks.
Jan 
It certainly seems like standard practice to *always* taper (and I always do, and it does no harm), but I'm also not sure there's any evidence for its value/importance in the 7-10 day range. I usually don't bother tapering below 10 mg after a short course, unless I'm using a Medrol Dose-Pack.
Thank you for your comments. To be sure, I will check with my pharmacist.
rich
I did not know that prednisone can help with pouchitis.
I always feel wonderful on steroids. Wish they didn't have such terrible long term side effects.
Prednisone will reduce inflammation anywhere. It's a terrible drug to treat pouchitis, since unlike with a short course of antibiotics the pouchitis would just about always return. Nevertheless, it's a nice bonus when I'm taking prednisone for other reasons.