 |
Corticosteroids (systemic)
Budesonide (Entocort™ EC) |
|
Dosing (Adults): Crohn's
disease (active): 9 mg qd in the morning for up to 8 weeks;
recurring episodes may be treated with a repeat 8-week course of
treatment. Crohn's disease, maintenance of remission: Following treatment of active disease, treatment may be continued at a dosage of 6 mg qd for up to 3 months. If symptom control is maintained for 3 months, tapering of the dosage to complete cessation is recommended. Continued dosing beyond 3 months has not been demonstrated to result in substantial benefit. Supplied: enteric coated capsule: 3 mg |
cortisone acetate (Cortone): |
| Adults: 25 to 300 mg orally once daily or divided doses every 12 hours. |
dexamethasone (Decadron): |
|
Dosing (Adults): Anti-inflammatory:
0.75 to 9 mg/day in divided doses every 6 to 12 hours. Intra-articular, intralesional, or soft tissue (as sodium phosphate): 0.4-6 mg/day. Spinal cord compression: 10 to 100mg (Usually 10mg) IV stat, followed by 4 to 24 mg IV every 6 hours. Use larger doses (eg up to 100mg) in patients with profound neurologic injury and lower doses in patients with mild or equivocal signs. Antiemetic: Prophylaxis: Oral, IV: 10-20 mg 15-30 minutes before treatment. Mildly emetogenic therapy: Oral, I.M., I.V.: 4 mg q4-6h. Delayed nausea/vomiting: Oral: 4-10 mg 1-2 times/day x 2-4 days. Dexamethasone suppression test (depression indicator) (unlabeled use): Oral: 1 mg at 11 PM, draw blood at 8 AM the following day for plasma cortisol determination. Cushing's syndrome, diagnostic: Oral: 1 mg at 11 PM, draw blood at 8 AM; greater accuracy for Cushing's syndrome may be achieved by the following: Dexamethasone 0.5 mg by mouth every 6 hours for 48 hours (with 24-hour urine collection for 17-hydroxycorticosteroid excretion). Multiple sclerosis (acute exacerbation): Oral: 30 mg/day for 1 week, followed by 4-12 mg/day for 1 month. Treatment of shock: Addisonian crisis/shock (ie, adrenal insufficiency/responsive to steroid therapy): I.V. (given as sodium phosphate): 4-10 mg x 1, which may be repeated if necessary. Unresponsive shock (ie, unresponsive to steroid therapy): I.V. (given as sodium phosphate): 1-6 mg/kg as a single I.V. dose or up to 40 mg initially followed by repeat doses every 2-6 hours while shock persists. Physiological replacement: Oral, I.M., I.V. (should be given as sodium phosphate): 0.03-0.15 mg/kg/day or 0.6-0.75 mg/m2/day in divided doses every 6-12 hours. |
fludrocortisone (Florinef): |
|
INDICATIONS: Florinef Acetate is indicated
as partial replacement therapy for primary and secondary adrenocortical
insufficiency in Addison's disease and for the treatment of salt-losing
adrenogenital syndrome. Dosing (Adults): Addison's Disease: In Addison's disease, the combination of Florinef Acetate (Fludrocortisone Acetate Tablets USP) with a glucocorticoid such as hydrocortisone or cortisone provides substitution therapy approximating normal adrenal activity with minimal risks of unwanted effects. The usual dose is 0.1 mg of Florinef Acetate daily, although dosage ranging from 0.1 mg three times a week to 0.2 mg daily has been employed. In the event transient hypertension develops as a consequence of therapy, the dose should be reduced to 0.05 mg daily. Florinef Acetate is preferably administered in conjunction with cortisone (10 mg to 37.5 mg daily in divided doses) or hydrocortisone (10 mg to 30 mg daily in divided doses). Salt-Losing Adrenogenital Syndrome: The recommended dosage for treating the salt-losing adrenogenital syndrome is 0.1 mg to 0.2 mg of Florinef Acetate daily. Supplied: 0.1 mg tablet: |
hydrocortisone (Cortef, Solu-Cortef): |
|
Dosing (Adults): Usual
dose: 0.5 to 2 mg/kg every 6 hours. range: 100-500mg IV/IM q2-10h as needed. |
methylprednisolone (Solu-medrol): |
|
Dosing (Adults): Asthma: (severe): 2 mg/kg IV every 6 hours, followed by 0.5 to 1mg/kg every 6 hours. Multiple sclerosis acute exacerbation: 500mg IV once daily for 5 days. Spinal cord injury: 30 mg/kg over 15-30min IV, then 5.4 mg/kg/hr x 23 hours. PCP: 40-60mg IV every 6 hours or pulse dosing: 250-1000 mg IV x 3-5 days. |
prednisone |
|
Dosing (Adults):
Usual: 5 to 60mg orally once daily. The initial dosage of DELTASONE Tablets may vary from 5 mg to 60 mg of prednisone per day depending on the specific disease entity being treated. In situations of less severity lower doses will generally suffice while in selected patients higher initial doses may be required. The initial dosage should be maintained or adjusted until a satisfactory response is noted. If after a reasonable period of time there is a lack of satisfactory clinical response, DELTASONE should be discontinued and the patient transferred to other appropriate therapy. IT SHOULD BE EMPHASIZED THAT DOSAGE REQUIREMENTS ARE VARIABLE AND MUST BE INDIVIDUALIZED ON THE BASIS OF THE DISEASE UNDER TREATMENT AND THE RESPONSE OF THE PATIENT. After a favorable response is noted, the proper maintenance dosage should be determined by decreasing the initial drug dosage in small decrements at appropriate time intervals until the lowest dosage which will maintain an adequate clinical response is reached. It should be kept in mind that constant monitoring is needed in regard to drug dosage. Included in the situations which may make dosage adjustments necessary are changes in clinical status secondary to remissions or exacerbations in the disease process, the patient's individual drug responsiveness, and the effect of patient exposure to stressful situations not directly related to the disease entity under treatment; in this latter situation it may be necessary to increase the dosage of DELTASONE for a period of time consistent with the patient's condition. If after long-term therapy the drug is to be stopped, it is recommended that it be withdrawn gradually rather than abruptly. Multiple Sclerosis: In the treatment of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis daily doses of 200 mg of prednisolone for a week followed by 80 mg every other day for 1 month have been shown to be effective. (Dosage range is the same for prednisone and prednisolone.) ADT® (Alternate Day Therapy): ADT is a corticosteroid dosing regimen in which twice the usual daily dose of corticoid is administered every other morning. The purpose of this mode of therapy is to provide the patient requiring long-term pharmacologic dose treatment with the beneficial effects of corticoids while minimizing certain undesirable effects, including pituitary-adrenal suppression, the Cushingoid state, corticoid withdrawal symptoms, and growth suppression in children. The rationale for this treatment schedule is based on two major premises: (a) the anti-inflammatory or therapeutic effect of corticoids persists longer than their physical presence and metabolic effects and (b) administration of the corticosteroid every other morning allows for re-establishment of more nearly normal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity on the off-steroid day. A brief review of the HPA physiology may be helpful in understanding this rationale. Acting primarily through the hypothalamus a fall in free cortisol stimulates the pituitary gland to produce increasing amounts of corticotropin (ACTH) while a rise in free cortisol inhibits ACTH secretion. |
Disclaimer |
|
Listed dosages are for - Adult patients ONLY. PLEASE READ THE
DISCLAIMER CAREFULLY BEFORE
ACCESSING OR USING THIS SITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE
TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN THE DISCLAIMER.
GlobalRPH does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or provide
medical services and therefore assumes no liability whatsoever of any
kind for the information and data accessed through the Service or for
any diagnosis or treatment made in reliance thereon. David F. McAuley, Pharm.D., R.Ph. GlobalRPh Inc. |
| Disclaimer Contact Us Privacy Policy Website Search | We comply with the HONcode standard for health trustworthy information: Verify here. Copyright © 2007 GlobalRPh Inc. |
 |
 |