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considering switch to deflazacort

My son is currently on 20mg of prednisone. I am trying to figure out how much deflazacort would be equivelant and what the cost would be. He is less active and of course weight gain is more of an issue.

Also is there anyone who did the switch and noticed any differences regarding weight gain? Any change in the puffiness of the face?

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Marian Lamberson on June 19, 2010 at 11:43am

Hi Janine, my son is 9 and has always been on deflazacourt. He takes an average amount ( 18 mg. ), witch costs between $60-80 every few months. He does not have many of the symptoms associated with steroids, and does very well. Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Janine on June 19, 2010 at 11:53am

From my small amount of investigating it seems the tablets come in 6mg or 30mg is that correct? So does your son take three 6mg tablet. Can the 30mg be cut in half?

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Permalink Reply by Lori Ware on June 19, 2010 at 12:22pm

THe 30 mg can be cut in half. My son takes 15mg and that is what we do. He has had no weight gain, cushionoid face or other negative side effects except sever delay in growth (we take HgH for that). I have heard of others who have switched and they have said there was an immediate slow down in hunger...not sure about other stuff. There is a weight conversion for deflaz, but I don't remember it right now...sorry!

Janine said:

From my small amount of investigating it seems the tablets come in 6mg or 30mg is that correct? So does your son take three 6mg tablet. Can the 30mg be cut in half?

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Permalink Reply by Keith Van Houten on June 19, 2010 at 1:28pm

We switched from Prednisone to Deflaz about 6 months ago. Seems to be a little easier to maintain weight. Maybe a little less puffiness in the face. It hasn't been a huge change overall.

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Permalink Reply by Janine on June 19, 2010 at 2:36pm

So all in all are you happy that you switched? For us there would be a big difference in cost since we don't pay anything for the prednisone.

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Permalink Reply by Keith Van Houten on June 19, 2010 at 6:46pm

Same situation for us - Prednisone was very cheap with insurance. Deflaz (with no insurance, and not even reimbursable via a health or flex spending account) is about a dollar a day.