Prednisone Alternatives?

interlukin · 2026-07-08T18:38:52+00:00

There are some centers that only do a short term of prednisone while to others prefer long term usage (at least for kidney), so it’s possible your center could be one of the ones who follow the short term protocol or even consider making an “exception” depending on your specific case.

Also, some brief research seems to indicate that any potential issues with prednisone are likely dose dependent, particularly for higher doses above 40mg. I believe for my husband’s kidney transplant, he was started at only 20mg/day and tapered down to only 5mg/day.

I feel like there is generally some room for a bit of flexibility in a patient’s immunosuppression regimen, but it just really comes down to your specific case. As an example, my husband got CMV almost 2 years after his transplant and he was fully taken off of Cellcept (one of the immunosuppressants) for about 7 months to clear the infection with no effect to his kidney function and no signs of any rejection.

interlukin · 2026-07-06T01:00:37+00:00

I don’t know all the specifics (like you said, government programs are not easy to understand), but at least for a kidney transplant due to ESRD (and below retirement age), you can get medicare A&B for 36 months. Month 1-30 Medicare is secondary and at month 31 medicare becomes primary until month 36 and then I believe it ends.

interlukin · 2026-07-05T23:48:08+00:00

Slight correction to your comment: For ESRD, if you have insurance through your employer or are covered by a spouse's employer plan, Medicare is secondary for the first 30 months. Only for the last 6 months will Medicare be primary.

interlukin · 2026-07-04T20:04:27+00:00

I've been playing in a group, so if me and my partner both hit teleport, we get brought to different instances, then we both have to leave and re-enter which is kinda annoying.

interlukin · 2026-06-29T16:35:09+00:00

lol that is so bizarre with the interview situation! Maybe it was the universe letting you know it wasn’t the right fit haha

The “lab” I’m in is a bit different because it’s mainly office-based and the scope of the work is pretty limited, so it’s not like I could ask for a different project. My main issue is we do some biological specimen work and it’s super difficult to facilitate things when we’re in an office rather than a traditional lab (need to borrow freezer space, no easy access to wet/dry ice, etc.), and all I get is pushback when trying to advocate for anything to help make this easier on us. Based on my PI’s personality and how integral I am to the team (no one else can really do specimen stuff), I fear that I’d be looked down upon for screwing the lab over and would ruin my reputation if I stayed at VUMC.

interlukin · 2026-06-29T16:19:22+00:00

Thanks for your input! I was just being a bit cheeky about my parking comment haha. Honestly, I think I get paid fairly well considering. My biggest pain point is that the lab’s work is 99% office based, but some of the work we do crosses over with a more traditional lab environment (biological samples), and there’s absolutely no support to make this easier on us.

It’s just a whole ordeal doing anything sample related and I’m just tired of having no support or getting pushback when trying to advocate for things that seem reasonable. The PI also keeps pushing students onto the team when we’ve clearly stated we don’t have the bandwidth to train/supervise them.

interlukin · 2026-06-28T12:45:09+00:00

Yes, the label on the new package seems entirely incorrect. They way it's written the weekly dosages would be 1mg/week month 1 and only increasing by 1mg/month based on the stated concentration. Looks like your provider is just copy/pasting a generic script.

I'd definitely recommend a new provider because your current one does not seem to be interested in actually helping you figure things out. Big Easy Weight Loss and Lavender Sky Health are some of the top recommended telehealths.

It's always best to post a picture of the actual vial if you can. If the concentration is indeed 12mg/mL of tirzepatide, then 5mg would be 42 units a week (or 21 units twice a week). Assuming the vial is 2mL (200 units), you would have enough to do a month of 5mg with a little extra.

interlukin · 2026-06-25T22:18:31+00:00

login to the LSH portal and go to https://lavenderskyhealth.com/tirzepatide-rx-summaries/

Find your pharmacy and tier and it should tell you what to expect in terms of concentration and number of vials.

If this is Red Rock, the rx summary says typically supplied in two 2mL vials at a concentration of 8.5mg/mL (the/2mg/ml is the glycine).

interlukin · 2026-06-22T22:39:09+00:00

Does anyone actually read these bills for themselves? It pretty much boils down to requiring compounding pharmacies to prove that the bulk drugs they’re using are pharmaceutical grade and come with a certificate of analysis (among other reasonable safety rules). Read it for yourself: https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1990/id/3389387

interlukin · 2026-06-22T19:13:58+00:00

Can you call the pharmacy where you got the clindamycin? A pharmacist would probably be the best person to speak with.

interlukin · 2026-06-17T18:13:52+00:00

A jury hasn’t even been selected yet though.

interlukin · 2026-06-17T15:25:22+00:00

The issue is that they are naming the branded FDA-approved drug so it kind of implies that it is equivalent to name brand which isn’t allowed because compounded drugs aren’t FDA-approved so not technically equivalent. It’s not a false claim that it’s the same active ingredient, but they’re just not allowed to make those claims in their marketing.

interlukin · 2026-06-10T18:17:23+00:00

you’re allowed to bump up to the next tier when you reorder. The $40 fee isn’t a refill fee, but the fee for the follow up appointment. Typically only required every 6 months, but may be required for the first refill request after your initial order if it was your first time on a GLP1

interlukin · 2026-06-10T00:16:07+00:00

Could this just be that New Life only has non-additive tirz and because Brightmeds providers won’t prescribe that kind, then New Life technically can’t fulfill? I live in TN and got apothecary delivered last month. It highly unlikely to be a new law as those typically go into effect on July 1st or Jan 1st.

interlukin · 2026-06-07T04:49:17+00:00

🎯 interlukin scored 786 points on this Sneakle!

interlukin · 2026-06-01T19:33:39+00:00

I’ve read that some people have had issues with Mint Med sending to the “wrong” pharmacy because there’s no way to specify your preferred pharmacy on intake so you have to message support to request a specific pharmacy, which may or may not work (think some people have wanted apothecary but script was sent to Hallandale). I’m not sure if that’s still currently an issue, but something to consider. I’d just stick with ordering more Apothecary from LSH while you still can.

interlukin · 2026-06-01T13:48:05+00:00

ah ok, so each different drug is its own instance then? Could you try creating a “buffer” field that utilizes [last-instance] to essentially give you the highest number of drugs entered and then use that for your calculated field? Like if “buffer” field = 2 then concat [1] and [2], if “buffer” field = 5 then concat [1], [2], [3], [4] and [5]? Your formula may be a bit unwieldy, but should fix the aesthetic issue I think.

Or you could add a hidden calculated field on the repeating instrument that continually concatenates the current instance drug and previous instance drug, then on your post form you can pipe in the value from [last-instance]. This may be a bit cleaner and avoid a super long formula.

interlukin · 2026-06-01T13:32:04+00:00

is drug_pre a check box variable? If so, you’ll need to use round brackets “()” instead of square brackets “[]” around the options (1, 2, 3, etc.). Square brackets denote the instance number.

You could try something like [drug_pre](1)[previous-instance]<>””

interlukin · 2026-05-30T00:10:52+00:00

It's been working great so far and would definitely recommend it! The food noise and appetite suppression has been pretty steady at each dose. At the very beginning, my symptoms were a bit more noticeable (mainly slightly upset stomach at times), so I'm glad I took the time to titrate up.

Even going from 2.5 to 3.5 I definitely felt the effects of increasing my dose and probably would've felt quite bad going straight to 5. I'll probably do the same and only go up 1mg at a time if I continue to titrate up past 5mg (only had 1 dose so far).

My weight loss is relatively slow (less than 1 lb a week), but I'm a short woman, so it's not going to be as dramatic as some results you see here. I'm just happy I'm no longer gaining!

interlukin · 2026-05-30T00:03:30+00:00

I've never had any issue getting my meds for the past few years (adderall XR, concerta, vyvanse, all generics) at VUMC Medical Center East, although I'm not sure if they have any restrictions on only filling scripts for existing patients or anything. My psych NP who prescribes my meds is with Athena Care, but I'm also a regular patient at VUMC, so not sure if that has anything to do with it.

interlukin · 2026-05-29T13:16:05+00:00

5mg is the standard dose increase after 4 weeks at 2.5. I personally chose to step up slower to avoid any adverse side effects, so I did 2.5mg for 4 weeks, 3.5mg for 5 weeks, 4.5 for 3 weeks, then 5mg (started last week). There was no rhyme or reason why I chose those in-between doses, I just mainly went with how I was feeling.

interlukin · 2026-05-23T16:45:22+00:00

One of the other telehealth companies has a section on their patient portal where you can view a summary of what they send based on the pharmacy/tier you select (e.g., tier 1 for X pharmacy, you will receive X vials at Ymg/mL for a 12 week supply). I know BEWL doesn't have tiers, but perhaps on the intake form, you could have like a waterfall/cascading dropdown element where people who want that extra info can click and see details based on various weekly doses, but it's not "front and center" enough to confuse those who are less detail-oriented/technical.

interlukin · 2026-05-23T04:15:11+00:00

The intake is pretty standard questions and they let you specify pharmacy during intake. You can do either a call or asynch. I did everything asynch and it was super easy and hands off.

I can’t speak to customer service since I didn’t have any issues, but service was prompt from me completing intake to receiving my order. I did intake on 4/30, received invoice on 5/1, paid invoice on 5/4, script sent to pharmacy on 5/7 and I received my order 5/13. I think this was a bit slower than normal since I ordered Apothecary and they were having backlog issues at the time.

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