You don't need to wean onto prednisone. Things like metformin you do, because it takes a while for your digestive system to be able to tolerate it. Prednisone doesn't have drastic side effects like that, but it does effectively switch off the body's natural production of cortisol (? I hope I'm remembering the right name here!). Stopping it suddenly can send your body into an adrenal crisis as it no longer makes an essential hormone. Weaning off slowly allows the body to slowly resume the production of natural steroids so everything is ok.

As for me... for the arthritis... I need it now. Once I'm pregnant, the hormones my body produces take over and the arthritis all but disappears. By the time I got to 7 weeks I was feeling as though I could stop the prednisone, but I spotted when I did. So for me it's just a matter of staying on it a bit longer than arthritis pain indicates is necessary and then weaning off once the pregnancy is established and secure.

You've just got to remember that there's a number of different health conditions interacting here, and what's necessary for me isn't always necessary for other people with less complex medical situations.

BW