After a 5-day, fairly high-dose steroid burst, there are usually no withdrawal symptoms. As a result, steroid usage cannot be abruptly discontinued. Tapering the medicine allows the adrenal glands to recover to their natural secretion patterns. (It may take some time for everything to return to normal.) Since your body has been through a period of stress, it needs time to balance that out again before you can wean yourself off the medication. Be patient and know that everyone's body is different; how long it takes you to get back to normal depends on many factors such as age, weight, history of health problems, etc. If you're planning on stopping taking the drug, talk with your doctor first so you can be sure that it's safe for you to do so. If you've been prescribed a low dose, your doctor may want to keep you on it for another week or two after you stop taking the high doses. Prednisone is used to treat a wide variety of conditions including allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, skin problems, diabetes, and more. It is also used to reduce the frequency of migraine headaches and to relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The dosage of a drug can be expressed in terms of its strength (magnitude) and duration.