Struggling with Pred Mood Swings

[freakyschizogirl]

Anyone experiencing these? I seem to get whip lash from my mood swings. One minute i'm high and happy, the next i'm down and tearful. Any little thing will set me off. Feel like a time bomb!

Any tips on dealing with this? I've had a dance with depression before and i dont wanan go there again.

[stikker]

I flared at Christmas and I went from 7.5 up to 40. I had to take a week off work. I was not fit to be around anyone. I wasted 5 days of vacation time to do nothing but try and stay calm. I could go into a rage in a asecond. It was really bad.

[malin]

I suffer from the same but it gets better once you are on a lower dose I think.

For me it helps to tell all my family and friends how I am feeling and most importantly, WHY I'm feeling like it, ei. It's because of the pred causing me to have mood swings.

Also, I know this is hard but try to be "objective" when these mood swings happen, what I mean is, try to identify your feelings as being caused by pred, then try to find a way you can identify and separate them from your "normal" feelings.

Does this make any sense?

When I get really moody or down, I try to stop and think "Am I feeling like this because of Pred, or am I genuinly down/angry etc." That way, if you end up with an answer saying, it's because of Pred, you can then try to "actively" take back control of your feelings. Try telling yourself stuff like "I will not let Pred make me feel this way" "I will not let it ruin my day" and so on...

I hope this make some sense... lol its hard to explain but that is how I deal with it

[oaktreehill]

I get really tearful at anything!! Was speaking to my boss on the phone yesterday and started getting tearful on the phone.. Yes im very stressed out with work at the moment but to cry for no apparent reason is getting embarrasing!

[LisaMarie]

I think we all go thru it..I have been on such high doses of pred it is a aweful rollercoaster ride...i try not to make too many important choices (like divorcing my husband because he just can not get it)...He is not all bad but he is not dealing with this lovely disease at all and unless I am on deaths door he choses to ignore it......I told him I need him to be my rock and he told me all he can be is my jelly fish...funny now but not at the time.....pred just makes us go up and down ...That is one reason I came up with the milk dud trick..i can not afford to go off at work...so I pop a milk dud and pray by the time it takes me to chew it and swallow it my brain will have caught up with my mouth and kept me in line........I do not feel like i get depressed ...i just seem to be mad and that is not me...I am usually Pollyanna...glass half full...just my thoughts...hope it helps

[Sangye]

A couple years ago a neuropsychiatrist at JHU told me that the chemical imbalances that pred causes can easily create the need for an antidepressant or mood stabilizer. Many people had brain chemistry imbalances before pred, and pred will deepen them. The pred imbalances do get better as the dosage is lowered, but it can take several years to get the balance back, and some people's bodies never do. So, some people are helped by taking meds while they're on pred, and some continue to need them after they're off.

The onset of bipolar disorder can be triggered by pred usage. What they've learned about bipolar disorder is that the longer it goes untreated, the worse it gets and it becomes extremely difficult to treat.

[freakyschizogirl]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Malin i understand you completely. I do the same, talking to my sister last night she said why are ya so down do ya wanna talk about it. I said theres noting to talk about everything is fine, its the pred.
I do try and rationalise what i'm feeling, hopefully i'll get better at it.
Oaktreehill you should have my manager! She'll talk your ear off and BORE you to tears!
LisaMarie if he's a jellyfish surely that means he's more adaptable to change? Especially being that Jellyfish are water animals, it should flow over him.
And Sangye thanks for than, definately food for thought. I think i need counselling to come to terms with things. I dont think i've fully accepted my diagnosis yet, or the long term prognosis in regard to being on medication for life.

[Daggar]

The "angry" comments made me think of checking the wife's medicine cabinet just to check if she's been mistakenly taking Holly's meds!! Yikes!

Seriously, everything that you're saying has been happening with Holly as well -- she can light up (redhead) really quick over the littlest thing or she can seem down over not being able to do the things she used to.

Family and friends completely understand how the treatment causes this and she is always reassured that they'll be there for her when she needs them.

Counselling may be a good idea -- we had to meet with a Counsellor while Holly was in ER at the hospital -- standard policy. They helped Holly and the rest of the us come to grips with what the future holds for WG patients and their families.

When were you diagnosed with WG?

[JanW]

One of the biggest things to cope with are the unknowns with WG. You may not be on meds for life, Sam, or you may. You may achieve a decades long remission, or you may be one of the 10 percent or less who never do. Out there in this great wide world there are many for whom WG is little more than a blip and a daily pill (this is where I'm at at the moment, because I've already had my kids and I'm in remission), but I remember when I was first diagnosed, sick, had joint pain and the rest, feeling as though things would never get better. Now I try to take each day as it comes. And truly I don't worry about small things anymore - which is a good thing.

[Sangye]

I've seen a therapist weekly since I was dx'ed. I can't even summarize what a difference it's made. It really helps to have someone objective observing you and helping you differentiate pred-induced emotions from the rest. That's just one of a gazillion good things it's done for me.