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MCC
03-29-2011, 09:22 AM
Hi guys,
hope you are all ok.

I just wondered if anyone of you have anxiety issues from taking prednisone? I've always been a bit of a worrier but in the last few months I've been getting really anxious and I wake up in the night with my heart pounding really stressed about the silliest things and I've only just clocked on that it could be the prednisone (googled it and it lists it as a side effect).

I am now on only 5mg, but i have been on pred for 16 months now. Is it the kind of thing that can build up? Is there anything I can do to stop it? I'm due to come off pred in 3 months anyway but was hoping something could help in the meantime.

thanks! x

pberggren1
03-29-2011, 09:35 AM
Tell me about it Mandy. I have been on 60 mg for almost 4 weeks now and find I get very anxious and have weird dreams about doing stuff I can't handle and then get more worried. Have you ever tried St. John's Wart? I think it helps for depression.

LilyPony
03-29-2011, 11:21 AM
I feel more angry about stupid things than I do anxious but definitely feel both. What has helped me the most is to slow down a second and think hard about if I am really feeling this way, or if it is the pred making me feel this way. Just that momentary pause lets me realize that that lashing out or worrying isn't going to solve anything. I too wake up thinking I'm stressed out or angry. In my case, I think that I feel the physical sensations associated with being anxious/angry (heart pounding etc) and my brain then has to invent something to justify the way its feeling. When I can separate the physical feeling and the emotion, I can chalk it up to being a physical medication side effect and not something in my head giving me a physical symptom. It's easier for me to "blow off" the feelings when I can rationalize a chemical process in my body instead of trying to work through insurmountable stress when I'm supposed to be sleeping.

I'm not trying to diminish any feelings you have because they're real. I'm just saying this has helped me personally.

pberggren1
03-29-2011, 11:48 AM
Yes it does take a consious effort to slow things down a bit and rethink the situation.

elephant
03-29-2011, 12:20 PM
Hey Mandy, How is your blood pressure? Are you on blood pressure medicine?

Sangye
03-29-2011, 02:05 PM
Hi Mandy, nice to see you again. Pred definitely has that effect on me. It's famous for causing anxiety, depression and mood changes. If it's bad you might need an anti-anxiety med to get you through the next few months.

Brooke
03-30-2011, 02:25 AM
I had the same thing, not fun! I was on an anti-anxiety med as well. If you can try to distract yourself - tv or book or talking to someone..... maybe that will help? I actually have called my mom in the middle of the night on several occasions and she came to my house and would calm me down.

NicShaf
03-30-2011, 04:49 AM
Hi Mandy,
I am also a worrier by nature. When I was on a higher dose of Preds, 50-60mg, I noticed that I was more anxious than usual. But since I've been lowering my daily dose, I don't feel it as much.
I don't know if there is anything you can do to help it, but I agree with Brooke, finding something to distract yourself helps. When I started to feel overwhelmed and anxious, I would sit in my recliner and pick up my knitting until I felt better.

coffeelover
03-30-2011, 11:50 AM
Yep...worry, anxiety etc all come with the pred use, I think. For over a year I took some meds to help me sleep (non addictive) and that seemed to help. I also will drink a cup of chamomille tea at night prior to going to bed and found that that will relax me enough to sleep, MOST NIGHTS.
I also had to go on not only a diuretic, but a beta blocker for my blood pressure. That seemed to help as well. I have been on 10 mg of pred for over two years now. Wish I could lower thedosage, but every time I try WEGS comes back worse than before.. I'll take the anxiety
Coffeelover

vdub
03-30-2011, 02:32 PM
Could be steroid psychosis. I went thru a bit of that and ended up with a day in the psych ward.

Anxiety, hallucinations (pretty decent ones, tho), wimpery, depressed, everything bad. As soon as the heavy dose of steroids wore off, I was fine..... I now watch very closely how much I take. It might not all have been caused by the steroids, tho. I was under a tremendous amount of stress. My pit had just been ripped out and the doctors were juggling the quantities of a half dozen different drugs. It was a nasty bad two week part of my life and one heck of a way to start off on my wegs career.....

Sangye
03-31-2011, 01:05 AM
Who know, vdub. All of that was enough to create havoc in your brain chemistry. :sad:

MCC
04-27-2011, 05:59 AM
Thank you for the replies guys. Sorry to be so late back to the forum.

I asked my doctor about my symptoms at my last appointment and she was quite dismissive - said 5mg is about what the body produces naturally so unlikely to make me more anxious - so I am just a stress head! hehe

The good thing is I am on the final lap now - I am tapering from pred and coming off in July.

Sangye
04-27-2011, 06:15 AM
Sorry, but that doctor doesn't know pred! It's quite common to get psychological side effects from it even at low doses, especially when you've been on it for awhile. It's a matter of long-term disruption to the entire endocrine balance. Even if you stop the pred, many other hormones remain imbalanced, sometimes permanently.

I asked Dr Seo about the "5mg is what your body makes" thing once, because I'd had several doctors tell me that, too. He said it was not set in stone like that.

From a holistic perspective yes, the body produces about 5mg of corticosteroids a day, but it doesn't do it all at once. And natural hormones are very different than artificial. Natural hydrocortisone does not carry the risks that pred does.

Regardless, I hope the anxiety eases up as you taper the pred! :smile1:

MCC
04-27-2011, 06:20 AM
Sorry, but that doctor doesn't know pred! It's quite common to get psychological side effects from it even at low doses, especially when you've been on it for awhile. It's a matter of long-term disruption to the entire endocrine balance. Even if you stop the pred, many other hormones remain imbalanced, sometimes permanently.

I asked Dr Seo about the "5mg is what your body makes" thing once, because I'd had several doctors tell me that, too. He said it was not set in stone like that.

From a holistic perspective yes, the body produces about 5mg of corticosteroids a day, but it doesn't do it all at once. And natural hormones are very different than artificial. Natural hydrocortisone does not carry the risks that pred does.

Regardless, I hope the anxiety eases up as you taper the pred! :smile1:

She wasn't my usual specialist as he was ill so wasn't sure she was much of an expert anyway. She was quite patronising with 'well it's usual to feel anxious when you have a serious disease' when I'd just that moment said I wasn't anxious ABOUT the wegeners, just in general. She also took it upon herself to explain why I needed blood tests when've I've been having them for 18 months and hadn't asked why grrr. I do hate it when they treat you like a child.

thanks Sangye, I hope you are ok? x

Sangye
04-27-2011, 06:24 AM
It's so frustrating to have to sit through an appt like that. You have to be polite while someone is carrying on with nonsense!

I'm hanging in there. Not so great. Okay, really not good. Pretty bad, actually. There, I said it. :blink:

delorisdoe
04-27-2011, 07:44 AM
My husbands doctor told him that I did not need to gain weight on pred that it was my choice. Ha ha. I think he did not know I was on 100mg daily. Jerk. There, I said that: )

pberggren1
04-27-2011, 08:02 AM
Mandy, I had a doc appointment like yours once and had to quikly take over from the doc. He was not impressed to say the least but I told him I am the boss here, not you. He did not like it when I said that so I just left the appointment and found another doc.

drz
04-27-2011, 09:59 AM
It's so frustrating to have to sit through an appt like that. You have to be polite while someone is carrying on with nonsense!

I'm hanging in there. Not so great. Okay, really not good. Pretty bad, actually. There, I said it. :blink:

Why do you need to tolerate such nonsense in that situation. Like Phil said there are alternatives. You can be polite and still remind the person they are not meeting your expectations or their efforts to build rapport with you are failing or that you would respond better or appreciate another approach. If they can't do that, then ask for a referral to another doctor that is willing and able to accept you as a an active participant in your treatment. I don't think many of us on here are going to abdicate all responsibility for our treatment to an all knowing doctor if they come across as patronizing and condescending. I think most of us want to be involved to the best of our ability at the time and this will vary greatly acccording to how loud the Weg dog is barking.

Sorry to hear your dog is not treating you well today. Hope it gets better soon. You deserve a break and some rest.

Sangye
04-27-2011, 12:07 PM
If they're gonna be one of my regular docs or their opinion matters I definitely say something. Sometimes I wind up seeing someone who is annoying, ignorant or arrogant (or all three!) and it's just not worth my energy to say anything.

My dog is really misbehaving lately. At least I think it's my dog.

MCC
05-01-2011, 09:32 AM
It's so frustrating to have to sit through an appt like that. You have to be polite while someone is carrying on with nonsense!

I'm hanging in there. Not so great. Okay, really not good. Pretty bad, actually. There, I said it. :blink:

Oh Sangye, I'm really sorry to hear that. Hugs xx