but what causes them?
Is it due to a lack of clear diagnosis and treatment? Is it due to threatening disability that causes anxiety and depression? Is it poor sleep and tiredness which is attributed to Prednisolone? Is it the difficulty of a definite dosage titration to prevent ups and downs of the illness process? Is it the doctors who can be inadequate, scornful or rude? Is it that the action of the prednisolone itself causes increased stress responses which have a knock on effect?
If you have any ideas about this, it is useful to share them because many of the above, and other suggestions equally as possible, can be addressed.
Your comments will help with an article I am writing for a magazine article.
Before GCA and large doses of pred. , I was not one with a stiff upper lip. But after starting with 80 mgs of pred in the ER, I have had no control over my emotions/moods five months into this arteritis. Best of luck , Ann11195
I think it's a bit of all those. We all react to this illness in different ways.
I personally have not really had any real difficulties with mood changes (except for the odd weap when feeling sorry for myself when the pain/fatigue was at its worse)! I have always been 'afraid' of Pred, but what else is there?
Good luck with your article.
Not noticed any more mood swings apart from when dealing with the pain, except on higher doses when I get steroid euphoria.
I've never experienced 'steroid euphoria'. At what dose of Pred did that occur, and how long did it last?
I am on a reducing programme of 1mg every six weeks. Started on 15 and now down to 7. At the same time my doctor advised a daily 10mg Amitriptilyne anti-depressant. I haven't had any problems with moods and sleep has been quite good.
Sorry to hear this Ann, you are not alone, and if you realise this, it might make it easier.
I take a couple of deep breaths when I feel emotionally tense and let the air out, releasing tension in mind and body telling myself that, should I die, that the legacy of sadness that people will feel will be all the more painful if I have expressed m frustration and resentment towards them, the dearest and closest people to me. I have found meditation helps, as does prayer, and asking friends to pray for me (even though I and they are not religious). At least it lets them know how desperate I am. Soft music also helps to keep me calm. I am a type 'A', the stressful kind, able to get a huge amount done, good in emergencies, etc., often laughing and going dancing, but running on empty now. I have no reserves of strength, physically or emotionally, and do not recognise myself or my new life as an invalide. Many people are angry with life that this has happened to them. I understand that. I just wish that people would listen to me, without judging me, especially doctors, who are so quick to be impatient and arrogant, and wrong! Maybe there is something about giant cell arteritis, the tension in the carotid, temple and cranial arteries which produces an inner tension. Prednisolone is known to cause mood changes, even for the most laid back and contented of characters!
Fear produces inner turmoil, which results in poor sleep and tense reactions to life's circumstances. The weeping is a depressed mood, which is natural as this illness seems so very unjust. There isn't anything as good as prednisolone. All drugs have their beneficial effect and their side effects. At least prednisolone works so well and so quickly. It's used to find out if someone has Polymyalgia or Arteritis - prednisolone works in helping to relieve the terrible symptoms within days!
I wish I had steroid euphoria! I feel fed up all the time Nefret!
Hooray, thank heavens for that Marjory :-)
On 40mg and 30mg, so not drastically high doses and it just wore off as the dose reduced, I'm happy to say.
My husband thought it was hilarious, he'd never seen me off my head in 40+ years. I couldn't sit still and was serenading the cat, next door's dogs (not to mention the owners). At the time we had an usually long flight of stairs and I took to running up them and then running down backwards................oh, the memories.
pred is possibly / probably causing imbalances in the hormone system.
I experienced two mood side effects around 10-15mg/day. Appeared several months after starting treatment. Pred highs, not high enough to be manic but higher than I've ever been, over several weeks with occasional not very low lows in between. Instant mood swings. Seemed to go with loss of ability to concentrate, short term memory loss, fuzziness that limited problem solving, general building sense of frustration, interruption, something had to give. Learned to simply stop and walk away.
Feeling stable now on 6mg/day and reduced a bit of stress. But still not able to think as clearly as I think I once could. Probably aging contributing.
Cortisol is a stress related hormone but from what I have read, it is not clear what prednisolone's action is to the emotions. I have never had a 'high' except thinking back perhaps when on the highest dosage. Simply walking away and learning to let go of situations is excellent advice. I wonder if the fuzzyness of the mind is related to the prednisolone or the condition. Arteritis does affect blood flow to the brain and perhaps to a small degree this might be present in PMR too. I'm sure, during the years when I had all PMR symptoms but was managing without a diagnosis that I also had early symptoms of arteritis too!
Am reading all posts and have been having a really stressfull time for past two months ,husband vey ill the impending breakup of my lovely sons marriage,heartbreak over my lovely grandchildrens reactions to it has all been too much and my PMR crp and esr stats are up .my rheumy suggested methotrixate on top of my 7mg pred and i said no!!! so my question is she may suggest me going up on pred.if she does -and i have to go up high -how do we take large doses like you did.you mentioned you was on 30mg .-so does that mean you had to take 6 of 5mg at once and w hen you were on 40mg did you take 8 of 5mg at once - am puzzled (but thas not unusual as we all know being on pred -weepy mood swings too)"
Well that is a good reaction and probably explains why doctors are so keen to insist that patients reduce the dosage even when the symptoms and the blood results indicate that the disease process is still active. When the dosage is reduced and the aches and pains set in, the comparison is quite marked and probably explains why people feel so poorly and distressed. Good memories though!
Hi I started on 80 mg pred and felt they agreed with me and felt on a high most of the time, of course along with all the side effects, a lot of irritability, only getting 3 hours sleep a night.
but while reducing ( down to 20mg pred ) my mood is low, just don't feel like me almost like my personality has changed, but I am getting more sleep maybe 5 to 6 hours a night.
Im trying to stick to a healthy diet, eating more fish and anti inflammatory foods. Have a problem with thrush in my mouth if anyone can help with this.thanks
I looked up the side effects of Pred on the slip the Dr gave me and apart from the usual Osteoprosis and Type 2 D it says "depression" or "unexplained happiness." 2 opposite conditions. I think I got the unexplained happiness one which was good, but maybe it was explained as I had been feeling washed out after work for quite a while and then PMR hit and I was diagnosed within the week and on Pred which worked very well.
Hi Just a quick questions I have had GCA since biginning of febuary and was on 80mg pred,but had PMR for 2 weeks before that, just wondered what dosage your on now, I'm down to 20mg pred, and just wondered what your symptoms were when you first started with GCA thanks and if you had a problem with thrush in mouth thanks
while the desired anti-inflammatory effect of pred may be direct the side effects aren't necessarily direct. Its more likely that it effects something which effects something which effects something else that we observe.
While we have simple models of hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalmic-pituitary-thyroid etc. in the endocrine system its unlikely that there isn't "leakage" or "cross talk" between parts of the integrated whole.
I think of this sort of stuff as squeezing jelly. We may not know which way it will ooze, but sure as eggs it will.
Add extra hormone of any sort and the effects will cascade. Just more noticeable in some than others.
Hi Elizabeth, your comment is off topic regarding the post at the top of this page but you ask a good question which other forum users would like to respond to and read. I would suggest this is a new topic. If you look at the bottom of the page, you will see a green button for starting a new discussion. At present only people who are interested in mood are reading this thread. If you start a new discussion, people with an interest in your comment will be able to be in contact with you.