My old roommate was on a maintenance dose of 5mg a day for the rest of her life after having a kidney transplant. She said that she felt like it made her super irritable and mean. She'd said that her doctor had mentioned the possibility of going on antidepressants to help correct it.

Have you talked to your doctor about this?

Yes sorry, mood changes can effect some ppl ; (

Tina, I have just started on a long taper after being on prednisone for the last six months. I have tapered to
15 mgs x 2 weeks, 12.5 mgs x 2 weeks, 10 mgs x 2 weeks, then drop 1 mg each 2 weeks. I was on as much as 35 mgs each day and a few prednisone bursts that went much higher. I have been so ill-tempered I couldn't stand myself mostly because of the weight gain, bloat, high blood sugars and high blood pressure that accompanies prolonged prednisone use. Also, my skin is so thin that the slightest bump tears it. I think that the prednisone makes my body so uncomfortable that I become irritable (even though it has helped with the allergic skin reaction to tnf inhibitors).

So you have company with this complaint. Let your loved ones know that it's the prednisone that makes you irritable and hopefully they will be able to understand and not be hurt by your mood swings once they know.

Hugs and God bless.
//Frances

It is a recognized side effect of the drug. Some people are worse than others. I am a terror on prednisone, which is why I try and avoid it like the plague. I would not feel guilty, but do apologize frequently, even if there seems to be no reason. It just makes everyone more comfortable, knowing you are on a prednisone rampage and at least acknowledge it. LOL

I quit after 2 weeks, was on 10mg. I was so irritable and never happy. I'm a happy go lucky person, and the prednisone made me want to jump out of my skin, depressed, sensitive, and my skin even crawled. I noticed in the morning when it wore off, I was in more pain, I hurt so much more, than I had before taking it. I would wake up, and I could not move. Everyday the pain was getting worse, when I woke up. I got off the med. and after a few days, my pain was still bad, but it was more manageable and consistent. I got by with my pain pill etodolac, and never took prednisone again.
Nasty stuff, plus the hang over in the morning was gosh awful!

My husband took it for his cancer, after chemo, and he had road rage so bad, I couldn't drive with him. He would yell at every car. That drug is not good!

Lin

YES! I was on a 5mg dose for a straight 4 months and lost my shit. I flipped out on my son one time so bad that I was afraid I was going to hurt him. After calming down I got off of the prednisone right away. I knew it was a potential side effect but it happened so gradually it was hard to pinpoint.

An alive you is better than a very sick or dead you....and the REAL you shall emerge and be grateful to all that stayed the course with you.

How are your lungs doing?

Thanks everybody. I think acknowleging what this stuff is capable of doing makes me more aware and hopefully help as a reminder.also,getting my family to understand too. Megan, Im bipolar and have been on welbutrin for years. I cant imagine if I wasent...thats scary! dident even think about that. wow I also dident know that even a low dose could have the same effect, I ve been fortunate that all the many lower 5 mg doses dident do this to me sooner.. Frances, Im sorry your going through this too. and I wish I could taper alittle quicker than I am. although I am feeling better and inflammation is down in my lungs and most of the time painfree. what a trade off. I too noticed my skin is getting thinner and also bruising real easy. and my skin crawls too. Ive been taking 3....10 mg pills in the evening, I thought about splitting them up and maybe that would help some. Thank God for this support group...of course as usual, my Drs dont explain what to expect, he said with prednisone I would gain 10-15 lbs. what a joke. Im gaining alot more than that and theres many things I wish he would have at least warned me about. I had told him about an incident that happened to me shortly after starting this. I was shopping at walmart and suddenley got lightheaded and felt a pain so intense in my chest that I nearly dropped to my knees. I thought I was having a heart attack. I gave it some time and it did subside after taking sips of soda and water. he said it was heartburn and prescribed nexium. my tummy is much better but I still get those pains and nausea every now and then . after talking to my cousin last week I found out about sodium levels causing heart attacks. why wouldnt he mention that? anyway...Thank you all for being here for me. Hugs Tina

Have not had this side effect with Medrol.

Oh lord yes! Pred makes me a witch! But it does control the inflammation. It doesn't seem as bad if I do intermittent tapers but then it doesn't control the inflammation as much. My advice, no caffine with it and try some meditation to keep your cool. It's hard since everything, and I mean everything, just sets your teeth on edge. But when you want to jump down someones throat just try some deep breathing and a mantra - it's the pred, they really don't hate me, just breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. Sometimes if you can hold it off for a few seconds it will ease off. Other times you just ave to apologize, lol!