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Pred taper - anyone get anxiety?

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Posted 8/22/2011 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
I have a history of anxiety/panic attacks but haven't had problems with it for quite some time (on a very low dose of Prozac). Last Tuesday I dropped down from 20mg to 15mg prednisone. On Friday night, I noticed that I was experiencing some bad anxiety and had to take a Xanax, which I haven't had to do in quite some time.

Wondering if the two are related in some way?
Posted 8/22/2011 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
     Yes, I had terrible anxiety when tapering prednisone.  Can your doctor prescribe a mild dose of xanax?
Posted 8/22/2011 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah I have some xanax (lowest dose) from when I was experiencing anxiety in the past. That pretty much takes care of it but just wanted to be sure that it was the prednisone causing it and not some anxiety attacks coming back out of the blue :). Thank you!
Posted 8/22/2011 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
I had anxiety when taking pred and prozac, I needed xanax. I got off the prozac (not pred) and my anxiety disappeared.
Posted 8/22/2011 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
I've been fine anxiety wise with the prozac for the longest time (just 20 mg). Haven't had any anxiety issues while on the Pred. Just issues this past week as I dropped down from 20 mg to 15. I'm sure downing a red bull this morning didn't help :D.
Posted 8/30/2011 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
I recently got off of prednisone. I was on 40mg and felt great. Then once I hit 20 or so, I started having mood swings and anxiety. When I got down to 5, I had a few full blown panic attacks which is something I have never experienced. It freaked me out. My doctor said thats normal and its the withdrawl from the prednisone. He gave me xanax for the anxiety. Shortly after seeing the doctor, I went off prednisone completely. I had anxiety for a few days and then started to feel back to my normal self after that. I guess the high doses and the very small doses have the most effects when taken. I felt on cloud 9 when i was taking 40mg and felt like i was losing my mind on 5mg.
Posted 8/30/2011 8:31 PM (GMT 0)
my daughter has also had panic attacks while on Prednisone. I'm glad to hear you have some xanax on hand. it took us quite a while to find a doctor that would prescribe Ativan for my daughter!
Posted 8/30/2011 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
Definitely be careful of caffeine, red bull and the like while on prednisone. I get anxious on pred and just a whiff of caffeine makes it worse. I have found that my pred symptoms increased as I was tapering, specifically around 20mg.

Interesting that there are concurrent posts right now about prednisone regarding anxiety and depression..freaking pred.
Posted 8/30/2011 11:38 PM (GMT 0)
i tapered to 25 mg today and my hands feel kinda shaky. i always get nervous though when i'm on medication no matter what. i don't really understand tapering though. why is it necessary to taper so slowly??
Posted 8/31/2011 4:04 AM (GMT 0)
I had steroid psychosis on the withdrawal below five and off pred for awhile. I was nuts and anxious. I received klonopin. Treat the anxiety. You can flare from anxiety.
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