How did your Prednisone induced depression felt like ?

I never experienced true depression from steroids and take up to 40 mg at different times. I've had blue moments and feel a bit more weepy at times. It's such a unique drug that effects each person differently so it's hard to say from person to person. I'd definitely talk to a doctor to be safe but sadness isn't always bad and comes naturally with illness.

prednisone gave me anxiety more than depression
I was legit nutso
I ended up switching to Medrol cuz I hated the anxiety

I have experienced severe depression from pred withdrawal. Pred mimics for me what would be a bipolar cycle. On high dose pred, 40mg and above I'd say, I am up up up, on withdrawal I am down.

One manifestation for me is crying really easily. I shocked people at work who had known me for 5 years as a pretty level person, I would cry at anything. I have massive fatigue and body aches, although that is physical withdrawal as well. I feel very hopeless when it happens and just have to keep telling myself to take one day at a time and it will pass. Nothing seems worthwhile or interesting - something I'd usually like to do just feels dull and pointless.

If your body is very sensitive it is possible you can get some mood swings from a slightly raised dose. I have noticed some effects when I use enemas where not much gets into your body...but it may just be that you are being hypervigilant for symptoms as you know that Pred has a reputation of bringing them on.

Make sure that your therapist knows you are on Pred and that they understand its potential effects. I work in mental health and most of my colleagues are completely ignorant about it. One colleague once was talking to me about a patient with UC and saying they couldn't find any reasons for her anxious, jumpy feelings, I asked if she was on pred and....yes she was....this colleague, a qualified health psychologist hadn't even considered Pred as she didn't know about its potential effects. Last thing you want is a therapist digging for reasons for feelings that are actually medication induced.

Hope you feel better soon

aguywithuc said...
12.5 does not cause side effects. Some of us have been on 60mg - 80mg for long periods and THAT does. Usually 30mg and above will cause side effects. The body normally makes 8 and can flex to 80 for short burts.

Euphoria while on, depression is after coming off, after high doses suppress your own and you feel switched OFF.

I started with 40 mg a month and a half ago.

In 5 weeks I am off of it.

I just remembered that. The sadness started in Friday. Friday was the first day of me taking 12.5 mg.

Also I found this:

somebody said...
Tapering steroids (also called corticosteroids or glucosteroids) while at a high dose is often not so difficult, since in a way your body is oversaturated with them. However, at a lower dose some of your symptoms may return, especially when the steroid tapering is done too early or too quickly. At any time it's important to find the lowest dose you need to control your disease.

Below 15 mg. prednisone/ prednisolone (a steroid) tapering usually gets more difficult. Most patients mentioned that they had to do this very slowly, and only if they were feeling really well - and not more then 10% of the total dose each time. While tapering, discomfort is not unusual, with pain in the joints, arms or legs, low energy, sweating etc. frequently mentioned.

http://www.cssassociation.org/patient-stories-reader/items/reducing-steroids-while-on-a-low-dose-activating-the-adrenal-glands-by-marian-mesker.html

Post Edited (emilp89) : 8/30/2015 7:36:50 AM (GMT-6)

Prednisone can cause wild mood swings (euphoric, to depression), cause aggression or anxiety, and exacerbate/worsen any psychological issues you currently have (such as make known depression or anxiety worse). Any little thing can make one snap on prednisone, doesn't have to be major... One poster here had a Frankenstein cake made for his/her significant other after finishing a course of prednisone that read: sorry I've been such a monster lately.

For me, prednisone side effects didn't hit until 2 weeks in.

I hope you feel better soon, prednisone is only temporary. So hang in there for now.

emilp89 said...

aguywithuc said...
12.5 does not cause side effects. Some of us have been on 60mg - 80mg for long periods and THAT does. Usually 30mg and above will cause side effects. The body normally makes 8 and can flex to 80 for short burts.

Euphoria while on, depression is after coming off, after high doses suppress your own and you feel switched OFF.

I started with 40 mg a month and a half ago.

In 5 weeks I am off of it.

I just remembered that. The sadness started in Friday. Friday was the first day of me taking 12.5 mg.

Also I found this:

somebody said...
Tapering steroids (also called corticosteroids or glucosteroids) while at a high dose is often not so difficult, since in a way your body is oversaturated with them. However, at a lower dose some of your symptoms may return, especially when the steroid tapering is done too early or too quickly. At any time it's important to find the lowest dose you need to control your disease.

Below 15 mg. prednisone/ prednisolone (a steroid) tapering usually gets more difficult. Most patients mentioned that they had to do this very slowly, and only if they were feeling really well - and not more then 10% of the total dose each time. While tapering, discomfort is not unusual, with pain in the joints, arms or legs, low energy, sweating etc. frequently mentioned.

http://www.cssassociation.org/patient-stories-reader/items/reducing-steroids-while-on-a-low-dose-activating-the-adrenal-glands-by-marian-mesker.html

You have to ride the breaks down from here. I used to drop from 60 to 30 and from 30 to 15 but THEN I would go something like 15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5

Also DHEA, MSM and Qing Dai help you get off and stay off.

For me the depression is the extreme lack of energy so I would use PABA, Pregnenolone, DHEA, Keto-DHEA, Yohimbine, Advanced caffeine & phenylalanine.

Thank god that is over with, the last time I came down so hard and fast the mental fog lasted for months and I could not go running because of the prednisone induced plantar fasciitis and my arm was still healing from prednisone induced tendon surgery. That was what was so hard I could not work out in any way. If you can workout your golden.

aguywithuc said...

emilp89 said...

aguywithuc said...
12.5 does not cause side effects. Some of us have been on 60mg - 80mg for long periods and THAT does. Usually 30mg and above will cause side effects. The body normally makes 8 and can flex to 80 for short burts.

Euphoria while on, depression is after coming off, after high doses suppress your own and you feel switched OFF.

I started with 40 mg a month and a half ago.

In 5 weeks I am off of it.

I just remembered that. The sadness started in Friday. Friday was the first day of me taking 12.5 mg.

Also I found this:

somebody said...
Tapering steroids (also called corticosteroids or glucosteroids) while at a high dose is often not so difficult, since in a way your body is oversaturated with them. However, at a lower dose some of your symptoms may return, especially when the steroid tapering is done too early or too quickly. At any time it's important to find the lowest dose you need to control your disease.

Below 15 mg. prednisone/ prednisolone (a steroid) tapering usually gets more difficult. Most patients mentioned that they had to do this very slowly, and only if they were feeling really well - and not more then 10% of the total dose each time. While tapering, discomfort is not unusual, with pain in the joints, arms or legs, low energy, sweating etc. frequently mentioned.

http://www.cssassociation.org/patient-stories-reader/items/reducing-steroids-while-on-a-low-dose-activating-the-adrenal-glands-by-marian-mesker.html

You have to ride the breaks down from here. I used to drop from 60 to 30 and from 30 to 15 but THEN I would go something like 15,15,15,15,15,15,15,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5

Also DHEA, MSM and Qing Dai help you get off and stay off.

For me the depression is the extreme lack of energy so I would use PABA, Pregnenolone, DHEA, Keto-DHEA, Yohimbine, Advanced caffeine & phenylalanine.

Thank god that is over with, the last time I came down so hard and fast the mental fog lasted for months and I could not go running because of the prednisone induced plantar fasciitis and my arm was still healing from prednisone induced tendon surgery. That was what was so hard I could not work out in any way. If you can workout your golden.

I started with 40 for a week, then decreased by 5 every week, until I got to 20, then I decreased by 2.5 every week. Currently on 12.5 mg, 5 weeks to go.

My face acne getting worse every day.

emilp89 said...

I started with 40 for a week, then decreased by 5 every week, until I got to 20, then I decreased by 2.5 every week. Currently on 12.5 mg, 5 weeks to go.

My face acne getting worse every day.

That is weird never happened to me. I got some bacne working out hard but as the pred dropped so did the bacne.

Hormonal imbalance, if your a male get some estradiol blocking over the counter stuff :

Dim Plus by natures way

maca: Maca is a cruciferous plant that originates in Peru. Proponents say it has a host of benefits, including enhancing fertility and blocking estrogen in men. Although maca does contain many vitamins and valuable nutrients, there’s little scientific evidence that it plays a role in regulating hormones.

grape seed: This extract has been shown to act as an aromatase inhibitor (estrogen blocker) in women with breast cancer. Men may find similar benefits when taking it as a nutritional supplement.

I've always had depression, but pred induced was the worst. I would hide under my bed all day literally screaming with anguish and fear.

malaika said...
I've always had depression, but pred induced was the worst. I would hide under my bed all day literally screaming with anguish and fear.

Holy crap.

It's weird. I seem to be the only person on this site who didn't really have any bad side-effects from pred. I've always had depression, and pred honestly helped me more than any antidepressant. It gave me more energy, made me more sociable, etc. It grieves me that it was too dangerous to stay on it long-term. I know I did the right thing by having surgery when I did, because I was riding my luck as it was, but that doesn't mean I don't miss it.

aguywithuc said...
... if your a male get some estradiol blocking over the counter stuff ...

and yes I am a male.

emilp89 said...
Wow.

Are you sure it was from Prednisone ?

Yeah, positive. I was on it enough times... :-/

I only got the benefits at the higher doses though - once I started tapering down, the positive side-effects quickly wore off. And, just as quickly, my Crohn's symptoms started returning. I didn't get any bad side-effects or withdrawal symptoms from the standard 8-week course either. It eventually got to a point where pred still kicked in for me, but I was needing to be on it more and more often. Before my first surgery, I was on pred almost continuously for over a year. (Not really my doctors' fault. I played the system a bit to get additional pred - not hard when the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing.) After surgery, I was able to come off pred without the Crohn's returning, but I did have a major crash - serious fatigue, depression, etc.

malaika said...
The hiding in my dorm room screaming thing happened when I forgot a dose).

Ah yes. Missing a high dose of pred is brutal.

malaika said...
Pred saved my life. And that's why I always say UC is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Woah, I wouldn't go that far! :-/ I'd still far rather have never got Crohn's, particularly as I usually wasn't on 40mg pred for long enough to really reap the benefits. But when I was on 40mg, it was like a miracle drug, tbh. I just wish somebody could invent an antidepressant which worked half as well.