At what point do you stop blaming Prednisone for your behavior?

Being a caretaker often feels like being a doormat, but if you have reached your limit, you need to look after yourself. And doing that doesn't mean the marriage is over. This really sounds like he cannot tolerate the prednisone, and maybe he is depressed and having anxiety too. Just because numbers look good on bloodwork doesn't mean he is feeling better. When my husband was in his long flare, he spent every minute at home in bed. I was essentially a single mother even though my husband was still around, and that is sooo frustrating. But he did force himself to get up and go to work which kept him sane. Your husband needs to get off the steroids so it is good he is tapering.

If you need to take a break and can spend the night at a hotel or with a friend, seriously consider doing it. He'll be fine. And it may force him to get up to take care of the dogs if no one else is there to do it.

Take care of yourself. Some space may make it real for him. If somebody cannot tolerate prednisone, then you get off of it. Doctor cannot "make" him stay on it.

Good luck. This is one of those bad bumps in the long road.

He actually has seen another doctor that we really liked once, but due to distance, the doctor recommended he go back to his original doc. However, I've told him that he needs to go back to the other doctor (the one that is out of town) and do a followup...I don't trust his current doctor at all. I've wondered if his behavior would be considered psychotic, because some of the things he does and says makes no sense at all. He says that even he feels like he is losing his mind...yes, depression and anxiety are definitely things that he is dealing with as well. I don't, however, believe he would even consider talking to somebody about it (we've discussed that issue before, and he refuses). I will sometimes lay in bed at night, and I can hear him out in the other room, talking to himself. I understand that we all do that from time to time, but when he does it, it's just...different..almost like he is carrying on a conversation with someone. I tried to hear what he was saying, but I couldn't...I have told my mom that he seems irrational and delusional at times (although I'm no doctor, obviously...it's the only way I can describe some of the things I've seen him do and heard him say). I'm hoping that once he is off of them, he will go back to his "normal" mental state? Or does it take time, even after a person is no longer taking them?

Is he sleeping ok?

I think he should see a doctor (consultant, GP or A+E) in the next day or two. They might arrange a psychiatry review. He needs a full assessment regardless of what the problem is, but yeah the majority of people improve quite quickly after stopping steroids.
It's very distressing to live with psychotic symptoms if he is indeed having them. Some people prefer talking about their symptoms without loved ones present, but you should ensure the next doctor he sees is aware of the level of distress/specific changes in behaviour that you've witnessed.

Hi, there
when I take prednisone I become irritable as well and there are times when I got in a few arguments because of it . I tended to avoid prednisone because of me getting really irritable . however , this last time that I started taking prednisone I took tricyclic antidepressants , I took them for an Ibs issue that I have on top of my UC . And I noticed that I was much calmer than usual,(as these antidepressants have a sedating effect) , and I wasn't irritable . the psychiatrist that prescribes me the antidepressants thinks its because of them that I am calmer and less irritable .

so my suggestion is for him to try antidepressants , maybe not tricyclics (as they have an anticholinergic effect ) if he has a contraindication to them but he may consult his doctor or even start seeing a psychiatrist to prescribe some for him ( as my gi doesn't like prescribing antidepressants , so I get the prescriptions from a psychiatrist that I started seeing ).

they may make you bait sleepy but that might help with the insomnia from the prednisone .

Thank god for that. Clearly your husband isn't somebody who can take steroids ever again (unless it's an actual life-threatening emergency), and that will need to be made very plain to a new GI.

Glad he's improved. And taking a break for yourself sounds like a great idea.

I do not tolerate systemic (oral or IV) Prednisone (Prednisolone) well at all and even on small doses I am unable to control my 'fight, flight, freeze' response. If it gets triggered my response is disproportionate while on pred.

I loathe the stuff, but 'fortunately' for me it does nothing for my symptoms (my 'I told you so' moment was while in hospital on IV steroids - they didn't reduce symptoms and my Gastro team saw for themselves what I'd been trying to tell them for years.).

I have fewer symptoms on Clipper (Beclametasone Diproprionate) and would take this again if I had to, but never want to take oral pred again. I would refuse to have IV steroids - the heart racing was awful. To make it worse an agency nurse accidentally gave me IV steroids and oral steroids - I was awake all night with my heart thumping out of my chest :-/). After the IV steroids I tapered on oral pred but the side effects were so bad I had to taper more quickly, after announcing to my gastro team, dramatically, that I felt like I was heading for a drug psychosis.

While my 'fight flight freeze' was affected by pred it would really upset me that close family members weren't giving me the space I asked for in order to calm down. I explained that it was out of my control, but they treated me as though I was 'always angry and in a bad mood'. I really needed them to understand, help me calm down, or give me space to calm down, and definitely not trigger the response more with accusations of 'what's wrong with you?'. I couldn't get them to understand.