Advice for living on steroids.....Help!

Hi all, I'm just coming out of a 15-day hospital stay (discharged in the morning! keep your fingers crossed for me!) with a flare now under control with Remicade and prednisone. I'm going to be able to taper off the prednisone, but they're saying it will be at least 6 weeks.

The steroids are making me feel like a battery on fire - heart pounding, irrational, super-emotional, alternately angry and then crying, anxious, shaking, etc etc etc. Also I'm peeing all the time (is that normal?) and I have moon-face. (Totally minor - but one more silly thing to feel self-conscious about.) I'm taking small hits of Ativan to try and take the edge off, and Ambien at night, but I can still only sleep for a few hours at a time.

It's one thing to lie around in my hospital bed and buzz like a live wire - how do I go back and function in my Normal Life feeling like this?? I think my family is expecting me to come out and be a normal, mellow and sweet sick recovering patient - meanwhile I feel like a MANIAC.

How do you guys do this??

p.s. Also I'm not even starting to contemplate what it will be like trying to go back to work as a Third-Grade teacher........ARG.

Welcome to my world I just realised I'm not alone yipeeeeeee.... I have just come out of hospital a few weeks ago aswell, after a 7 day stay. I am having all the same symptoms you are from the prednisone. I am on 35mg a day @ present reducing by 5mg a week along with 3 grams mesalazine, 200mg imuran and probiotics 3 times day. I have been on and off steroids for 11 years now and they are not a nice thing but they seem to keep my colitis at a minimal.. I sat my family down and explained to them the side effects that the prednisone will cause so they would understand alot better about why I would have so many different mood swings. Unless they know how the medication will effect you, then they will not understand. They will just think you are crazy.. The more informed they are about the drugs, the more understanding they will be. You can also look up on the web and print them out info. on what the drug may do to you.. You do learn to cope some days i am grumpy other days i cry, i've put on weight and yes i have the moon face.. This will all go away once the prednisone stops you won't be stuck with the side effects..
I know it make s you feel down as I am having sooooo many different emotions at the moment aswell. Just remember its not your fault, you had no choice, you are sick and to get better you have to take these meds.
Good luck i hope you get better soon.. Take Care xxxxx

You really just have to accept the steroids and work with them, I'm at 40mg pred right now and was at 60mg a couple weeks ago. I get angry, frustrated & annoyed at everything. Not to mention a lot of body aches while taking this stuff. Whenever these side effects start to effect me I just remind myself and do what I can to chill out.

Don't stress about getting so little sleep, because you don't need it. Instead of tossing and turning, just get up and start cleaning out your drawers and cabinets! Take advantage of the extra energy.

Self-tanning lotion helps minimize the appearance of the moonface, at least I think it makes my face look a little more slender.

For me the effects start to wane when I'm tapered down to 20-25 mg.