Prednisolone/Mental Health

[Xiave]

The past couple of times I've had prednisolone, I noticed I feel awful mental health-wise - really low, irritable, and anxious. I do have existing mental health conditions (depression and ADHD) but they're well-controlled the rest of the time (on escitalopram and methylphenidate) and I haven't really struggled with them for a few years now.

It's a bit of a dilemma because I need the pred for my asthma when it flares, but I feel horrendous when I'm on it. I know if I contact my doctor he won't know what to do, so I'd like to go to him with suggestions. Has anyone used anything other than pred for asthma flare ups?

[madonbrew]

Dear Xiave, I really understand what you mean! I react very severely mental health wise to pred! So much so that literally we use it as a really last resort! Always by day 3..maybe day 2 I’m feeling ready to jump off a cliff. Last time, my asthma nurse rang me on day 3&5 to check how I was. Usually I have 40mg but we tried 30mg this time over 7 days which seemed to help slightly with the severe mental health issues!

I really wonder how in all this time there’s not an alternative to pred!

I hope you’re ok today. Hopefully you’re on a course rather than long term? If so,when things are really bad, try and remind yourself it will get better once you finish the course! I would definitely mention it to your doctor though!

Dee

[Tree20862]

Check with your mental health professional about a plan for when you need prednisone. You may need rescue mental health meds during that time to keep you more stable.

[awilso]

I am a long term prednisone user for asthma. I find I am controlled and comfortable on 10-12mg per day. When I get an episode I find that anything over 20mg is hard work and the difference between 20-30mg is negligible in terms of control so I don’t take the advised 30mg I go with what works and feels good. I also find that 20mg is only required for a few days before I can taper rather than the full course that the doc wants me to take. I pretty much have the exact quantities and tapers off pat these days and the doc just goes along with it.