Irritable

[Tinpot1]

How long did it take anyone's irritability and restlessness to go after stopping Pred? I was on 40 mg daily for a week and am currently tapering at one a day.On 3 as of today.Thank you.

[HeronNS]

As the people on this forum will have been on pred as a long term treatment our experience will be very different, And I don't suppose irritability is inevitable - we all react differently to medications. Why were you taking pred, and how are you doing now?

[Tinpot1 in reply to HeronNS]

Had severe temple and scalp pain my veins we're swollen at the temples and the GP suspend GCA.Put me on '40 mgs a day and I saw a consultant.He said there was no point in doing a biopsy as it wouldn't show anything.At the moment I don't have pain but cannot sleep properly and feel very wound up

[HeronNS in reply to Tinpot1]

Oh, so they thought you might have GCA? What do they now think caused the symptoms? It's rough not getting enough sleep - believe me, I understand. I'd been all right for a few years taking one of my calcium doses at bedtime, and I still fall asleep easily enough. But stressful events in my life are now creeping in and I tend to wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling asleep again. I do feel very out of sorts. Maybe irritable is a good word to describe it? I think the solution for you may include some of the usual things suggested at bedtime: avoiding screen time, warm bath, a little light snack, maybe calcium dose with a bit of yoghurt, and a dark quiet bedroom. Getting some exercise, preferably outdoors, earlier in the day is helpful too.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Tinpot1]

Hi Tinpot1,,

So did the consultant decide you have GCA or not? Presumably not if that’s his tapering plan to get you off Pred. If not GCA, then what’s next for you? Very strange treatment.

I found my irritability due to high doses lasted a couple of weeks, but I did get a couple of days of the same feeling after each taper.

I would suggest yours is more likely your body reacting to the differing lower dose every day - and could last until you are off the Pred. No wonder you feel like you do, I’m sure most people would be the same.,

Think you need to get a better steer from your GP as to the way forward.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Tinpot1]

The consultant was wrong - how long had you been on 40mg? Had he had a TAB done immediately it would have had as good a chance of showing something with or without the pred. In any case, the symptoms are king. The TAB is just the icing on the cake - providing it turns out positive, no arguing with it. If it is negative, with or without pred, all it means they didn't find what they were looking for which isn't the same t hing at all.

As DL says, very strange treatment by the consultant. Not least because after only week on 40mg you could have tapered even faster.

[GOOD_GRIEF]

I've always been a somewhat intense person. Me on steroids, as my husband put it, was "a real trip".

Once I got down reliably to 10mg, 'roid rage subsided, and I'm more my normal self, but less tolerant of putting up with behavior from others that I don't appreciate.

[Hollyseden in reply to GOOD_GRIEF]

'roid rage Love it. Company for predhead 😉

[Linny3]

I seem to be more irritable as I am tapering than at the start of all of this. I think all the side effects of the prednisone is starting to really wear me down thus making me susceptible to impatience and irritability which is very foreign to my nature.

Have as great a day as possible.

Lin

[Daisychain12 in reply to Linny3]

Me too. I’m a shocker.

[Tinpot1]

Thanks for the input everyone.Nice to hear from people who understand❤️

[patriciawhite]

I had steroids for years with this condition (pmr),I did have a roller coaster of emotions ,some from the steroids I expect which hubby blamed for everything but I suspect also a lot was because of the frustrations that came with the PMR and many other problems . They do seem to cause a change in mood but so does this illness which has the debilitating and frustrating effects which alter your work and home life style drastically . Its a collection of things I think

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to patriciawhite]

I was bad tempered and irritable with PMR/no pred for 5 years. I became far more pleasant on pred...

[Tinpot1]

Go has prescribed me beta blockers.I suffer from anxiety and the steroids seem to have made it worse.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Tinpot1]

Increase in anxiety is a well know side effect of Pred, and if you are already prone to it, then even more susceptible I guess.

Hope the beta blockers work.

[Brantuk]

Yup - been there, seen it, ripped up the T-shirt in a fit of irritability. As I taper the pred I do sometimes get very irritable for the siliest of reasons. My wife always described me as irritable and quick to flare up before I got gca - now I'm tapering it's a lot worse and she'll be glad when I'm off all the drugs and back to my normal irritable self - she can deal with that a lot better lol.

One per day seems a bit of a harsh tapering schedule - while you're on circa 30-40mg per day you won't feel it so much. But when you get to circa 15-20mg per day expect tostart reducing a lot slower.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Brantuk]

If you find the days following the actually taper are worst, then that’s steroid withdrawal most likely (I suffered early days) until your body gets acclimatised to new lower dose.

That’s where the slow taper comes into its own - easier on the body, and normally you can achieve the same result (I.e new lower dose) at the end of the month!

Try this for one reduction and see if it makes any difference, if not then do your usual - nothing ventured, nothing gained!

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...