Hyper on high dose Prednisone?

[LIVEORDIEHEREIAM]

I've only been on 60 mg Prednisone a week or so for GCA and PMR and now find myself being hyper, nervous, hungry pretty much all my waking hours. Not my normal self. Is that the way it is during high dose days?

[fmkkm]

Hi,

Since a lot of posters are EU or UK they will be asleep right now. Maybe one of the night owls will respond soon. I have GCA and the first few months were rough. I slept in small increments. I kicked my husband out of the bedroom and spent many nights reading and praying. I napped every day and still do after 4 years! Just so you know, it will pass when you get a bit lower on the prednisone.

So, now, what is your plan to taper, Doc say anything??

[fmkkm]

And.... watch the hunger all the time!! Cut out sugar and bread now. Weight tends to creep up. Eat lots of fresh vegetables and protein. I kept a jar of nuts with a few raisins mixed in and grabbed a few when I was feeling weak. I have not gained weight.

Best to you, fm

[LIVEORDIEHEREIAM in reply to fmkkm]

Thanks! I like that idea.

[SheffieldJane]

This is perfectly normal. Some people quite like it, it doesn’t last too long. The thing is not to respond to this fake energy and renovate the house. You still have a significant systemic disease and must pace activities and rest. Try to respond to the voracious hunger with healthy foods and not set up a chocolate habit like I did. I found Amitriptylin,10 mgs taken one hour before bedtime helped the sleeplessness. I am from the U.K. but I still sometimes wake up around 3 am and check in here.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Yep, most certainly is!

Felt I had the energy of a two year old on overdose of chocolate cake and fizzy drink! My husband reckoned I could talk for England, and he was right.

Had some positive outcomes, the house was spotless, the paperwork sorted, and the garden neat and tidy - for a little while anyway!

Fortunately my hyper time was during the summer, so early mornings were light and warm, so many cups of tea in the garden at daybreak.

Also fortunately my disturbed nights only lasted about 6 weeks - and although they were a bit of a nuisance - I found an over the counter sleeping aid (Nytol in UK) every 4th night or so helped. Helped me get one good night’s sleep without becoming addictive- suggested by GP.

[SnazzyD]

In a word, yes. I gave up on the notion that I should have 8 hours sleep a night and survived on a few hours at night and then naps, especially an afternoon one. For the hunger I cutout all pasta, rice, potato, maize and any sort of flour. I nibbled constantly on veg, nuts, meat, non dairy cheese and have not put in weight. For the emotional jitters I avoided anything on tv that didn’t guarantee a predictable shmultzy story. I stopped driving until my short term memory improved and I never made big decisions without backup.

[Marijo1951]

'Hyper, nervous, hungry' sums it up pretty well. I think too that for a while I was a bit high on the sheer euphoria of having a diagnosis after a few months of wondering what on earth was wrong with me. As others have said it settles down after a while.

I'm afraid I did give in to the rampant hunger and ate a lot of carby comfort food for which I'm still paying in unwanted extra weight. As for the insomnia I just learned to live with it and to do things when I couldn't sleep, doing my best to compensate by napping when I could.

[Arflane97G]

I feel REALLy hungry in the mornings, less so in the evenings but keep celery, nuts and fruit in the house for between meal snacking and also have a square of plain chocolate when the need arises! Have switched to rye bread and soy milk and cut out tea and coffee in favour of green tea. No sign of moon face as yet but am down to 10 mg of Pred. Also trying to walk most days , even if only around the house every hour so as not to stiffen up too much. Good luck with your pmr journey