Tapering prednisone and memory

[USAGCA]

Hi, I have GCA. Down to 5 mg from 60 mg. I have been having serious problems with short term memory. A few months ago I had the same problem at 4.5 mg. However, after a relapse, I went up to 20 mg and my memory was sharp again. Has anyone else had this trouble?

[SnazzyD]

I would say that my brain was affected by the GCA, possibly due to being close to having a global stroke before I had Pred given initially. This is going by how I felt and descriptions of how I was. However, this is anecdotal and may or may not account for why I can’t do things mentally that I could by quite a big margin. Once on Pred at high doses I felt razor sharp but at the same time was really wasn’t. This feeling of being super quick in the head isn’t unusual it seems when on Pred. I remember at 10mg-8mg I felt really so much better health wise, the bad side-effects weren’t so bad and I felt I could do anything. It wasn’t real and this bubble burst as I got into the low adrenal phase where my brain went offline until I was somewhere between 1 and months post zero . So I think you were swinging from low adrenal function brain or getting close to normal brain function to being artificially zapped up by 20mg Pred.

[Sharitone]

Not exactly. I have been a predhead with poor STM ever since I started on Pred. I don't think it has been worse on high doses. Sometimes wonder if the GCA is involved too.

[SnazzyD in reply to Sharitone]

To me it stands to reason if blood supply via the head arteries is affected by the GCA inflammation.

[Nextoneplease in reply to SnazzyD]

This is how I feel too, Snazzy 😟 It seems to be getting worse, and isn’t improved by a slight reduction in dose to 12.5mg from 15mg in September. I feel it’s the GCA somehow, although I can’t prove it. I always used to be regarded as mentally sharp - not so much now, I’m afraid 🤷‍♀️

Like SheffieldJane, I hope my acuity returns…..

[SnazzyD in reply to Nextoneplease]

If it’s any consolation I found that the Preddy feeling accumulated over months and from 3 months I felt increasingly, stuffy, heady, bloaty, thick headed and weak. It was a bit depressing after getting through the white knuckle ride of high doses just to hit custard and stay there until 10mg and less. However, I don’t mean to say, “doom to all who may pass here” but if you don’t get a corresponding and predictable falling away of side effects with each reduction don’t worry just yet, annoying though that is.

[SheffieldJane]

It’s really disconcerting isn’t it? They call it Pred head but I think it’s the disease too. My family finish all my sentences. After 35 years my husband knows how to fill in the gaps. I hope my acuity returns. 🙃

[Constance13 in reply to SheffieldJane]

It's not sentence endings I miss, it's words.😏 In the middle of a sentence the German word pops up and I can't for the life of me remember the English word. It never happens to my husband (which annoys me because he is four years older than me)!

[yogabonnie]

Sheffield Jane you are as sharp as a tack!!! I think family is finishing all our sentences!