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Prednisone and "inappropriate happiness"

Posted , 10 users are following.

beccab107
beccab107

I was just looking up sleeping problems as a side affect and also saw "inappropriate happiness" as a side effect.  Whereas it struck me funny, I'm also a little afraid as to what that means.  As of yet, I don't believe I've had any inappropriate happiness...  hmm!

Anybody heard of this OR experienced this? 

Becca

Just wondering.

0 likes, 20 replies

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  • EileenH
    EileenH beccab107

    Posted

    Wish I had!

    I assume they must mean the euphoria that is sometimes found in patients when they seem to become a bit manic. usually on higher doses of pred. Some patients can actually develop full-blown mania when on pred but lots of people get a sort of high from it. It usually goes when they stop or reduce the pred dose but if they have something like GCA (giant cell arteritis) where pred is the only drug that works (to avoid blindness in the case of GCA) then they can use the same sort of drugs they would use in mental health patients with mania.

    My granddaughter was totally high when she was on high dose pred for her asthma - don't remember inappropriate happiness but she swung from one mood to another in seconds. Inappropriate happiness is feeling happy where it isn't really the way you should feel -  like feeling happy when you see someone crying over the loss of a loved one or when you hear a friend was injured in a car crash. 

    • tammythepotter
      tammythepotter EileenH

      Posted

      It's interesting to me that you bring up "full blown mania" in this discussion. Both my mother and I have RA. She was diagnosed 2 or 3 years before me, at the age of 70. She had full blown mania with a psychotic episode due to the steroids, although the doctor would never admit it. It has been a long and painful road for her, trying to get her meds figured out. I think her age at onset has had a lot to do with her problems. Because of the horrendous issues we have dealt with regarding my mom, I have refused to take steroids or methotrexate for my own RA. Thank God, I have a mild case and have been holding my own with over the counter NSAIDS and Plaquenil.
    • EileenH
      EileenH tammythepotter

      Posted

      There are a lot of DMARDs - are you not able to try any of the others? I really do understand your reluctance to try pred under the circumstances!

      As for the mania - read the link I'm sending you in a pm, can't put it here or it'll disappear.

  • lodgerUK_NE
    lodgerUK_NE beccab107

    Posted

    Highs and Lows, swings and roundabouts.

    It settles down on

    Mind the paper I have on the side effects, all 82 of them, does not mention "inappropriate happiness", hmmmmmmmmm.

    PS Nobody ever gets them all, most are rare.

  • constance.de
    constance.de beccab107

    Posted

    Some people evidently do get a "high" on Prednisone, but I think it is only on the high doses.

    However, I was on very high Pred at the beginning (I have PMR), and never once did I feel any "happiness" - wish I had, pain and discomfort would have been easier to bear.

  • Juno-Irl-Dub
    Juno-Irl-Dub beccab107

    Posted

    I'd settle for happiness of any kind. . . . As for "inappropriate happiness" what could it be?   I can only think, jumping for joy when an especially large bill arrives, laughing loudlly at your best friend's funeral,  - the mind boggles!!   Don't meet trouble half-way - I've taken Pred. for two years now, and' happiness' (inappropriate or not) did not lightly land on my shoulder. .  If only. My main side-effect is the exact opposite - really depressed for the first couple of hours in the morning. Then it lifts, and I'm just fine again. Until the next morning . . It's quite weird.  Take care - and stop worrying. Kind regards, J
    • EileenH
      EileenH Juno-Irl-Dub

      Posted

      Inappropriate happiness is being happy in a situation you shouldn't be - like when hearing a friend is ill or had an accident or that someone has died.
    • Juno-Irl-Dub
      Juno-Irl-Dub EileenH

      Posted

      Well . . .. I can think of a few people . . . . !  Am I well?    (!)   J
  • gemma83759
    gemma83759 beccab107

    Edited

    Lol. Sorry, I'm giggling at u laughing at "inappropriate happiness ". Ra sufferers will by now realise that it's very difficult to remain upbeat even on a good day. Take the happiness when u can and run with it. It's a sad day when u feel u shouldn't laugh with someone at something trivial or deemed inappropriate! Much laughter to everyone.
    • EileenH
      EileenH gemma83759

      Posted

      Yes - I'm a jam today person too! It's far worse for you guys with RA than us with "just" PMR. We have no choice - it's pred or nothing but this is a concept that rhemies struggle with rather a lot. So pred might make my bones crumble in 20 years time - I'll take the 10 years of good now. Otherwise I'll sit in a wheelchair and be as miserable as sin - predisposing me to not only osteoporosis but also depression...

      I'll laugh with the best of you lol

  • penny55083
    penny55083 beccab107

    Posted

    It took almost 3 years of worsening symptoms before I had my diagnosis of RA. The rheumatologist then gave me a shot of depomedrone (steroid) that lasted 6 weeks until the methotrexate kicked in. One of the first things I noticed was an almost instant relief of my symptoms. I felt ecstatically happy. Everything was suddenly well with the world. My medical collegues suggested that this might be a side effect of the steroid. However, could it have been because I now had an answer to my problems and I was no longer in pain? I am no longer on steroids and I have not had withdrawal symptoms because my lifestyle and medications are controlling the disease. Steroids used at the right dose and duration are nothing to worry about in my experience. 
    • EileenH
      EileenH penny55083

      Posted

      When someone tells me they have had immediate relief of those sort of symptoms with a steroid injection I would suggest they might have something called polymyalgia rheumatica - and I do know that some doctors describe the typical patient as being someone who looked old, tired and ill before the steroid dose and bouncces in looking happy a few days afterwards! 

      You are so right - feeling better quickly when you felt so ill before can lead to an euphoria. In PMR it often leads to the patient doing all the cleaning they couldn't do - so overdo it and their poor muscles protest so they plunge to the depths again until it is explained to them!

    • gemma83759
      gemma83759 EileenH

      Posted

      You're analogy of overdoing it when u feel good could prob be relevant to most people with ra. It certainly is for me . When I get a steroid injection is like having a new lease of life, even feeling puppy like. Unfortunately it's quite short lived and all too soon it wears off. My understanding is u can only have a 3 or 4 injections a year. I tried to get another injection last week and was told I'd have to wait till October !! I was most put out!! Is per linked to ra?
    • EileenH
      EileenH gemma83759

      Posted

      PMR is another autoimmune inflammatory arthritis - but there is no joint damage and the only thing it responds to is pred. It depends on the type of steroid injection. Intramuscular ones can be given about every few weeks and a few people use it for managing PMR if they cannot tolerate oral pred.  It is possible to have both PMR and RA (she said cheerfully).

      I have no problem about taking pred - it gives me my life back. If I have to stay on it for life that's fine by me - I'm down to 5mg and less. I also live in Italy where they take a rather more pragmatic view of using it - no fuss about getting off it asap!

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