Mood swings

Hallo CMT, I'm really very sorry to hear that your father has PMR.This is a splendid forum and there are lots of people who will support you so keep coming back.

I feel rather well qualified to try to answer your queries as your father and I have a lot in common.

I am seventy eight and have had PMR for almost thre years. I previously had it in 1999 and was completely better and right off steroids after three years. It is fairly unusual to get it twice so don't worry too much about that.

I, too, tried this time to stop the Prednisolone but was forced to go back to them. I tried to stop because, as in your father's case they were changing my personality, making me intolerant and horrible to those around me.Believe me, this is not a conscious choice. BUT, here is the hopeful bit. When I went back to taking the steroids the irritability did not return I had other symptoms such as anxiety, panics, muscle weakness to name a few. I took a list to my GP who was reasuring and said all of them ( and the previous bad temper ) were very likely attributable to the steroids. He said to try taking them at night and, for me, this has been a huge help but no-one can say why. We are all different as everyone on here will tell you. I am certainly not saying that this is anyone else's answer but it really is worthwhile you father talking to his GP and telling him how he feels.

I wonder what dose your father is on.You say he has bad pain days. Is this when he stops takig the Pred. or when he has been taking them regularly, I wonder.It certainly is not a good idea to stop and start. If the pain is bad when taking them then he should ask for more blood tests. He amy need a higher dose. If he has been reducing his Pred. he may need to reduce more slowly. ( there is lots on here about reducing ) On both occasions I have had to see-saw a bit to stay comfortable and that is not at all unusual.

I am sure others will be along with help and sympathy.

Hoping this is a little help.BettyE

Well, I was wrong abput everyone else being along. As you can see if you read theWhere is everyone thread, we do all get tied up in our lives and sometimes forget that someone out there might be looking for some TLC.

I think maybe I jumped in early with my resonse to your query about your father's moods because it so echoed my own experience. When I first contacted this forum I was, to put it mildly, Iin a state largely because I was so frightened at what steroids were doing to me. I cursed them roundly and was firmly but kindly put in my place and more or less told to be grateful that they arte avaialble and they are all we have to keep us in a realtively ok type of life. This waas last Feb. and since then things have got much better for me, in no small part because of the backup from this site. I do hope your father will soon feel better. It is hard for both him and you. Please do come back and read as much as you can from these posts. They won't all be relevant but will give you a good working knowledge of the illness we are trying to live with. Best wishes Betty E

Hi CMT

I just dropped by (not sleeping tonight) and found your posting.

Yes steroids can cause problems, in fact there are 82 side effects, but luckily no one gets them all. I and others have found that when you first start off with the steroids, it takes some time for some side effects to, kick in and then subside. I found the mood swings effect died off within about 6 weeks, but we are all different. There is a website, www.pmr-gca-northeast.co.uk which holds a wealth of information and also has an article on Steroids and what they can do, peoples stories on how they cope and also medical information.

A couple of things, if your father is on lots of different medication, talk to the chemist and make sure they are compatible with each other.

If your Father has not had a Vitamin D test, ask for one as people in this country can suffer from Vit D deficiency (particularly people past 60) and this also causes ached and pains (scroll down and look for the heading Vitamin D on this site).

The Good news is that, in my experience, men seem to recover more quickly and also suffer less side effects.

Also, I have been told that some of the cheaper steroids can cause problems and do not work as efficiently. Chat with the GP.

Let us know how you get on please.

Hi CMT,

I was diagnosed with PMR in early April of this year and my mood was up and down like a yo-yo for the first couple of months on steroids, but is thankfully now improved (although my family might dispute that :lol: ).

One day I could be as high as a kite & the next in floods of tears, and I had no control over my emotions at all.

However, it is very hard at times to know what is a side effect of the steroids and what is something else, so it is worth mentioning your Dad's mood swings to his GP....it may well be that, like many of us with PMR, he is just totally frustrated at the impact on his life that chronic illness brings.

Hope things improve for him, and you , soon.

Best wishes,Pauline.

Hi CMT!

I think it's all been said about the fact that steroids can have an effect on mood. I just wanted to add my penn'th worth about the effect of being informed you have a disease that can't (as yet) be cured and you are going to have to take tablets for the foreseeable future to control its effect on your body. Many people don't deal with that sort of situation well and men tend to be even more \"put out\" by such a change. Denial then leads to wanting to get rid of the only thing that can make life comfortable.

And whilst it IS a cliche (and the men who visit this forum will jump up and down and shout at me, no doubt) - in general, men really don't deal with pain and limitation of their daily routine without a lot of complaint. If they don't vocalise it, they often take it out on anyone who gets in the firing line and they feel safe in having a go at - usually family.

I know I was bad tempered BEFORE steroids - I'm much more equable now (I think!) :lol: . Chopping and changing his dose and stopping and starting won't help either - if you persist with the dose, reducing it slowly, there does come a point where most of the side-effects improve as the body gets itself sorted out, as MrsK has said. Many of the side effects are worst in the first weeks - including the loss of bone density which then pretty much stops after a while.

This next comment is not meant to sound unsympathetic in any way because we do all know what it is like from personal experience: my grandfather almost certainly had PMR 50 years ago at slightly younger than your dad and he had to accept it then as \"your rheumatics, it's part of old age\". I don't imagine for a moment that he'll listen to you happily saying that and he should be grateful for his steroids option - but it might help you! :roll:

That said - Pauline is quite right. It could also be something else. Depression is very common in older people anyway, it is also a part of PMR and other autoimmune diseases. It is also associated with long term illness per se. And depression can also be characteristed by mood swings and bad temper. An antidepressant might help. You also say he has psoriasis - is it PMR or psoriatic arthritis? That is also a possibility as they can be similar and, although it was part of the considered diagnoses in my case I'm not sure that steroids are the mainstay of treatment. If it is PMR then a dose of 15 to 20 mg/day should relieve the majority of the symptoms fairly reliably

Good luck,

EileenH

Hi again! :oops: the mouse I'm using is useless (belongs to my husband who plays cards and doesn't appear to need fine control of the cursor!!!!)

I was about to say that IF the symptoms aren't being relieved to about 70% on a reasonably consistent basis at 15mg - then the PMR diagnosis does need to be looked at critically. Though he needs to take the darn things consistently too!!

Nevertheless, good luck and do keep in touch - I don't suppose your dad will be interested in joining us and reading about how others deal with PMR??

EileenH

[quote:81d6fc2e77]Eileen wrote, [i:81d6fc2e77]\"I don't suppose your dad will be interested in joining us and reading about how others deal with PMR??\" [/i:81d6fc2e77][/quote:81d6fc2e77]

Well, after he reads your post on your opinion of men he won't be. :shock: :wink:

I enjoy reading [i:81d6fc2e77](most)[/i:81d6fc2e77] your posts here in the forum Eileen. You have a wealth of information. You do a lot of research and then take the time to share it with the forum. I for one appreciate it – but your frequent berating of men grows tiresome at times. :roll:

Having said that I (being a man), have noticed that prednisone can cause some mood swings for me. It's one of the three or four side effects I've experienced while taking prednisone. But, I realize that taking Pred will help me deal with PMR so I can live a more normal life.

Good luck to you CMT and your father.

Rick - I'm not aware that I \"frequently\" berate men. It may be different in the US but men in the UK are well known for ignoring symptoms and being in denial about their health conditions. If I have been referring to my husband - maybe you should have lived with him for the last 17 years as he has also denied his chronic health problems post-cancer, to the detriment of both his longterm health and my sanity.

I am conscious that I - and others - have often mentioned that men react differently. Not only in the way in which they respond to illness, and in particular in this context, with PMR, but also to the treatment. Having worked in the healthcare sector for many years, I am very aware of the ways in which men differ from women in illness - and this has also possibly often been expressed in the responses I have made to queries.

Unfortunately, perhaps, a spade is a spade and clear language reveals that. If I have offended - I apologise.

EileenH