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HIGH on Prednisone?

Hello out there,

I was put on Prednisone (30 mg for 3 months). During this time I experienced a super happiness and a super high energy that I am not used to. (It wasn't all good I did have some of the unpleasant side-effects as well). I don't even know if it was the Prednisone. I started Low-Dose Naltrexone at about the same time as the Prednisone, it could have been that. I was also taking Pentasa and some supplements but those weren't new.

Of course now that I'm tapering off of the Prednisone I've been really depressed, but right now in this moment I'm not depressed.

Out of curiosity I'd like to know if anybody else has experienced this happy high energy feeling being on Prednisone? I don't ever remember reading that as a side-effect. Was it the Prednisone?
 
yeah amy, i got the same feeling on preds, it makes you move i don't how to describe it but yeah HI would be the word. but, think once you whine down on the preds. Everthing comes back to normal and a hopefully a good normal in both ways. Best wishes .

scott
 

KWalker

Moderator
Weird. My mom always said I got really angry while I was on prednisone. I wish I could of felt like you guys! Lol
 
Weird. My mom always said I got really angry while I was on prednisone. I wish I could of felt like you guys! Lol
The first time I was on Prednisone I was really despressed the whole entire time, that's why I wasn't sure if it was the Prednisone. The first time I also had so much knee joint pain that I could hardly walk. The second time around all the joint pain disappeared completely.
 

Astra

Moderator
Hiya Amy
and welcome

Yeah, the wizzy, speedy feeling?
You will see euphoria listed in the side effects, that's the high!
As I tapered down I got horrific joint pain too, so I switched to Entocort for a while, this helped with the joint pain but gave me headaches! Can't win really!
Good luck with your meds
lotsa luv
Joan xxx
 
I get this feeling for maybe a week, but I always take it for months it seems.

My mom calls it her superwoman pills. lol She gets the high everytime.
 
Prednisone = Roid Rage for me

I can get a bit hyper as well, but everything and anything sets me off while on Pred. On Entocort now and all I feel is tired and wore out.
 
Indeed, Prednisone / Prednisilone makes me feel much more confident, happy and gives me the feeling of having much more energy than usual. It also gives me quite a lot of problems with sleeping though! Insomnia is often a friend. Tapering off also tends to make me slightly depressed, especially when you start reaching the lower doses. As long as you realise that it is just a side-effect of the drug itself, it makes coping that bit easier.
 
When I was on 40mgs I was on cloud nine!!! It made me so energetic and happy that I often felt high too. It will go away as you taper and then for me it was almost like a crash! I miss the energy but hate the weight!!! Good Luck:)
 
Thank you so much for the response everyone, I really appreciate it! I feel a little silly that I didn't realize that the "high" feeling was from the prednisone. I guess I was hoping it was from the Low-dose Naltrexone.

I sure do miss that feeling! I can't believe how many things I accomplished during that time period! Ever since the taper I have been extremely depressed, but I do think today is going to be a better day!
 
Weird. My mom always said I got really angry while I was on prednisone. I wish I could of felt like you guys! Lol
Oh I definitely feel a lot more anger and more often on the Prednisone than normal. I guess I was just lucky to also benefit from the happy high feeling (way more often than the anger) as well. :ybatty:
 

Terriernut

Moderator
Yes....this time the pred has made me a happy little camper!!! (except when I'm driving, but I'm never a happy person driving in England, this time so far I've only run one person off the road though, which is an improvement!)

I am super chirpy. It's frightening! Great for my job though...I'm selling better than ever.

Down to 10mg now and still chipper! It matches my chipmunk cheeks. ;@D
 
Oh man you guys are confirming my fears! Right now I'm on 60mg Prednisone because I have kidney failure now possibly due to the Asacol I was taking for my Crohn's.

The problem, if you can call it that, is that now I feel GREAT! I'm super energetic, focused, confident, less-stressed... I'm getting stuff done! My mind is super sharp, I can think faster and it's helping me at my job... I can deal with problems easier... I get along with people much more smoothly.

I'm so worried than once I start tapering I will lose it all... I'm going to try to make a conscience decision to contunue the "high" naturally through shear will power but I'm afraid it won't be the same...

I'm thinking about seeking some mental health after I'm off on it so I can get some advice on maybe some diet changes or possibly a medication that could help me maintain these feelings... so... here's hoping...
 
Oh man you guys are confirming my fears! Right now I'm on 60mg Prednisone because I have kidney failure now possibly due to the Asacol I was taking for my Crohn's.

The problem, if you can call it that, is that now I feel GREAT! I'm super energetic, focused, confident, less-stressed... I'm getting stuff done! My mind is super sharp, I can think faster and it's helping me at my job... I can deal with problems easier... I get along with people much more smoothly.

I'm so worried than once I start tapering I will lose it all... I'm going to try to make a conscience decision to contunue the "high" naturally through shear will power but I'm afraid it won't be the same...

I'm thinking about seeking some mental health after I'm off on it so I can get some advice on maybe some diet changes or possibly a medication that could help me maintain these feelings... so... here's hoping...
I had some of the "high" feeling from prednisone, though I'm not productive on it because I still can't concentrate well. I get tons more energy on prednisone and find myself happy for no real reason. I don't enjoy the high so much, however, because I know it's false, if that makes sense. Like when you get high from morphine - it's different from being in a naturally good mood, which makes it hard for me to trust the way I'm feeling and makes me feel a bit out of control.

I think it's a good idea to seek other ways of improving your mood, especially if you were actually depressed before. But if your moods were normal before taking prednisone it's probably not a good idea to seek ways of making yourself high - we can't be super happy all the time! But proper anti-depressent medications seem to help a lot of people, and are probably much safer and better equipped at managing mood than steroid side effects if the doctor prescribing them knows what he's doing. There'll probably be some trial and error involved in finding what works for you. And there are all kinds of non-medication ways of improving your mood too.

I guess you also have to be prepared that you may experience low mood when you taper. Not just because you won't get the high anymore, but I've read that tapering can cause all kinds of mood swings in itself as your body gets used to not having the medication any more. If you feel low you might have to remind yourself that it's temporary and due to tapering, that it's not because things are really that bad and that you will feel happier again quite soon.
 
Willpower on its own will definitely have a effect but not to the same degree and it can't be sustained easily unless u see a mental health specialist. I would recommend seeing someone now while ur feeling great and explaining why you feel great and your fear that it won't continue as it is a side effect. Explain that at this point in your life u need something that helps you cope, to manage, and to be content with everything that's going on. They may even start u on something while ur still on the high does of predicted. We all need to seriously consider our mental health sometimes.
 
Thank you so much for the response everyone, I really appreciate it! I feel a little silly that I didn't realize that the "high" feeling was from the prednisone. I guess I was hoping it was from the Low-dose Naltrexone.

I sure do miss that feeling! I can't believe how many things I accomplished during that time period! Ever since the taper I have been extremely depressed, but I do think today is going to be a better day!
Why were you hoping it was the naltrexone and not the pred making u feel good? And do u mind me asking what you take the low dose naltrexone for? Don't answer if u don't want to though :)
 
Why were you hoping it was the naltrexone and not the pred making u feel good? And do u mind me asking what you take the low dose naltrexone for? Don't answer if u don't want to though :)
Hi biancarose,

I don't mind answering questions at all.

Since I started taking the prednisone around the same time as the low dose naltrexone I wasn't sure exactly which was causing the happy high feeling. I was hoping that it was the naltrexone because naltrexone doesn't seem to have the horrific side effects that prednisone has. I was hoping that the Naltrexone would help with my Crohn's and as an added benefit would give me the happy high feeling.

I was taking the low dose naltrexone because I wanted to try to see if it would help with my Crohn's. It's supposed to help with autoimmune diseases because it's supposed to help the immune system. I don't really remember the details behind it but it didn't seem to help me at the time, but just because it didn't help me doesn't mean that other people shouldn't try it.
 
hi ala2079,

That's really interesting in regards to the naltrexone. my experience with naltrexone is as an opiate inhibitor so it is used for people who want to stop using opiates etc, which is why i was concerned about you wanting the high for the "wrong" reason we will say. :smile: Naltrexone can also cause abdominal cramps and gastrointestinal complaints as well as a side effect in some patients, so keep in mind with the symptoms that you get from your Crohns and if it gets better or worse.
in all honesty it's prob the pred that makes u have the high but there are other things that u can use to replace this once you drop your pred dosage. if you feel low u should speak to your doctor and see if there is anything they can prescribe that can assist.
 
Prednisone is a steroid that can effect different people differently.

Makes my husband become aggressive and psychotic, and break out in hives.
 
hi ala2079,

That's really interesting in regards to the naltrexone. my experience with naltrexone is as an opiate inhibitor so it is used for people who want to stop using opiates etc, which is why i was concerned about you wanting the high for the "wrong" reason we will say. :smile: Naltrexone can also cause abdominal cramps and gastrointestinal complaints as well as a side effect in some patients, so keep in mind with the symptoms that you get from your Crohns and if it gets better or worse.
in all honesty it's prob the pred that makes u have the high but there are other things that u can use to replace this once you drop your pred dosage. if you feel low u should speak to your doctor and see if there is anything they can prescribe that can assist.
Naltrexone has been traditionally used as an opiate inhibitor but recently it's been used to help people with autoimmune diseases but in a low dose form of naltrexone. Yeah I can see why you might have thought that. I did forget to say low dose naltrexone. Thanks for the concern though. Yeah the pred was definitely what made me feel high.
 
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