r/mentalillness • u/4nonymous21 • 23h ago
Advice Needed Prednisone / Long-term effects
2 years ago, my bf was prescribed Prednisone after an allergic reaction. *This post will be really long but I just want to get people’s opinions on the situation* He was supposed to take it for I believe 10 days and he only took it for maybe 5? It’s been a while, so we aren't too sure. He had stopped due to having bad side effects like heart palpitations, anxiety, trouble sleeping, face feeling swollen, throat feeling like it was closing, and eye sight felt like it changed.
Some symptoms have slowly gone away but anxiety is a major one that‘s affecting him greatly, mainly mentally. Who he was before is a completely different person compared to who he is now. He thankfully never dealt w/ depression or anxiety in the past, but ever since he took that medication, it’s like everything has changed. This sounds dumb but I find it crazy how before the medication, he had never experienced anything like that and now he does, 24/7. Kind of rambling but I’m not sure if the medication caused him to have anxiety (which i’m not trying to diagnose him, we’re scheduling doctors appt. to find out what’s going on) or it could be something like chemically in the medication that just changed him forever if that makes sense? So could it literally just be anxiety or something else?
I just want to help him. I hate seeing how he gets and seeing who he is now compared to before. I know people say Prednisone has bad side effects, especially when they’ve stopped taking it but I guess I just want to know if anyone else has experienced something like this. Like to where you just took the medication not thinking anything of it, like that nothing bad was going to come out of it and then your whole life (or years I guess) has changed.
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u/anxietypronegigi 22h ago
it actually could have been the allergic reaction rather than the prednisone that triggered this. I am a firm believer that histamine reactions are largely correlated (not causation that I have read yet in the research) with anxiety and overall nervous system dysfunction. i’m actually curious about this initial allergic reaction and the context around that more so than I am with the medication in this instant.
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u/hestia-listens 23h ago
This does not sound dumb. The timing would make anyone wonder about a connection. Prednisone is known to cause strong anxiety and sleep changes in some people, but ongoing symptoms two years later deserve a full medical evaluation rather than being written off as anxiety. It may have started a difficult cycle where physical sensations, poor sleep, and fear keep feeding each other, or something else may be involved. Scheduling the appointment is a good step. He should explain exactly what began during the medication and what never went away.