You sound very much like me several months ago. I didn’t recognize myself as I was sad all the time. Realizing the things I have given up to this disease. There is hope. I am now completely off of prednisone and the depression is lifting. I am extremely cautious about my activity, but feel I can start doing gentle exercise.

I would advise you go back to creating your form of art. Gardening is particularly difficult on the shoulders. Do what brings you joy. This disease takes away too much of us. Return to what you love if possible.
I am slowly starting to do the things that bring me joy and the fog of depression has started to lift. Praying I don’t relapse, but enjoying what is in front of me right now. Good luck.

A known side effect of Prednisone is to exacerbate and/or induce mood disorders. PMR doesn't help the situation.

That is the greatest thing about forums like this. Feel free to express how you feel here. It doesn't have to be a one-sided expression of feelings. Everyone here is free to share their personal experiences with PMR and various treatments. People are also free to take on as much or as little information as they can handle.

It is clear that people have lots of emotions while on Prednisone. Everyone has unique feelings just as PMR symptoms are unique.

I'm an introvert by nature too. I struggled with expressing my ideas all of my life. On this forum, I think I'm a prolific writer virtually about things I would never publicly discuss in person. Sometimes maybe I'm too prolific. Maybe I should keep things to myself but I feel better after I post about my personal experiences.

@susanalka . Sorry to hear about your depression and it getting worse on PMR. I was scared to death when in the early days of PMR. The cytokines (IL-6) does not help. It is an evil cytokine that encourages and one might say causes depression. I had, not only pain, but terribly violent and depressing dreams before I got on prednisone. I was morose and quite down about my future. I thought my life was over. Upon starting 15 mg of prednisone, I felt better each hour. By day two I did not have any nightmares and I slept better than I had in years. For me, prednisone was a godsend. It stopped all the depression. I had hope and was elated. I was not wired but actually functioned better mentally than I had been. Strange, but it (pred) calmed me, not wired me. Yes, I eventually got the digits about pred as everyone does, knowing it is also probably destroying you in other ways. I have been off now since March 1st. Took me 9 months to taper off. So far no PMR. Good luck and work with your prescribing doctor on anti depression meds.

Those of us (myself included) who tend toward introversion, are good listeners, are happy to help others, and have difficulty saying no may have learned this behavior in childhood. A healthy dose of these behaviors I think makes for a happier society. But, if carried too far, can result in a person feeling depleted. You can find a good analysis of this phenomenon in the writings of Dr. Gabor Mate, particularly “The Myth of Normal.” If you have not explored his writings, you might find them helpful.

I highly recommend Wendy Jones, Somatic Guided Meditations on YouTube. It has really helped me to feel the connection between the brain and the body and how important it is for healing!

I was pleased to see this discussion. I am almost 80 years old and 18 months on prednisone and tapering to 4.5. Have developed pre-diabetes, iron deficiency and my neuropathy is worse. Still pain in some part of my body all the time. I’m trying hard to just push through the pain and still be as normal and active as possible. I’m generally an extrovert - enjoy talking with people. But I’ve find myself just breaking into short bursts of tears with seemingly no reason. I can share with friends about the PMR but don’t want to share about this. I haven’t shared too much about tears with my doctor either. I also find myself thinking/ worrying about new projects and wondering if I can accomplish new tasks without too much pain. When I finally get off prednisone will these bouts of fear and tears go away? Anyone else experiencing this?
Thanks for being there for all of us! This is a crazy condition.

It didn’t take a year for my depression to set in. The daily challenge of balancing prednisone usage and side effects vs how much pain is otherwise tolerable is exhausting, while life marches on despite my reduced capacity. The only thing that happens quickly in managing PMR is the return of the pain if you taper too quickly, so you increase the pred and in doing so, the speed at which it will damage your other systems. Insurance wants to pay for the cheapest alternative, even if contraindicated, until it fails for you, even if you (and your doctor) know better. Age doesn’t matter because there is no cure: it’s forever once you have it, and PMR hasn’t been studied enough to define who, why, when it will rear its head, let alone how to effectively standardize treatment. Who wouldn’t be depressed? I try to savor the bright spots when I can, Exercise helps, even a little exercise. Family helps, even when we don’t talk about PMR.

Oh my yes, and I finally spoke to my doctor. I asked her if modulating the IL6 pathway was contributing to my mood and she said no studies have been done because of the limitations of treatment. Benefit of living out weighs the risk of treatment-having said that, I tried 100 mg of sertraline and it was overwhelmingly positive feeling immediately. Within a couple of weeks improved vagus nerve, lowered nausea and slightly increased appetite. Getting enough sleep is still a nightly goal. Eating very clean works: no gluten, diary, low sugar lots of fluids. Turmeric, ginger. Pineapple and peppers for excellent joint relief. Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. Please share anything that works.

My sleep has been horrible since PMR, sometimes taking an hour or more to get to sleep, but mostly waking up multiple times a night with difficulty going back to sleep. I spoke with my PCP and after seeing her, she recommended belsomra. Insurance denied it initially but PCP appealed and it was approved after a few days. I started last night and I slept for 8 hours with only 10 minutes awake time. I know it's only one night, but my lack of sleep was definitely affecting my mood towards myself and others.

I'm going to take a guess that the people who need support the most are the ones who aren't actively looking for it. Admission of anxiety and depression can be seen as a sign of weakness to some, especially those whose inner strength has been something they take pride in having. Am I wrong about that?