Re: Prednisone vs. Aldosterone

October 28, 2008

Classic steroid psychosis due to high dose cortisol like drugs. They

are not like aldo which circulates in amounts 1000 times lower.

Excess cortisol can cause HTN though if it is high enough or if

licorice is eaten.

CE Grim MD

On Oct 28, 2008, at 6:13 PM, wrote:

> Hello. I was also wondering whether there's a chemical difference

> between prednisone and aldosterone. I'm mostly just curious, because

> my mom was put on prednisone when she had cancer and was undergoing

> radiation treatment, and prednisone was supposed to increase her red

> blood cell count, which was too low for treatment. When she went on

> the prednisone, she had a psychotic break and was hallucinating

> wildly. As soon as she was taken off the prednisone, her mind went

> back to normal, and she was very lucid. Would the amount of

> aldosterone in PA come anywhere near the amount of prednisone a cancer

> patient such as my mom would be given? Are there any documented

> accounts that anyone knows of about the effect of too much prednisone

> on the brain/psychiatric health? I will do a MEDLINE search via

> PubMed, but if anyone knows anything I'd appreciate any input.

>

> Thanks,

>

May your pressure be low!

ï¿¼

CE Grim BS, MS, MD

High Blood Pressure Consulting

Senior Consultant to Shared Care Research and Education Consulting

Inc.(sharedcareinc.com)

Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine Medical and Cardiology

Medical College of Wisconsin

Board certified in Internal Med, Geriatrics and Hypertension.

Interests:

1. Difficult to control high blood pressure.

2. The effect of recent evolutionary forces on high blood pressure

in human populations.

3. Improving blood pressure measurement in the office and out.

October 28, 2008

I am not an MD and don't know anything about relationships between aldo

and pred.

But I know several people who were overdosed with prednisone ... too

much and/or too long.

Yes ... it can produce anything from mild psychological symptoms to

full-blown psychosis.

Properly ordered and supervised by an ethical, competent MD it can also

be very helpful for lung inflammation ... after an asthma attack for

example. In my only personal experience with prednisone, at a low dose

for one week, it gave me progressively more severe manic symptoms from

about day four on.

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On Oct 28, 2008, at 9:13 PM, wrote: