Has anyone developed hallucinations whilst taking prednisone?

[BippityBoppity87]

Hiya, so the past couple of days I’ve been taking prednisone in conjunction with an antibiotic for a nasty case of tonsillitis. I don’t know if it’s maybe sleep deprivation the steroid or just being unwell in general that’s causing my hallucinations, but yesterday the tv was on pause as my DP got up to do something,and the man on the tv started moving, I was lying down so I got up to take a closer look so my eyes could adjust and he was still moving. Then his lips started to move and he turned his head and started talking directly towards me, no sound coming from the tv. A bit freaked out I shouted to my DP to come and look and he said it’s on pause, I can’t see anything that you’re describing, then right in front of our faces he stuck his tongue out! Which again DP didn’t see. Then it got even more bizarre and I started seeing flames out the window. Went to bed and I thought something was crawling around my ceiling. At one point I got so paranoid I thought it could have been the devil. I know this probably sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I’m a bit scared right now wide awake in the living room with all the lights on

FYI I also have bipolar, but I don’t believe I’m in an episode at all at the moment. Just wondering if anyone else had such an extreme reaction to this steroid or if it’s something else?

That does sound like you are reacting to the prednisone. Well done for recognising that possibility. Try to speak with your GP in the morning, and perhaps it might help your partner to be involved so he knows if there is anything he can do to help?
Hope you can get back to sleep now.

My son has complex needs and he was given prednisolone once. Just one large dose to help his breathing.
Well never again. He didn't sleep for nearly a week more than a few minutes and was like someone high on drugs it culminated in an ambulance because he started to scream and scream in terror and as he is non verbal he couldn't tell us what was wrong but he appeared to be having some kind of psychotic episode. He could obviously see something that wasn't there and was terrified. It was just awful .
Having researched the steroid afterwards I discovered it can affect some people v badly so yes you could be having hallucinations caused by the steroid. Hope you feel better soon. Xxx

Prednisone is know for causing acute delirium and this is most likely what you are experiencing. Don't suddenly stop the pred (this can cause major problems too). Do speak with your GP to see if you can stop taking it and if you need to be weaned from it.

I hope you feel better soon.

Thank you for everyone’s replies. I thought that’s what it was. I had googled beforehand, but just wanted to check with other people’s experiences with it. I’ve only been taking it since Sunday though, 5mgs. Do you think it would be safe to just stop taking it as it’s only been 3 days?