Crazy about your asthma inhaler or nasal spray? You just might be....literally. Asthma inhalers and nasal sprays that contain steroids are well
known to cause psychiatric side effects such as depression, mood swings, aggression, irritability and insomnia. However, in rare cases, they can also cause
a side effect called "steroid psychosis". People with steroid psychosis lose contact with reality and can appear to be crazy or insane. Symptoms of steroid
psychosis can involve anything from incoherent babbling to psychotic delusions and hallucinations. The person may need to be hospitalized and treated with
anti-psychotic drugs. The condition is usually reversible, although it may take weeks, months, or even longer to resolve. Steroid psychosis is rare with
steroid asthma inhalers and nasal sprays (1 in 10,000 chance). However, it is much more common with oral (pills) steroid drugs, such as prednisone.
Examples of steroid asthma inhalers are Pulmicort, Flovent and Advair. Examples of steroid nasal sprays are Nasonex, Nasacort, Rhinocort and Flonase.
The side effect of psychosis (and other psychiatric side effects such as depression, aggressive reactions, anxiety, etc.) is listed on the Pulmicort
manufacturer’s website, and on the FDA website. Click here for links to drug information. Note that aggressive reactions can
also include suicidal or homicidal thoughts or actions.
Steroid psychosis can begin with a feeling of being ‘hyped up’. This can be followed by anxiety, tachycardia (rapid heart beat), pressured speech, increased
blood pressure, loss of potassium, severe insomnia, depression, hallucinations, memory problems and delusions. The person can appear to have serious mental
illness, such as bipolar mania or schizophrenia, which are mental illnesses characterized by the loss of contact with reality. People with steroid
psychosis may experience suicidal or homicidal ideation (thoughts of killing themselves or others). They can have delusions of grandeur (a false belief they
have great importance), such as believing they are Jesus Christ. They can also have paranoid delusions (a false belief they are being persecuted), such as
believing they are the victim of a conspiracy. Also, the person may experience hallucinations or visual illusions. The hallucinations can be visual (seeing
people or things that are not there), or auditory (hearing voices). Steroid psychosis can leave a person
disabled and unable to work.
Note that the steroids in asthma inhalers are called "corticosteroids", and should not be confused with the steroids used by body builders called "anabolic
steroids". Click here for more links to information on corticosteroids and related psychiatric side effects .
SidefxDrugs.com
