11. Mood Problems
When taken in doses of 30 milligrams per day or more, prednisone can cause intense mood swings as well as irritability and anxiety.
A review of the MEDLINE and psycINFO databases found that “Symptoms of hypomania, mania, depression, and psychosis occur during corticosteroid therapy as do cognitive changes, particularly deficits in verbal or declarative memory.”
“Psychiatric symptoms appear to be dose-dependent and generally occur during the first few weeks of therapy. Patients who must remain on corticosteroids may benefit from pharmacotherapeutic approaches, such as lithium and the new antipsychotic medications.”(18)
12. Psoriasis
Although prednisone and other corticosteroids are the second most prescribed drugs to treat psoriasis, most experts recommend against them.
This is because the drugs themselves can actually trigger flare-ups of generalized pustular psoriasis (19). Odd, huh?
13. Liver Damage
Like most prescription drugs, corticosteroids can cause several forms of liver injury and worsen an underlying liver disease.
When administered intravenously, corticosteroids are known to cause acute liver injury, acute liver failure and death (20). Again, in a contradictory twist, the drug is also used to treat several forms of liver disease.