I think that half the battle with the mood swings is realizing why it’s happening. For example, (1) Is my boss really that annoying and should be pistol whipped ( I’m kidding...really)  or (2) is it just that for the zillion time a normal stressful situation at work has come up and I need to take a second to settle myself before I quickly plan how to handle it ? hummm, I think (2) is more beneficial to my bank account and career and I have made the right choice ( lol).

With the moods, I try not to be so hard I myself. Sometimes it’s easier to bust a gasket and really rip on someone but that serves no positive purpose. A much more positive idea is to get a hold of the emotional response and articulate what the intended feelings are.For example, yelling at a creepy, dorky,  insensitive jerk Endo may get you in such a rage that you might wrap your car around a tree but calmly taking a step back and expressing you feelings in a rational manner is much more effect for yourself but the Endo isn’t going to listen either way. A jerk is a jerk and isn’t worth getting emotionally worked up over.

Nobody is perfect and if a little moody outburst comes out to deal with a snotty cashier,  sibling (me so bad) or someone else then so be it.  There is a saying that I like and it goes something like this, " I only have one nerve left and You are standing on it" Another thing that I’ve learned to do is laugh at myself. If I make a mistake, I fix it and if it can’t be fixed? Well you try not to do it again. Sometimes, I’m a little foggy and I’ll mix up words but that just makes me charmingly eccentric and human. Eventually, I always get asked by other people, "So, what type of drugs are you on? Can I have some? You are always happy!" Then I know that my hard work on my personality has paid off. They have never seen me crying over my beer because of the surgeries but that was a lose lose situation anyway. I might not be happy but out in this world it’s all a game and appearances and personality count. It’s all really just a head game and after practice, I can generally overide the moodiness and I can usually tolerate the ocassional foggy and out of it feeling. At least I know I’m not crazy and that’s a comfort. It’s just the hydro and I ain’t scared to deal with it and I have the power most of the time.

I’m a lot less moody on the hydrocortisone then the prednisone. I do find that when I take the med at the  roughly the exact same times every day I do feel better. I’m tired at times but I find it’s only when I have to do things rather than want to do them or frankly, just doing way to much of anything. You know, having your candle burning at both ends.  I seldom have headaches,I wonder if they come from dehydration though? One thing that I’ve come to realize that without at least 9- 10 hours of sleep, I’m a wreck.

Parents please don’t take the moodiness personally. Nobody did anything or said anything to get that intense of a reaction. I’m trying to compare it and I guess you might say take you average teenager and triple the moodiness. I was a calm happy nice teenager the majority of the time but when I got moody ....look out the fur would fly (lol) I never gave my parents enough credit because when I look back they did a good job in dealing with it. As I went through my 20’s the moodiness became a little less but it doesn’t go away and on a positive note, I’ve developed ways to manage it. It’s a matter of taking that energy and pointing it in a different direction.       

Take Care,

Aimee