Mental instability symptoms and conditions

I have been on various doses of prednisone on and off for 9 years for a kidney disease. The doses have varied from 70mg to 5mg. I have just about had enough. I cannot describe how debilitating this drug is. Every side effect on here I think I have had except excessive energy. Here is a small list:
Moon Face
Buffalo Hump
shaking like Parkinson
body aches
EXTREME weakness
heart palpitations constantly
joint pain
something would go on with my knees in the morning....it felt like something was boiling. It would be my guess as to what the "Bends" must feel like....it feels like someone is stabbing you in the knees with a knife.
Sleeping at least 16 hours a day
I could barely make everyday at work. It was so miserable to not be able to wake up, I would push myself in 15 minute increments....
You cannot know what it is like to be bed ridden for weeks and to have no doctor understand or believe what is happening to you. You just seem fat and lazy.

I am emotionally scarred by this medicine, there is not a day that goes by that I'm not terrified of having to take a large dose of this again. I just can't.
There is no quality of life at all. You can't do anything.
On top of that, there is no one to talk to, not even a doctor that understands what you are going through.
God help anyone that has to go through this. I understand.

Hi Ladies,

I was so grateful to find this posting site last night. I was searching for side effects for I began to realize that my feelings and other things may have Yasmin to blame.

Last night as I was brushing my teeth, I took a good look at my hair in the mirror and noticed that something just hasn't been right the past several months with it. I used to have so much thick hair that I couldn't pull my sides back in a barrett. Now it's SO simple, it's scary! When I take a bath and wash my hair, it's like I can make a wig out of the hair collected in the water floating around me. Also, I have to clean my white bathroom tile floor from the stray hairs every day!

Another big side effect I've had is off-and-on spouts of depression & random negative thoughts. Also, I've had a couple of panic attacks but never went to the doctor for them. I've had loss of breath, sharp, unusual chest pains, feelings of high anxiety for no reason, etc.

My main concern is - the hair loss and mental instability - will they be "stabalized" once I'm off the pill for several months, or has this medication become a life-long trigger of imbalanced hormones?!