Hi everyone any diet advise on how to lose weight on prednisone ( I’m on a low dose atm 5 mg ) I’m really struggling I’ve been on steroids a long time and I gained 10 kg , I don’t eat much , unfortunately I can’t exercise at the moment bc my muscle inflammation still high .
Thank you for your help ,
Take care x
Cut your carbs considerably - pred changes how your body deals with sugar and carbs, It makes your body release glucose in random spikes from the body stores in muscle and liver and that can lead to weight gain as the excess sugar is deposited as fat. You can't change that that but you CAN control the carbs from food. Cut the carbs, especially processed carbs and added sugar, and limit fruit except berries. Fruit and root veg may be healthy carbs - but carbohydrate is still carbohydrate. It is worth keeping a food diary and being honest about it because carbs hide in all sorts of place - like low fat yoghurt!
I find this site very useful:
I have lost over 5kg since the beginning of Lent - and am on 15mg pred. I have struggled to lose weight all my life so while it is slow it is still weight loss! Some people lose weight much more easily that I do - this is one story
healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
Not sure but you may need to join our forum to read it, it looks as if she does "private" posts - if you don't want to, she lost 2st on about 6 months using the diabetes plan from her GP as she was pre-diabetic and at the time was on over 10mg pred.
Hi Melaxx. So sorry for how poorly you’ve been feeling. I think we’ve all been in your shoes. I gained a little more than you did and it has taken me 2 years just to get half of it off. Steroid weight is so so difficult to lose.
Best thing you can do is try and lay off processed carbs and fatty meals. Prednisone puts your body in stress mode with tons of cortisol so it tells your body to soak up instant energy in the form of sugar and carbs. Some things I do… Sometimes I use lettuce for wraps instead of bread/tortilla. Quinoa texture is like beef to me. There are so many things to try. Maybe try an autoimmune cookbook and try new daily recipes for a month as you go through the book.
I find the hardest part when deciding to make a lifestyle change is getting into the habit and actually starting. Losing weight is hard without both diet and exercise. Even walking a block or two is a start. Prednisone also breaks down muscle. It’s not an anabolic steroid like bodybuilders use. It’s catabolic and breaks down your muscles so it may be contributing to any weakness you may have. How long have you been on them and at what dose?
Sending healing vibes and hugs. ❤️xx
Hi, I’ve been on and off for over 2 years well before the pandemic and I started on 30 mg , I love sweet foods so it’s going to be so hard to discipline myself but I have to do it bc I feel so uncomfortable with all this extra weight
Thank you 😊 x
I completely understand. All I can say is if it isn’t in the house, you can’t eat it. You start getting creative when you limit your ingredients. Prednisone will make you crave the most unhealthy stuff. Just say no when Mr. Pred has you grabbing for those chips next time and think about a good substitute like popcorn (which you can flavor with ANYTHING). As awful as it sounds, I do count calories when I’m really disciplined. And I agree with Roarah about sodium. It’s easy to look like a blimp with lots of salt. For those with POTS, salt is important so it’s a lose lose for these folks when it comes to weight and I somewhat fall in that category. I get dizzy without loads of electrolytes.
It is so so hard because our lives are less than glorious. I find so much comfort in food especially on the harder days. And then high dose pred gets me all emotional, I could eat a life size gingerbread house.
I feel for you. Start with smaller changes and give yourself time to adapt. Making tons of changes at once guarantees an unsustainable outcome. Be good to yourself. You deserve that as well!
I chose to go gluten and dairy free and have worked hard on eating lots of vegetables, berries, etc. Take it as an opportunity to explore different recipe, l have been really surprised how tasty good vegetarian meals can be when you follow a proper recipe.
If anyone is interested the NHS is doing a free pre-diabetic prevention programme. Goes on for about 9 months but with varying regularity. I’ve got to session 4 and so far it has been fortnightly. It goes into diet and movement, some of us are less mobile than others but it tries to cater for us all. I knew a lot of the very basic stuff as we did it at school. But at least it can help as some motivation. As it’s free, it seemed a good thing to look at.
I’m seriously overweight and into the pre-diabetic area. I’m not very mobile but I’ve found some seated exercise routines on you tube which I can do.
I was on 40 mg for some time and ate anything that moved. For some unknown reason I didn’t want alcohol which is fatteningI have tried the lot through the years, vegetarian,wheat free, dairy free ,decaf .
Now I have stopped my maintenance 5 mg Steroid to see if it makes any difference plus I went back on caffeine as I was getting headaches, little wonder when you see what they use. I now eat fish, chicken some bread that’s either soda or rye, goat products, the butter is great and little fat
I do know that gluten bloats me but lost half stone so just think metabolism is key to us all and not snacking
Did you just stop your maintenance 5mg steroid dose cold turkey? Was it a maintenance dose for the lupus or because of adrenal problems? How long had you been on steroids?
My tablets are 2.5 so it is easy to drop one and then another a few days later. These are low doses but what ever,the body starts to depend on them. There are side effects from them and have Glaucoma in one eye from high dose,You have to know why you are on that dose and what is it doing. I have been on the full Lupus drug regime through years and was put on Mycophenolate but felt no better when lockdown happened I weaned off those as well .
It’s up to you but not much will happen short term if you wean off properly, see how you feel
There really isn't a lot you can tell me about tapering prednisone and why.
What concerned me was that is it very dangerous to stop longterm pred even at that sort of dose without taking months to taper off very gradually to allow adrenal function to return and settle down. If you don't you are left at a high risk of an adrenal crisis which can make you extremely ill and even be life-threatening.
I am not sure what you are asking, I thought it was about weightAsk your doctor have a blood test
Steroid dependancy is not good and can cause long term problems
Up to you
I'm not asking anything about weight. I was asking if YOU had stopped pred cold turkey as that is what it sounded like. That is very dangerous.
I have not been on a steroids in years but when I was I found I was able to maintain my weight by drinking lots of water but keeping my salt intake low . I ate no processed foods at all for they are high in salt usually. I ate good fats and lean protein and kept to an eating schedule to avoid snacking. I ate a reasonable amount of potato, brown rices and breads because whenever I limit my carbs too much I end up with cravings and over eat other things instead of carbs and then my weight always goes up. So for me a few carbs is helpful but too little or too much glucose and carbs are not. Moving as much as you are able is very important for more than weight control but also to avoid clotting and permanent atrophy. Have you asked about PT?
Good advice.. as I have now gained 15 1bs and the moon face I was concerned about drinking more water as in case I gained more. Salt is probably the issue here. Slow tapering now at 11.5...Hoping once I get under 10 the weight gain will slow down!!!
Weight gain with pred is mostly about the fact that pred changes the way your body processes carbs, It also causes the liver to release random spikes of glucose from the body stores. That triggers production of insulin - but there isn't a meal there to use it up and it causes the glucose to be deposited as fat stores in specific places: on the back of the neck, around the midriff and as the moonface causing the typical changes in body shape typical of pred. That is also what may lead to steroid induced diabetes.
There is nothing you can do to stop it but you can reduce the carbs in your diet which reduces the overall effect. By doing that you can often avoid the pred weight gain in the first place - and even lose weight while still on pred.
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