Overweight.

[caroli123]

I was wondering if anybody on here is overweight & do you put your weight gain down to taking Prednisolone?

[powerwalk]

I never put on weight in my life. So yes my weight is totally from the Pred. I refuse to weigh myself - I don't want to know the exact amount, but my puffy neck, face and much bigger tummy, yes totally Pred.

[caroli123 in reply to powerwalk]

How long have you been on Pred powerwalk and what is your dose?

[powerwalk in reply to caroli123]

I am three years. On 4.5 trying slow taper to 4. The weight has reduced as you get lower dose. Also carbs play a big part. For me i have a lot of water i think too from it.

[Marilyn1959]

Some weight with pred about 6 weeks after starting at 15mgs in June 2017. I gave in to the munchies for about two months!

After first three months (over) weight stabilised. At 7 mgs lost chipmunk face and not far off weight wise to where I was before pred. Strangely if I take 7.5mgs I can see the chipmunk face returning!

[Mary63]

We all have the tendency to gain weight when on prednisolone. A very good eay to counteract it is to eat a low carbohydrate diet. If you put low carb diet or weight gain into the search box top right, there have been many previous conversations about this. I actually do low carb, high fat diet with very good results. There is a forum for his on health unlocked, which I have found very useful.

[SnazzyD]

Yes and no. Yes, in that Pred causes certain metabolic changes in our bodies that make us sensitive to putting on weight. But, for most of us, that can be controlled by what we put in our face. I didn’t put on any weight and kept my blood sugars normal by eating no pasta, potato, rice, anything made with flour, maize etc. I also keep salt very very low to avoid the fluid retention you get too.

[GranAmie]

totally agree with snazzy n mary , sit on yr 'al gusto' [aka greed, hunger etc] and cut down / out carbs... inc cakes, puds, pies, sauces etc. good luck x

[jinasc]

Follow this link and perhaps it will help if you need to lose weight, it works whether you have Diabetes of not, in fact it helps people who have diabetes (Type 2 only) to often get rid of it. worth a look?

pmr-gca-northeast.org.uk/gr...

then go to the Summer Newsletter 2016

pmr-gca-northeast.org.uk/as...

and on page 4 you will find an article called 'Demystifying Diabetes in relation to PMR abd GCA.

(I have added the direct link to the Newsletter. Moderator)

You can download the whole article.

I have continued to put this information in answer to this eternal problem with Pred and Diabetes. If we all knew about this when we started on pred, I doubt that we would then run into the problem later on when we have been on pred for a long time.

Hey Ho, this is a long unending learning curve, bet we will get there and so will the researchers looking for cause and cure.............in the meantime we help ourselves and others as much as possible with factual information.

PS If you put Demystifying Diabetes in the search box, top right hand page, it will take you to the other post which gives a more detailed explanation.

[Yellowbluebell]

I wasnt well behaved at the beginning regarding my eating habits. I gave into midnight munchies (and to be fair any other time munchies as well). I then realised I didnt fit in my dress for my daughters wedding so started being more careful with the carbs. My weight hasnt changed much but I am now being even stricter and hopefully this will stop any further weight gain. There are lots of posts about diet on the forum which will be useful for you.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I have fought with my weight all my life and even doctors tell me I shouldn't aim to get below 10st even though that is still well above what my ideal weight is claimed to be. Judging by clothes fit my problem is more my legs aren't long enough - if they matched my body length, I'd be about right! But 10st/140lbs is in my dreams!!!

I gained weight with PMR - due to being unable to exercise properly and comfort eating of easy food (carbs) for 5 years when I wasn't diagnosed. I didn't gain more with prednisolone - it just rearranged itself to the usual places, face, midriff and back of my neck. I was switched to methyl pred - and on went the weight. Partly the steroid and partly being practically immobilsed on crutches because of achilles tendonitis. Then I was switched to a form of prednisone - and adopted a low carb diet: over the following 18 months I lost over 35lbs of pred and PMR weight, I got my figure back and lost probably 6-8in around my waist. Clothes I hadn't worn for years returned to the wardrobe!!

Excessive weight gain with pred is NOT inevitable, low carb and low salt diets help a lot. It is harder if you have GCA - the very high doses don't help, but even then many people have avoided weight gain or have gained some and lost it once the dose goes down.

[Marijo1951]

I was a couple of stone overweight already before I started on the pred (60 mg per day at the start which was 31st July 2017). I experienced the terrible rampant hunger which is a common side effect of steroids and completely gave in to it. All the extra stodge meant that I gained an extra 20 pounds in a very short time. That I'm happy to say has mostly gone since I embraced (or half-embraced) the low carb régime in October, giving up all added sugars and simple carbs - white bread, pasta and rice and almost giving up potatoes. I've now hit a plateau and realise I shall have to go very strictly low carb if I'm to reduce further. This should be a bit easier after I felt very queasy last week after weakening and succumbing to a delicious Pizza Express pizza.I won't do anything like that again unless I want to punish myself.

[Hidden]

I probably put a few pounds on in the beginning. However, i have been officially obese since 2 yrs after back surgery in 1999. I have lost and found weight since then. In 2016 i had a new fancy kitchen and pred to blame for making bread, pizza and homemade pasta in a kitchen bigger than a stamp for a change. I already had diabetes and in the first 8 mths went from diet and pills to insulin.

After a few weeks i sat down to work out my carbs, having the first support from diabetes clinic since 2000. I worked out the carb number in grams per day. That was my 100%. That week i reduced by 25%. I did that for a couple of weeks and reduced to 50%. I have lost 2stone 3lbs since then (march 2017). During same period my pred has gone from 15mg to 6mg. I could reduce carbs further and lose weight more quickly, but i dont want skin dangling so i aim for no more than a 1lb a week and if its less or more i dont sweat it. My moon face and hump gone.

I have not noticed that i have "lost" some carbs so never think i am missing anything like i did on diet plans . Usually i have taken 6 to 12mths to lose a mountain if weight and its straight back on as carbs increased. 2 plus years on this and it just feels normal. I do count the odd bit of chocolate or junk in my carbs. But honestly i love my veg and dont eat meat or fish or chicken etc.

I have lost more weight by than i put on with pred by far

[stellafmdm]

Pred doesn't help, but unfortunately I have an incurable sweet tooth as well so yes I am overweight!!!