Puffy face and weight gain.

[BPlady]

Diagnosed with PMG in Nov last year since then have been on Prednisilone and have gained nearly 2 stones, and now have a puffy face and red cheeks. Presently taking 10 mgs daily. Really don’t feel good!

[Hidden]

Oh dear BPlady it sounds like you are having a tough time. If you haven't tried it, the main thing you can do to control weight gain, and the horrid random blood sugar spikes pred causes, is to do a very low carb diet.

Start here to see what it's about..

dietdoctor.com/low-carb

[scats]

Don't rush to get below 10mg because of the side effects, they wll ease but not enough pred will bring back the PMR smptoms which in my mind are much worse.

[Hidden in reply to scats]

Yes pain makes me much more miserable that my belly!!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Bit more backing for the low carb approach: I gained a lot of weight, first with PMR, comfort eating and inactivity for the best part of 5 years and then with one form of steroid. Switching to another and a low carb diet let me lose 35 lbs over about 18 months. The first place it went from was around my midriff. I have gained a bit back - mainly because I haven't been strict enough - but still have a waist! Lots of others have similar stories to tell.

[Stifffingers in reply to PMRpro]

I like everybody gained weight FAST.

No one at any stage told me to cut out carbs , as a deterrent against Preds weight gaining properties.

How Sad . I was Hospitalised with mine.

“ Here’s your tablets . Take 2 of these , 5 of these , 2 of these...... see you in outpatients 1 Months time! Bye!

Moon faced I returned ... “ The Pred is causing your weight gain” .... Reduce from 30 mg to 15 mg !!!! Understandably I ended up in agony , next day , prone on my couch , eating chocolates!!

[Hidden in reply to Stifffingers]

Believe me...I have diabetes...even most Dr and practice diabetes nurses dont recommend low carb despite it being the top thing you can do to control type 2. The chances of them making that link between glucose spikes, pred, low carb seem to be almost impossible. Even when I mention it to Dr there's a blank look in relation to diabetes and pred.

[BPlady in reply to Stifffingers]

So sorry to hear this! One wonders why, as it seems so prevalent,the doctors don’t warn us of these side effects! Hope you are on the road back to recovery now.😘

[Hidden in reply to BPlady]

They ARE in the patient information leaflet. I always keep one copy and read it quite frequently as I do with all meds. However the solution of low carb eating isn't there yet!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Stifffingers]

Most doctors and nurses don't understand the link, just as they struggle helping their obese patients. And of course have been brainwashed since Ancel Keys that fat is bad and carbs are good in heart disease. As Poops says, they don't see a link between the soaring amount of sugar and simple carbs in the diet since WW2 and the obesity and diabetes epidemics. Or pred and raised blood sugar and Hba1c levels.

[Yellowbluebell]

Iwhem i was diagnosed 18 montha ago i was warned immediately to cut carbs. As someone who has always been underweight and been able to eat what i wanted i decided to just keep eating what i felt like and made best friends with my fridge. Only 4 months later i had put on over two stone. I have started to lose it now but its taken a hard look at my diet. You really need to sort out your diet as it does make a big big difference in feeling better.YBB

[Constance13]

2 stone in five months!! You poor thing. I often wonder how people's bodies cope with such massive increases.

Good luck - you will be able to keep in control from now on.

[BPlady in reply to Constance13]

Thank you.🙏

[Marilyn1959]

Hi. Most of us can empathise. I found it started to reduce of it's own accord at about 7.5mgs. Meanwhile the advantage for me is it is like having botox on the national health since my face, though rounded, is no longer like a map of England! Dreading how old I will look when I come off the pred! 🥺🥺

[Daffodilia]

Hi I have a puffy face too (swelled badly for a few days last summer) and gained a stone in a year. I do a low fat diet and I am losing slowly - check fat content - under 5 per 100 g is good and over 20 is bad - simple. I was diagnosed Oct 2018 on 40 mg pred and now on 6 mg

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Daffodilia]

Low carb is more appropriate for people on pred. Low fat products tend to have added carbohydrate to make them palatable. Pred changes the way your body processes carbs and that is why you are also at risk of steroid-induced diabetes - low carb reduces that risk too.

[Daffodilia in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks I know the official advice but I hate low carb

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Daffodilia]

Not official advice at all - but the approach that works and reduces the risk of developing diabetes!

[Daffodilia in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks - I try to keep sugar low too

[Hidden in reply to Daffodilia]

And probably 90% of us do hate low carb b4 we do it and sometimes when we do it....but if you can eat fat then you increase that. I do have some carbs but try and limit it to 20% of diet and 80 to 90% of the time. And I lost well over 2st and eat butter on veg and olive oil dressings on salads, full fat Greek yoghurt etc. If you have to eat low fat for health reasons it's harder but doable if you get through the first 2 weeks.

[Daffodilia in reply to Hidden]

Hi I started the low fat eating cos I have some gall bladder problems and it seems to help that as well as weight gain

[Hidden in reply to Daffodilia]

Low carb a bit harder then. But could you just cut 25% of your daily grams of carbs?

[Daffodilia in reply to Hidden]

I think I have with low fat and Coronavirus cupboard

[Hidden in reply to Daffodilia]

Yes..all my veg rationed.

[Bubble56]

I got a moon face very quickly and although my clothes still fit I know I have “ blown up” all over- even my normally skinny legs are bigger, especially my knees🙈. I’m tapering down to 11mg from originally 15 and I really hope that the bloating goes down when I eventually get below 10. I am quite enjoying a low carb diet now I have got used to it but I find I totally crave something sugary in the evenings which may be undoing all the good of having will power during the day!

[SickOfSteroids]

I’ve been diagnosed for 20 months. Been on Prednisone the entire time. Have gained 100 pounds! Now trying Methatrexate to see if it will work so I can come off Pred. Only been on it 6 weeks but tolerate it well and Dr just increased dose. My sugar has been high and I crave salt all the time. I’ve tried Keto, Mediterranean and other diets and none have worked. Only thing that helped was diet pills from a doctor on a weight-loss plan. But they needed up causing heart issues and I had to stop. In that terrible cycle of no energy to exercise and too big to try. I feel your pain. I’m not seeing any positive end in sight. Is it true that no diet will work while on steroids? I’m miserable. Defeated. Hopeless.

[Hidden in reply to SickOfSteroids]

Hi, I am sorry you are struggling. I have found a low carb high fat way of eating has enabled me to lose almost 40llbs whilst on steroids and other drugs that normally cause weight gain. The trick is not to over extend your dietary capabilities, but cut carbs enough to start losing the fat that pred lays down. The only way is to commit to a way of eating not just think of it as a diet to lose weight. The pred causes random sugar spikes and low carb high fat lessens the length and intensity of those spikes so your body doesn't have to deal with the excess glucose that carbs and pred cause. If the spikes are smaller and the food doesn't push the spikes up then fat is not laid down.

Eating more healthy fat like olive oil and even butter, unless medically prohibited by say gall bladder issues, adds texture, taste and satiety to your diet. I could never go keto because I couldn't live my life that way, especially as a vegetarian, but by reducing your daily carbs bit by bit you will feel the benefits. Honest. I know if I have a carby food. Add up your daily carbs, reduce by 25% in week 1, then another 25% if the original total the week after. See how you feel and get on. If you don't lose you can just keep taking 25% off the new total of carb grams until you get to a number you can live with, makes you feel better and you slowly lose weight on. Patience is the key in this process. It doesn't mean you can never eat something with carbs but that that you do so the majority of time. Good luck. 🌻

[SickOfSteroids in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for the tips and encouragement. I was doing true “green” Keto and loving it until I weighed and had gained instead of losing. A months worth of effort and time wasted.

[BPlady in reply to SickOfSteroids]

So sorry for your problems,and thank you for your input. I thought I was turning a corner when my GP reduced the Prednisilone to 10 mgs last week, but within a couple of days, I experienced bad headaches, spreading to my jaw and ear on one side and blurred vision, spoke to my doctor today on the phone, and I have to go up to 12.5 mgs again! Thinking of you, take care.

[SickOfSteroids]

Oh my! So sorry. I haven’t experienced the headaches or jaw pain. Hope you are feeling better soon.