Weight problem

[Tillylosh2021]

Hi I have suffered with pmr for 2 years and am weaning off the prednisolone and trying to lose the weight I have put on I’m doing alternate 3/4 mg daily but although I’m losing weight slowly & I mean slowly I am sick of looking pregnant which I am not can anyone identify with this please does it eventually go ? I had the perfect figure before all this Thankyou

[SnazzyD]

Have you tried cutting out carbs quite savagely? It seems to be the only way with Pred because it affects the blood sugar amongst other things. I did this from 60mg and didn’t put on weight. However, now I’m taking more or less zero Pred (1-3mg per month, long story) for 8 months I still have to be fairly vigilant. Where I can have a few carby things a week without ill effect, any more and it hits my middle like never before, like my body is still in Pred mode with carbohydrates.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Our usual recommendation to everyone starting pred is to cut carbs, especially processed ones and added sugar - it really does make a big difference to the pred-related weight gain. It also works for people who have already gained the weight but most people do find it is a slow process - I lost 35lbs altogether but it was over a lot more than 18 months and most of the time it was a really good week if I lost half a pound. I have gained some of the weight back - and of course the last year hasn't helped but with low carb I haven't developed that preggy look, I still have a waist

Recently several people have reported losing a good amount of weight using Michael Mosely's Fast 800 diet - it too also focuses on low carb.

Pred does make you store fat in particular places - around your midriff, face and back of your neck. I'd gained on a different sort of steroid (methyl prednisolone) after having no major problem with prednisolone previously and when I first went low carb and switched to prednisone the fat went first from around my midriff - within a couple of months my trousers wouldn't stay up!

[Tillylosh2021 in reply to PMRpro]

Thankyou I can see there is hope I’m currently with weight watchers and carbs are really cut back Thankyou

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Tillylosh2021]

Snazzy and I both have to get VERY low on carbs, what is usually keto level. A lot of things allowed on WW seem to me to be quite carby unless it has changed more recently. It really pays to keep a food diary and be honest and see how much carb you are eating, most people are surprised. The most common problem is eating too much fruit - berries are not too bad but most fruit has lots of sugar and even if it is thought of as "healthy" sugar. it is still carbs. Just one banana is the amount Snazzy and I can eat for weight loss - maintaining weight is easier - and that leaves nothing for veg and anything else. It all mounts up.

[Tillylosh2021 in reply to PMRpro]

Oh yes I see it now I eat loads of fruit 🤔

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Tillylosh2021]

Try reducing the fruit and substituting veggies and salad which is what I do.

This site is really helpful for seeing what to avoid:

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods

[Pixix]

Tried keto diet, lost a stone in 6 weeks but slowly went back on the moment I looked at a carb, let alone ate it! Now I’m on 5:2 diet, nearly same as 800 fast diet, same man but his first fasting diet. Slower but more human, can have a treat and lost 9 pounds in 8 weeks. Think I need to be on this for life really. Good luck but I think you need to lose a lot less than I do as you had the perfect figure before pmr and I very definitely didn’t! S x

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pixix]

"Think I need to be on this for life really" - that is the whole point with "dieting", whatever it is that is causing you to be overweight you have to find the right way of eating for you. Losing weight may not be too difficult if you are lucky but if you then go back to how you ate before, you are likely to regain.

I can't lose weight to get to the ideal weight they tell me I should be. If I grew a bit so my legs were in proportion to my trunk length, I'd be slightly overweight not obese. Judging by my family, my genes have a lot to answer for too. But I can keep a fairly stable weight, even on pred, by changing my eating habits. One day they will develop a way of sorting the gut biome to help cuddly people become less cuddly!

[Pixix in reply to PMRpro]

Oh I’ve always been chunky I know I will never be slim. My nickname at school was TUBBS but it was a great thing to have one only popular people did so I was happy! I’m only really 4 feet 11 inches but can stretch to five feet on a good day! But I’ve never been able to shift it since the start of the steroids, I tried 800 calories a day once for a whole month and shifted just three pounds. I get masses of exercise I played hockey for the county and for the Royal Navy but there we go, gives me something to moan about! Hoping to lose the four stone excess from steroids then do 6:1 for rest of it! S x

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pixix]

We are similar in build then - and I can't get clothes that fit. Can't wear the stuff aimed at small people, the waist is halfway up to my neck! When I get clothes that fit from shoulder to below the hips, the legs of trousers are 4 or 5 inches too long or a skirt is dragging the floor. Ergo - my legs are too short for my body!!! If they were longer - no-one would tell me I'm fat. I'm wearing a pair of summer jeans that didn't have to be shortened - but on anyone else they'd be just below mid-calf!

[Pixix in reply to PMRpro]

I buy virtually all my clothes in the USA! Since I was told that medically I would be better if I don’t spend the winter here we go to the south west of florida each January for three weeks and it’s big sales time there, so perfect! They make jeans in my size without the waist too big and the legs too long or narrow! And all other clothes there seem to fit me better, too! S x