Moon face

[Advidkc]

Hi , i am on pred for 5 months, start at 50 mg and now i am on 20 mg , i have moon face which is embarrassing me , i want to know the time required to return back to my normal face, also any one experienced with moon face ??

[Koalajane]

I didn’t get a moonface as I cut my carbs. Good luck

[MrsNails]

Hi, high dose steroids can quickly lead to a ‘Moon Face’ & it does totally change how you look & feel. This is My Story from last year which you may find helpful

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

I’ve had several incarnations of Moonface so l know how you feel but a Low Carb Approach to your diet really does help, you may find it hard at first but it’s definitely worth it!

Good Luck 🍀

MrsN

[Pixix in reply to MrsNails]

Hi Mrs N is it possible to put moon face and weight loss by low carbs info on FAQs at all do you think? I replied in length about diet last week and moon face about two weeks ago and they just keep popping back up. Not well enough right now to keep typing the answers again and again, but want to be helpful..wondering if it would be worth it, please? I know you’ve all done great work on the FAQs and perhaps I just can’t find it, though? Thanks S x

[MrsNails in reply to Pixix]

Certainly Pixix - that’s the aim for all of us, l’ll set up a Topic on FAQ & go through your Profile for your Replies & then Add it! Thanks xxCharlotte has just arrived so it’ll be a bit later on, we have New Duplo & it’s very exciting 😉

[Pixix in reply to MrsNails]

Great news that Charlotte has arrived I did wonder but you were still doing replies, that’s dedicated! Yes I meant for future not now just as low carb, keto, weight gain and moon face seem to be second only to ‘tapering’ in the frequent questions! Have a wonderful fantastic duplo filled day, that’s made me smile for the days! Yippee, S xx

[Songbird69]

Hello. Yes - I had moonface. ☹️ Luckily not too badly! To lessen the effect, it is best to keep to a low carb diet, and consume less salt and sugar. Moon face usually goes away slowly as your dose decreases. Below 10 mg, I noticed a difference. Once you are below 5 mg, most people do not have much of a moon face.

[Rosina1871]

I have moonface even though I am strict with carbs and no sugar. Haven’t put any weight on my body, even lost some but I still have moonface. Below 10mg I understand it improves

[Kendrew]

Hi Advickc.I was reasonably fortunate in that I haven't put on too much weight and didn't develop a moon face initially. However, after tapering down to 2.5mg of prednisolone I then experienced a flare just before last Christmas which resulted in me eventually being back on 15mg. With a fast taper down to 12mg followed by slow tapering thereafter I'm now on 9mg.

Being on a higher dose a second time seemed to bring back all the side effects I'd previously had at that dose but in a more pronounced way. So, more 'peach fuzz' on side of face, stronger head pain (not GCA- had it checked out) much easier weight gain and mild....but a definite....moon face appearing!

As others have said, a low carb regime can be very successful at reducing this side effect, as can regular, gentle exercise and a taper to below 10mg.

It can be a little distressing to see your face changing but I try to think positive and tell myself there are far worse things I could have to be dealing with right now, and under my slightly chubbier cheeks still lurks the real 'me'. If that's the worst I have to put up with I'll take that!

Please don't think I'm dismissing how upsetting it can be to see a moon face developing....all I'm trying to suggest is that we try to keep it in perspective and recognise that in the grand scheme of things, it could be so much worse.

In most instances it should definitely diminish once on lower doses.

[Coggles in reply to Kendrew]

I don't know what moon face is. I'll have to hunt the forum. However I think I might like it!! My face was always quite round, but as I've aged it's become quite drawn. Does it look unnatural this moon face or does it upset people because you are looking at a different face in the mirror?

[Kendrew in reply to Coggles]

Moon face 🌝 is literally what it suggests...a more rounding of the face where fat has been more readily deposited....usually around the cheek area. Just makes you look more chubby cheeked. Some people don't develop it at all and others to varying degrees. Personally, I'm not too bothered about mine as its plumped out my wrinkles rather nicely. 😄

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Coggles]

This is one of the better selections of "moonface" pictures on the internet

themighty.com/2018/06/predn...

Not everyone develosp the real moonface that really does look like last night's full moon but most people find their cheeks plump up. Some like it - no wrinkles on a balloon and it takes away chicken neck, I'm quoting what friends have said there!

I did gain a lot of weight with one particular form of steroid but once I stopped and starting eating low carb it improved - I'm still cuddly but definitely not Cushingoid, even the doctors agree.

And to be honest - while it can be a shock for very slim people, if you walk down the average high street, I think you'll admit an awful lot of people don't look much different, steroids or not (because there can't be over 50% of the population on pred, can there?)

[2013mayo]

Hi,

Please don’t worry about your face, it will go back to near normal when you start reducing pred, usually below 10mg. I too had a fat face, it wasn’t moon shaped but certainly fat, I normally have a very thin face so it was very strange to see me like this, when I stared reducing pred my face went back to almost normal, and then it’s a shock again as I didn’t realise how thin my face is.

You can’t win.

Xx

[SnazzyD]

It will go back though not quickly. I was not overweight before Pred and neither was I during Pred but still got it. It did go slowly, usually noticed by those who hadn’t seen me a while, but most noticeably under 10mg. Even after stopping Pred it still improved when I thought that was it. I look more wrinkly though!

[Kendrew in reply to SnazzyD]

Hah!....not wrinkles.....they're 'character lines'! 😄😄

[SnazzyD in reply to Kendrew]

The most alarming thing was that my wrinkles perfectly fit a frowning face. Before diagnosis my lines were all smile lines from being at work. 18 months of what followed re-etched my face. It didn’t help that I was stuck at home, no career, looking after my awful father-in-law who and two teenagers going through exams and Tourette’s/OCD/anxiety, oh and Covid. That would do it, but I hope it isn’t too late to change it back!

[Kendrew in reply to SnazzyD]

That sounds pretty full on.... the way you wrote it though was really quite funny and made me laugh. I know it must all feel quite frustrating though but I'm sure your frown lines will turn to laughter lines again. Just keep smiling! 😃

[Stellamavis]

Yes me..I've started pred at 40mg end April and today am lowering to 30 for 4wks and so on till l get to see rhuemy whenever that may be in the future..I now have a moon like face so hope in time it will slim down as meds reduce.

[SheffieldJane]

Yes I have twice, so it does go down with the dose. I noticed it reducing after 10 mgs. I absolutely hated photographs and was grateful for my masks. Courage Advidkc!

I also gained upper body weight, a fat back, neck and upper arms which plays havoc with bra sizes etc. Charmingly, they call this a “ Buffalo hump”. There is a redistribution of body fat, often leading to a rounded tummy as well. Low carb is the way forward and cleverly draped clothes. Fortunately everyone who matters still seems to love me. Awfully depressing at times though.

[Kendrew in reply to SheffieldJane]

Buffalo hump!!!!...... crikey!..... that sounds scary!!😄

[piglette in reply to Kendrew]

With steroids our fat seems to redistribute itself going up to the waist area and the back of the neck (buffalo hump), also the face. Some people say we look like lemon men, fat body and thin legs and arms!!

[Kendrew in reply to piglette]

Not really the look I was going for but heyho!! 😄

[piglette in reply to Kendrew]

I was told that cutting out simple carbs and gluten would stop the moon face when I first started steroids and lo and behold it worked. Last night I saw a programme on TV about someone who had a buffalo hump, not because of steroids, and they used liposuction to get rid of it.

[bussell in reply to SheffieldJane]

Also known as Dowager's hump! I have it, but not the diamonds to go with it!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to bussell]

I thought that is a spinal curvature due to osteoporosis. The usual - even less flattering - term for the pred fat pad is buffalo hump

[Kendrew in reply to PMRpro]

Flippin heck!! I'm really going to look attractive....osteoporosis giving me a dowager hump on top of a buffalo hump!! 😄😄 Can't wait!😄

[bussell in reply to Kendrew]

So I'm a dowager buffalo already. Welcome to the club!😂

[Advidkc]

Just i want to know how many months that take from you to rid from moon face ??!

[Carriemetz in reply to Advidkc]

See all responses above! As to “how many months” for moon face to go, the short answer is, it depends on how fast/slow your pred reduction schedule is, basically. As most people say, it begins to go when u get under 10 - and noticeably when u get under 5.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Carriemetz]

But you CAN help even at higher doses by not gaining pred weight. I lost 35lbs and my moonface while still at between 10 and 15mg. And haven't developed one now after the best part of 2 years at 15mg.

[Carriemetz in reply to PMRpro]

Yep

[Advidkc in reply to PMRpro]

Did you follow low Carb diet with exercise? Only

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Advidkc]

No - when I started I was on crutches because of achilles tendonitis so couldn't walk far anyway. Studies show that exericse doesn't play a great role in weight loss. I lost weight very slowly - but even pre-PMR, exercising every day and eating on a diet plan Rosemary Conley) I hadn't lost weight any faster. You can avoid weight gain when on pred by cutting carbs - but to lose you sometimes have to be very drastic with the amount of carbs you eat.

[MrsNails in reply to Advidkc]

I did reply above but from a previous experience on high dose steroids (no low carb diet) It was after 10mg; it was insidious at first but then suddenly l could feel my jaw line again then l noticed l didn’t get sweep marks on my glasses from my mascara as my chubby used to push my glasses up a bit & l could always feel them just touching my cheek.....

It can be very individual unfortunately, there’s no real defined time scale but honestly the Low Carb really does help - just look at my photo in the Post l attached for you & that was without any change in dose of Prednisolone! I’ve been on a higher dose since & pretty much very little change with my face.

I read once that a Moonface can be defined by not being able to see your ears, so worth checking out 😉

[Carriemetz in reply to MrsNails]

Love the “sweep marks on (my) glasses” - god bless a sense if humour! 😉

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Advidkc]

There is no simple answer, as others have said. Much like the illness you have, no one can say how long that will last or the amount of Pred you will need to take.

[Maltesemama]

Yes, after 5 months of Pred. going off and on, mostly on, I too got moonface. Believe me it goes away. But you have to be off the meds for that to happen, or at least on a lower dose. Lost half my hair too, but it's coming back. So good things will come when we can get off those Pred. meds. You'll be fine. My Doc had me on long term Pred.....when I wa s able to 'calm down' by taking Colanzepam, it made a big difference. Also using Air Physio to relieve lower chest symptoms......opening up airways. Good luck and don't lost heart.....take care.