Does a low carb diet really help? After 5 years of PMR, down to 8 mg daily pred and overweight, I'm ready to try cutting carbs. What has been anybody's diet experience with meat, beans and green veggies with no potatoes, rice, pasta or sweets?
Low Carb Diet makes a difference?: Does a low carb... - PMRGCAuk
Low Carb Diet makes a difference?
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salparadise127
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Hello, I did the no rice, pasta, potato, flours etc more or less from the start when I commenced on 60mg Pred. Did not put weight on and my blood sugars were stable according to the average blood sugar test HbA1c. Everyone is different as to how much carb has to be cut. What I did find was that when taking Pred it is a different ball game to just eating healthily and had to be really severe with it. I eased off slightly somewhere under 5mg but really not much. I’ve been off Pred for nearly a year and still don’t routinely have any of those things on my plate, partly because it seems pointless having a beige mush on my plate and partly because I think Pred had changed my metabolism a bit. I will sink my chops into the occasional fish and chips, have a few glasses of wine a week and I’ll have a daily biscuit but thats it. I’ve always been gluten free so used to being disappointed 😆
I've recently started to explore this much more seriously and it definitely works but you have to sustain it. I don't do NO carbs just LOW carbs. I'm on 8mg too and been struggling to get rid of some of the stone in weight I've put on over the past 2½yrs. I know many people on here have successfully lost weight on a very low carb diet and I'm sure some will be along soon to advise you further.
Hi. I'm down to 8 mgs now also. Can you tell me how you intend to get lower without problems. Like how long you will stay on each measure before lowering again. I am a bit worried at this stage but want to do it properly. Thanks.
I'm doing the DSNS slow taper method....takes a couple of months to drop each dose...I'm currently reducing 1mg at a time but as I get below 6mg I'll drop by ½mg at a time to allow the adrenals to 'wake up' gently. I usually stay on the reduced amount for at least another 4wks to ensure I'm completely ok and stable on that amount before beginning the next taper. The slower and steadier the taper, the more likelihood of success.
I can't ever guarantee I'll have no problems....the most I can do is minimise the chances of them happening.
Thanks so much. I'll follow that too. Being careful will keep us on the right road I hope. Good luck and I'll keep the forum Informed as to how things are going. It helps so many others doesn't it.
What to you mean by "low carb."
Yeah, baby. What's a stone?
14lbs
I guess that's closer to what I did, but in my case I was doing it to control blood sugar levels, not weight. I needed calories so kept on eating root vegetables and a small helping of rice with a meal. However I virtually eliminated wheat, quite shocked to discover how much wheat in various forms I'd been eating. Sweets were confined to a rare square of very dark chocolate. I had already discovered years before that savouring a single piece of the best chocolate I could find, dark not milk, was more satisfying than a larger amount of anything else and didn't leave me craving "just one more" piece!
Some years ago I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and attended a clinic for lectures on eating. We were taught that some carbs, a little protein and lots of veg/salad and some fruit, three times a day was the way to go. I lost two stone in two years and have kept if off. althought I have slipped a bit lately. We were told that the regular carbs would keep energy levels stable and avoid peaks and troughs. It worked for me. The day I was diagnosed with pmr (4 weeks ago) I went straight back onto that diet, and intend to stay on it for the duration. Hope my comments help.
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I had gained weight with undiagnosed PMR because of inability to exercise. It rearranged itself with one form of pred but I didn't really gain much - until I went on another sort of corticosteroid and then it piled on in a few months, I switched to low carb and the fat around my midriff started to melt away without me noticing. And when I switched to yet another sort of steroid I lost steadily but slowly until I had lost 35lbs. I'm currently on 15mg pred and have lost about 5kg since early March -not fast but in the right direction. I'm one of the ones who must cut carbs a lot to lose but maintaining is much easier. I don't do NO carb, just low carb and keep some things for very special treats. But it does work - and I never feel hungry.
I need to be under 20g carb daily to lose weight. It works. Not managing to do it so much these days so have gained half a stone. I do know though that I can always go back to it. I am fine with no potatoes, rice, pasta bread most of the time. But I LOVE to have a drink at the weekends and that is my downfall.
I put myself on a low carb diet as soon as I was diagnosed and started taking Prednisolone. At first I struggled to maintain my weight as I started to lose pounds quite rapidly but once I got the hang of what to eat (and I did and do allow myself a treat now and then) - my weight has remained stable throughout over two years on steroids. I dont miss the carbs but as a bread lover do allow myself a slice of toast each day with my breakfast. I dont snack between meals and I dont ever feel deprived or hungry.
I am on 10 mg at present and at my heaviest. Have been on 50g carb diet but it’s slow. I need to get lower and stick to it. I do include some bread in carb count I buy Leto bread which is very low but not the best tasting. It satisfies the craze for toast though!
Hi, Don’t worry too much, you look fine to me.
I put on weight at the start of my journey with pred, and yes I got pre-diabetes, I swelled up all over, it was extra fluid my body was holding on to.
I cut out alcohol completely, stopped most carbs and never ate sweets or cakes. You get used to it after a few days, the weight came of very quickly.
I’m now back to normal eating and don’t have a problem now, I think you just need to wake your body up to lose weight. The weight will come off, just stick to the diet for a while, and then you can go back to normal within reason
Take care.
Xx
I lost over 3 stones by going low carb. That was 4 years ago and am still eating that way. I also walk over 12,000 steps a day
Yes. I followed the keto diet and lost a stone in about 6-8 weeks. But it all went back on as soon as I started any return to normality. I’m now on the 5:2 diet, it’s slower but it’s staying on a downward trend. I think there’s a pinned post about diet, as the subject comes up regularly...you are not alone! Some people are on the fast 800 diet...have a look at FAQs, too, please, you will find more info!
I suspect weight loss requires a permanent lifestyle change. A crash diet doesn’t seem to work for the long run. All the time on prednisone I never really gained weight but I do have hypoglycemia and that requires a specific diet. That means: high protein, good fats, complex carbohydrates and no simple carbohydrates: white flour, sugar, pastas, syrups, Cetera. My weight has stabilized despite eating more fat because the fats are satisfying to keep you from binging from sudden drops of blood sugar.
Interestingly my lipid profile is excellent. I believe it’s the carbohydrates that cause the cholesterol problems. My doctor stopped pushing statins when he saw my blood work after being on this diet- eating plan.
Crash diets work to lose weight - that is the point of the new approach to reversing Type 2 diabetes pioneered by the Newcastle University 800 calories/day diet. But you can't go back to the previous bad habits that led to the weight gain in the first place. You have to then find the dietary pattern that stops you from regaining the weight.
Yes, I stand corrected.
Didn't mean it as a correction ...
I learned something from your post.
Very interesting, & correct, too, I reckon! May depend on reason for high cholesterol, though, dietary, familial etc. I have no food allergies or things I have to avoid. But I get so hungry on steroids! My weakness used to be cheese & savoury items, but now I love cakes & biscuits...as well as cheese! But the 5:2 will be my lifestyle now...if I lose three stone I can probably manage 6:1, which won’t be a hardship & a friend says it’s keeping her weight stable. I’m sorry you can’t enjoy some of the basic foodstuffs, but it sounds as if you are doing very well indeed! S x
Interested to see you are doing 5:2 diet. I have been doing it for last four weeks but the weight loss is very slow as I’ve only lost 2 lbs. Maybe I’m just impatient! How are you finding it? Seriously thinking of doing 4:3 for a few weeks.
It's the pred that slows things down - I started being more careful about what I was eating in mid-February, 6 months later I have lost 5kg, the same rate of weight loss as you. And actually - I think that is not bad.
The trouble is I have a husband who is constantly nagging about my weight ( he says it’s because he’s worried about me) and thinks I should be losing faster! He really doesn’t understand about PMR or pred. I have explained to him but his memory and retention are not good since he had encephalitis.
It is a difficult situation. But everyone loses weight differently - some people lose very little for a time and then suddenly lose a load. Others lose it all in the first few weeks and then plateau and ye others lose steadily. At the end they have lost similar amounts.
What about speaking to your GP and asking about the Newcastle diet which will encourage fast weight loss initially which you can then sustain by going back to something more like the 5:2 afterwards. I combined the 5:2 and low carb which was also good for me -and if you are low carbing, are you as low on carbs as you think? Do you weight and work out how much carb is in what you are eating? Are you eating much fruit? That has lots of carbs and can scupper a low carb diet.
I’ve lost a stone In ten weeks. Then had a holiday & ate whatever I wanted. No weight went back on...and I’ve started again this week. Currently on 5mg steroids. But I have increased my activity as well. Perhaps it’s just taking a while to ‘kick in’? Good luck!
I learned something from your post.
For me it really did for me. I lost two stones and was feeling that the constant back and knee pain was easing. I felt I had more energy and less foggy. Unfortunately this all went to pot after the Astrazenica vaccines rendered my steroids ineffective and I was suffering extreme bouts of pain, fatigue, brain fog and processing difficulties. This meant I felt unable to plan and make good food choices as I was feeling like a zombie. My back and knee pain returned with a vengeance and I put on all the weight I lost. I've also noticed at Xmas and Easter when there is lots of rich food and chocolate eaten. My pain and fatigue increases. I'm now back on it for a week now and my knee pain has gone and I can bend it (woohoo), my constant back pain is easing. I feel more clear in my head and lost 8lb in a week to boot. I need to accept that what I eat really affects my health. It's not for everyone and takes quite a bit of research and planning to make your eating interesting. I would say, give it a bash and see if it helps. there are plenty of apps and online forums to give you meal suggestions and to help you out
Here is how remarkably carbs can affect weight: I gave up most carbs to control elevated blood sugar when I started pred. (More details in reply to Kendrew in this thread). However as time went by, several years, I lost weight I could ill afford to and when I got in to a dangerous territory (going by BMI) I decided to reintroduce my bedtime snack of a bowl of cereal. By this point I was already eating bread again, although not in quantity, and continue to this day with a high protein, not high carb, breakfast. By changing this one thing, adding a small helping of muesli to my day, I found I was putting on weight at the rate of about a pound a month. In fact it's been so successful I've had to restrict myself to an occasional, not a nightly, serving or I will outgrow my clothes!
The 5.2 has been mentioned & is very successful for many. However, if you want to loose weight fairly quickly & then go in to the 5.2 if necessary, you could try the Fast 800 with recipes suggested for every day of the week. It’s worked for me.
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