omega 3 Vitamin D3

[Januzzi]

I currently take 1280mg Omega3 with 2000mg D3 supplements daily is this good idea with PMR I’m presently on 7-1/2mg prednisone and tapering I dont eat fish. Also has anyone tried Omega 3 with Curcumin it’s supposed to help with inflammation I haven taken that yet just wondered if it’s good idea? I have gained so much weight I really appreciate any advice. Thanks

[SnazzyD]

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin to take with Pred because it is essential to help calcium with absorption. Usually doctors prescribe them with Pred. Vitamin K2 (not K1) also helps with depositing calcium in the bones rather than your arteries. You can have too much D and Ca but it is individual. If you can it is worth seeing what your D levels are with your current regime. Personally, if I don’t have 800-1000 most days of the week my D level drops. Calcium can be found in the diet quite easily and personally I don’t take it because supplement doses cause cystitis and upset stomach.

this is about vitamin D dosing

healthline.com/nutrition/ho...

Curcumin is taken by people on here but one doesn’t know if it works or not as with anything that you can’t directly measure. This is another one that upsets me so I don’t take it, preferring to rely on diet. Omega 3 I take a couple of times a week but again my gut doesn’t like more. Who knows if it’s helping anything but my intake would be next to zero without supplementation.

Weight with Pred is countered by cutting down carbs drastically because of the way Pred affects your metabolism. Lots of us have succeeded this way, some of us having to cut out all potato, pasta, rice, maize, flours and of course sugar. A normal healthy diet doesn’t help usually, even if one’s carbs are wholemeal.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

First your comment about weight gain - cut your carbs, drastically, especially processed carbs, added sugar and limit most fruit as it hides loads of sugar. I find this an excellent site for information:

dietdoctor.com/low-carb

It doesn't need to be keto, just low carb, but some need to get lower than others in order to lose weight. Maintaining is easier. But it really does work - I lost 35lbs while still in 10-15mg pred.

Recent studies have found that omega-3s aren't the general panacea they are claimed to be and they are available in other foods, not just oily fish. I have never taken omega-3 supplements - I also have atrial fibrillation and they often make it worse. Curcumin - that depends on the person, the doses in supplements tend to be quite high and can cause gastric upsets in some. It also interests with some medications. A lot of people have benefitted from using turmeric and garlic in cooking which seems to have far fewer adverse effects.

[Kendrew]

Hi Januzzi,

You've already received information from knowledgeable and well-informed members so I would just say that I have followed the same advice and although I take Vit.D3, blood tests show I'm currently acquiring enough calcium from my diet, so like Snazzy, I don't currently need to take a calcium supplement.

I also take Vit.K2 for the same reason as Snazzy.

I've never taken an omega3 supplement as I eat a lot of oily fish, nuts, seeds, etc, and as Pro advised, I cut my carbs to lose a stone of steroid-related weight gain and adopted a low carb (not no carb) diet. I've lost 10lbs in 3mths and very happy with that.

All of these anti-inflammatory 'foods/spices' etc probably have some positive effects, but in my own personal experience, it probably won't ever be enough to bring about a significant or noticeable improvement. There's no harm in trying though, and if you do find it helps, then happy days.

Wishing you all the best.

[Oh-my]

I enjoy listening to Michael Mosley podcasts on BBC iPlayer. He has done one in the past on omega 3 in oily fish

bbc.co.uk/programmes/articl...

And a more recent one still available to listen to on olive oil. Here is a link to the podcast. It mentions it can help reduce IL-6 inflammation. I love olive oil so no hardship in being more liberal with the bottle.

bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001y2....

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Oh-my]

"I love olive oil so no hardship in being more liberal with the bottle."

Just on your pocket - the price is soaring after harvest problems causing shortages of the good stuff ... Mind you, I think part of the price rise panic is because they were comparing with prices in 2021 which here were artificially low because lockdown restrictions had greatly reduced the demand by the hospitality industy and the public got to benefit. My everyday stuff plummeted in price.

[Oh-my in reply to PMRpro]

Agreed.

As I have not had cakes or biscuits, not even my birthday chocolate cake which I still bake for everyone else, since being on Pred, it is one of my few pleasures so I get the extra virgin stuff. It is very expensive these days - I assumed it was a ‘Brexit benefit’!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Oh-my]

Probably that as well ...

[Gimme]

I eat plenty of oily fish and I use olive oil, so don't feel the need to supplement. I would go easy on the olive oil though, loads of extra calories. You don't need that much.

I am not big into supplementation, and tend to lean towards relying on a healthy diet, with the exception of Vitamin D, which a lot of people living in northern climes are often deficient in. The rheumatologist that I first saw was adamant that if I did nothing else for my PMR, I must take Vitamin D. It is an important vitamin. I don't take calcium for the reasons given above, it is so common in many foods that you are unlikely to be short of it, the problems arise when pred and the PPIs reduce the absorption.

Same as others have said, I aim for a low carb diet to avoid weight gain. I avoid foods that contain added sugar as sucrose completely and I do not add it to my food. I managed almost 10 months on pred without putting on an ounce by following that. Unfortunately, I lapsed when I went on holiday in November and then there was Christmas and I started to put on weight at an alarming rate. I am back on track now and the extra poundage is slowly melting away.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Gimme]

Sucrose - or any of the other names for sugars that are used to mislead the innocent consumer!!!

[Gimme in reply to PMRpro]

Exactly. I meant to say that my diet would be better described as low glycaemic index to avoid the blood sugar spikes after eating. This is the basis of the diabetes prevention programme (aswell as increasing exercise) to reduce hba1c. Of necessity, that does include eating plenty of vegetables and protein to slow down absorption of the sugars and other carbs and smoothing out the curve. Perhaps, not surprisingly, a low GI diet does result in a gradual weight loss over the course of the programme.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Gimme]

My point was that the manufacturers are pretty cute about declaring contents - you need a scientific thesaurus!

[Gimme in reply to PMRpro]

ha ha, yes. Or to be a graduate chemist.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Gimme]

Or biologist ...

[Gimme in reply to PMRpro]

That could do it too.

[Purpleprimate]

I took Curcumin for several years, but recently stopped it. Given I'm taking so many other tablets I just thought lets see what happens if I stop - nothing!! When you've been taking a supplement for sometime I think you do become afraid to give it up.

I take a lot of omega, B12, D & a multi-bit. I also take a high dose of B2 & magnesium for migraine type symptoms which was suggested by two separate doctors. I did take Calcium but my levels came up high in blood tests so the doctor told me to stop but continue with the D which regulates the calcium in the blood, but I do get some calcium in the multi.