half way down….

[Phoebenooby]

started on 15mg end of January 24, had undiagnosed PMR a for previous 8 months, I had lost about a stone….. didn’t really put on any back on. Over the last few weeks have put some back on particularly tummy area. Is it because I have got down to 7mg and I’m between my maximum dose and adrenals kicking in ? Just worried about putting on too much and going to be hard to get rid of it? Thanks

[Potemkin]

Interesting question. I started on 15mg and am now on 8mg. I've put on a bit of weight in the last few weeks and finding it difficult to shift. I've put it down to an increase in carbs of lately. I found I put on 4.2lbs over night after a particularly carby day!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Potemkin]

A lot of that will have been fluid retention - carbs and salt both can cause it and most carbs end up having hidden salt.

[Zebedee44]

Hi, belly fat does seem to be a known side effect of adrenal recovery and I have also developed quite a well covered middle in the later stages of pred reduction. I managed to keep my weight and my shape quite well throughout the years of PMR but it’s all gone a bit to pot now. But I am also eight years older, that’s my excuse. You have done remarkably well to taper so fast, from now you might need to take it a bit slower.

[SnazzyD]

Pred will tend to redistribute your fat to the midriff area and face/neck whether your weight changes or not. That’s just side effect and is temporary. I did find that Pred effects took a little while to catch up and its side effects accumulate. Also, your disease may also be reducing in activity and you are not losing like you were. My weight loss continued for a time past the start of Pred.

One thing to note about Pred is that it causes your liver to create more blood glucose than it would normally. This is even before you eat food that creates even more. The resulting insulin increase will increase weight. It is common to need to cut down carbs rather than just eat healthily.

[Koalajane]

I developed steroid induced diabetes a few months after my PMR diagnosis. I cut my carbs drastically and instead of putting on weight I lost over 3 stones in weight. I also put my diabetes into remission.

[Phoebenooby in reply to Koalajane]

Having some blood tests tomorrow, so will see!