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Weight gain and prednisone

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Posted 2/26/2008 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
I had another appointment today, and though we discussed it I forgot to ask a question. 

Is the weight gain you experiance while on pred. an increase in fat retention or is it like water weight?

I'm currently trying to drop my weight down a bit.  At 6 foot I tip the scales right now at about 200lbs fully dressed, thats not overly healthy but it isn't really overweight either.

Now I did get dropped down from 40mg down to 30mg of pred today so that should help more than harm my desire to loose weight. 

But if it is just water weight I can deal with that, if I'm actually holding in more colesterol or other fat producing things then I need to consider a diet change to accomodate that. 

Thoughts or comments??

Thank you :)

Posted 2/26/2008 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
Prednisone causes you to retain water. Trying to avoid salt can help with this. The water weight should disapear not too long after you stop the pred. Something to be aware of is that pred also can make you very very hungry. A lot of us pack on the pounds because for some, you nevcer really feel full.

I hate pred. It's tough to put up with all the side effects but it can be really effective. Good luck!
Posted 2/26/2008 11:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hehe, then I'm my own worst enemy on the salt, I've been munching on assorted nuts for the past two weeks. haha opps oh well.

Actually I've been lucky with the pred side effects. I've not seen an increase in hunger really or a lack of feeling full. If anything my food intake has gone down especially at night around dinner. One serving is all I have and I'm happy. However I do get realy thirsty, so I don't know.

Thank you for your reply kb5
Posted 2/26/2008 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
Its water weight... it will increase your apetite.. so you always feel the urge to eat.. it seems that you are not getting full... when i was taking Prednisone.. i had a moon face.. but i love the gaining weight thing... :)
Posted 2/27/2008 6:59 AM (GMT 0)
Water weight, watch your intake of salt.
Posted 2/27/2008 9:02 AM (GMT 0)
It might be water weight, but of the 20lbs I gained on pred (both times) I only lost 5 after going off of it from water weight. I still think a good diet will help. And a lot of docs will tell you that you can't lose weight on pred. I lost at least 5lbs eating well and working out like 5 days/week! Definitely do some resistance training! Pred sucks calcium form your bones, so to stay strong, exercise within reason definitely helps. Helps with the energy level too! Your triglyceride levels can increase on pred, but should correct after you get off of it. And take calcium supplements with vitamin D in them.

Prednisone (as an additional steroid) increases the normal levels of cortisol within the body. High cortisol levels are like high stress signals, which means increased storage of nutrients in the form of glycogen. Glycogen in high amounts essentially gets converted or used like fats. Triglycerides (which increase with sustained pred use) are the chemical backbone of fatty acids. So yes, you get water retention, but you also get more fat storage. Your doc can probably explain this process to you a little better than I can. I'm just a student :) Also, with the amount of water you're drinking, are you also peeing more? Pred can cause an acute diabetic state--it's totally reversible, but important for your doc to know. I got to the point where I was peeing 5 times/night when I finally called my doc.

Take care! And get off of that stuff asap!
Posted 2/27/2008 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
Well a good diet is what I need regardless. So I'm going to have to take a long look not only at what I eat, but how much I eat. Thats been part of the plan ever since I decided that it was time to start loosing weight again.

If I can't really loose weight while on pred then so be it. I'm still going to run and work out, I'll be the fattest person to run 3 miles in under 20 minutes or bust.

I've felt so much better since starting to run again a few weeks ago. So I'm going to keep it up, even if it doesn't result in the desired weight loss.
Posted 2/27/2008 4:48 PM (GMT 0)
I put on 20 pounds but lost 5 since doing low carb/sugar (at my Dr.'s request b/c the pred is giving me high blood sugar, i'm pre diabetic- yay me!). I am already doing low salt no more than 1500mg a day (though I have cheated and my neck and new double chin proves that).

I work out 3 to 5 days a week (as of this past month). I am always hungry, I had weight to lose before and now just have more weight to lose. All I do is think about food, I think I understand what a crack addict feels like, thats how I feel about food, food is my crack.......it has nothing to do w/being hungry, I just want to eat, eat, eat.
Posted 2/27/2008 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know if I just don't get the side effects like some others do or what, but I don't feel hungry all the time nor do I have to deal with the insomnia others have.

I made the mistake of eating a lot of salt but now that I know that I'm retaining water, I've killed the salt intake. I'll loose the fat, cardio every day plus the diet that I'm going to start next week will take care of that. What will that do to my weight? I don't know, but I'm not going to let Pred control my life heh. What can I say I'm a dertermined sob hehe.
Posted 2/27/2008 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
I'm the exact opposite I keep losing weight, I'm down 10 pounds in the past 5 months, it's driving me crazy.
Posted 2/27/2008 8:11 PM (GMT 0)
I lost weight on prednisone too.  Food tasted sooooo gross.  I could never get the metallic taste gone and it ruined the taste of food for me.  I didnt gain weight til I was off prednisone and in remission.

I did get the moon face though...so even though i was emaciated looking, people thought I was getting chubby.  confused I cut down on salt though while I was on it to reduce joint pain.

Michele

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