Remission weight gain?

Hello.

I've posted on here a few times before, a bit of background. My first flare in december last year turned into pancolitis as it wasn't actually treated until feb. I got into almost instant remission with Clipper steroid combined with Asacol, and later combined with Imuran. I came off Clipper after about six weeks.

I had a recent flare that I caught early and looks to be now settled down with the usual two medications of Asacol and Imuran plus being put back on Clipper.

The thing is, I lost a stone in my first flare. I've since gained some of it back so I'm told, and I understand you'll put some back on during remission. I purposefully overate on a few occasions as soon as I got into remission the first time. Clipper is a steroid yes, but not prednisone. It has less side effects as it doesn't get broken down as early as others or something. I didn't seem to gain weight on it the first time I took it for six weeks.

Recently I've noticed my shirts being tighter, but I haven't actually put on the entire stone that I lost. Before I had my first flare, I was a size 38 chest and my shirts fit me fine. I assumed I went down to 37 during the flare. I measured myself last week and I'm a size 39 now! I'm a larger shirt size than even before I had the condition but I haven't put the whole weight that I lost back on! If I did I'd be able to see it, and it would be mentioned to me. It seems very disproportionate that my torso and stomach area has seemed to put on weight but the rest of my body hasn't.

A month ago I wore a shirt on a night out and it fit me fine. I tried the same shirt on last week and that's when I noticed how tighter it was, along with other shirts. It seems in the past two or three weeks I've gained, the only connection I can make is the clipper as it's a steroid, but I didn't gain anything the first time I was on it. I haven't overeaten that much, not enough to make my shirt size go up by one or two sizes and I'm very careful counting calories.

If it is the case, how long does it take for steroid-gained weight to come off? I've recently stopped the Clipper. Or perhaps it's something else? The asacol and imuran, I don't seem to have had any issues with those before.

Thanks for your time.

Steroids can mess with your body in many ways. I don't have any advice on the weight thing but it looks to me like your meds aren't good enough to keep you from flaring. How many milligrams are your Asacol tablets? you should just take 4.8 grams at all times, even while in remission. Just waiting to flare again and then take steroids whenever that happens is a bad strategy.

So water weight could cause bloating of the torso and stomach area? I doubt the clothes have shrunk in the wash. The reason I had the second flare was because I kept forgetting to take my medication. The asacol I'm on per day is 4800mg.

it could be a few things. you could be retaining water in those areas. i retained almost 30 lbs in my torso/arms from IV prednisone but it fell off once i tapered to 35 mg. i definitely didnt have any water weight AFTER i was off of it though.

it could also just be fat. you were probably more muscular before and muscle takes up much less space in your body than fat. a lb of fat still weighs the same as a lb of muscle but takes up more space- hence, your shirts are tighter but there is not a big scale difference.

Make taking your medication part of your daily routine, so you take them regularly. Take your pills at the exact same time. For example, take them after brushing your teeth each and every morning. Flares and the steroids that treat them are horrible, so it's best to avoid them whenever you can. Most of us are first-time daily medication takers, young and healthy before getting uc. Taking daily medication isn't something we're used to. So, it's easy to get forgetful, especially when feeling good.

Yeah I take them on point now. I'm just concerned how long it will take to lose this weight on my stomach area and torso. Someone above said if it's water weight causing puffing it goes away quicker than actual fat?

iPoop said...

Sawyer9 said...
Someone above said if it's water weight causing puffing it goes away quicker than actual fat?

Yes. Not all of it is water weight, but some of it is, water weight sheds quickly. Bloating/swelling can be reduced by limiting your salt intake. Take extra potassium and calcium while on steroids. Physical activity and calcium helps reduce bone loss.

As mentioned above, some is muscle becoming fat and that can be reversed but requires a lot more time and effort. Be as physically active as you can, cardio and strength training is great to help there. In the end, steroid symptoms are temporary. Try not to be vain about you appearance; I hated looking at me in the mirror while on steroids... We all feel that way. It gets better, hang in there.

It looks to me between 5-10 pounds at the most. The scales say I've gained a ridiculous amount of weight, it's not possible as I would have noticed it. In fairness it does get my height totally wrong too. Think 5-10 pounds would shift fast?

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

miestomaga said...
so you don't trust scales?

also, I saw you said you were in remission for 6 months, is that really even remission? Did your doctor tell you that or were you just kind of symptom free and figured you were in remission?

I ask that because I had a period of about two months this summer where I wasn't on pred, just asacol and imuran, where I felt great and was virtually symptom free. I thought I was in remission. But, I flared up in the beginning of September, had a flex sig and my doc told me that even though I felt great for that period of time, the colitis had never disappeared and was still present and active. It sounded like he was saying if you are relatively symptom free for awhile, you are not necessarily in remission.

It got my height wrong by seven inches. Scales can be unreliable sometimes.

Hmm, well I just assume it was remission then. I likely would have stayed in it too had I not forgotten to take my medication those times.

elzb said...
about a year ago, I was on Prednisone for 6 months, and I gained 20 lbs! about 5 lbs came off right after I finished the steroids, but a year later I am still dealing with excess weight. And like the OP, it is mostly around my abdomen, making a nice 'spare tire'.
Sorry my post isn't contributing anything positive lol, but I just thought I'd mention I'm dealing with the exact same issue. Steroids are the worst!

So how long did it take the 5 lbs to come off? A week? It's very frustrating.

Sawyer9 said...

miestomaga said...
so you don't trust scales?

also, I saw you said you were in remission for 6 months, is that really even remission? Did your doctor tell you that or were you just kind of symptom free and figured you were in remission?

I ask that because I had a period of about two months this summer where I wasn't on pred, just asacol and imuran, where I felt great and was virtually symptom free. I thought I was in remission. But, I flared up in the beginning of September, had a flex sig and my doc told me that even though I felt great for that period of time, the colitis had never disappeared and was still present and active. It sounded like he was saying if you are relatively symptom free for awhile, you are not necessarily in remission.

It got my height wrong by seven inches. Scales can be unreliable sometimes.

Hmm, well I just assume it was remission then. I likely would have stayed in it too had I not forgotten to take my medication those times.

How often/much of your medicine did you miss? And which medications?

I've heard that if you miss a dose here and there it isn't the end of the world. Obviously you should try not to miss any doses but hey, sometimes it happens.

Also, from my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong anyone, is that with Imuran it takes awhile to build up in your body so I would kind of think missing a dose wouldn't be as bad as maybe missing something like Asacol which is a topical and possibly needed every day to cover the inflammation. It seems like maybe missing an imuran dose wouldn't effect you until weeks later and the imuran you took weeks ago is what is keeping you good currently. I don't know though.