Stretch marks and prednisone

kpatterson said...
My doctor put me on prednisone for over a year. It made me gain 70lbs in a few months. I got tapered off over a year ago and lost all that weight now. But I am left with extreme stretch marks. They are under my arms, on my boobs, stomach and hips. When I say they are extreme I mean extreme. They are really long, wide and deep. So bad that they are painful with my armpits being the worst. I can't shave, put deoderant on or anything. They are so bad I have to close my eyes, grab something to bite on, have my wife hold my arm up and have her shave it and put on deodorant.
My doctor recently sent me to a plastic surgeon who told me my only hope is to get a tummy tuck, breast reduction and to have the ones under my arm cut out and have it put back together. BUT that would cost over $20000 and my wife and I can not afford that in any way possible. I can't wear tank tops, won't let my wife see me naked which has severely effected or sex lives and am very depressed about it.

I am just hoping somebody can give me some suggestions on how to heal these. I have tried bio-oil, vit e cream/oil, body butter, even a type of acid lotion prescribed from my new family Dr. Nothing has helped. My only option I know of is all those surguries which isn't an option because I could never come up with the money

Does the Plastic Surgeon accept insurance? My situation is a little different then yours but my insurance company is going to pay for plastic surgery for me due to the Predisone. I had my Colon removed last year and when they tried to inflate my abdomen for the Laproscopic surgery my skin started to split from the Predisone weakening it. At that point they had to cut me open and do the surgery open. So I have a big incision scar and a few stretch marks/Skin Splits from the Predisone. My CR surgeon referred me to a Plastic Surgeon and my insurance company said that they will cover the procedure because it happened to me during my J-pouch surgery and the Plastic Surgeon accepts insurance. I have a consultation appointment with the surgeon in September for this, I have to wait for my skin to heal first from my last surgery in June.

Being a 16 year with stretch marks has proven be way more challenging then I had thought. After having the worst autoimmune disorder that doctors in New Jersey or New York have ever seen I am left with the marks. I was covered from head to toe in hives and the doctors were given no choose but to put me on 80 mg of prednisone. Even with that large amount of prednisone I was still suffering greatly. I began to struggle with my confidence and began to wonder if it was ever getting better. I gained 70+ pounds in water because of the medication and had the worst moon face doctors had ever seen. No doctor was able to help me for a year, I remained on the large amount of prednisone suffering from both the pain of the illness and the large amount of weight gained. Before all this happens I was a small girl weighing only 120 pounds, I was a varsity athlete hoping to be discovered. My life was put to a hault because of how horribly I suffered. I lost my boyfriend, friends and became disconnected from my family because honestly I just wanted to die at that point. Now 3 months after taking my last dose of prednisone I suffer from adrenal insufficiency along with my illness. I am down to about 140 now but still have a long way to go. It is almost impossible to have a positive body image when I went from a size 0 to a size 5. Now with these stretch marks I find myself hiding because I'm afraid of letting people see how horribly I suffered. There are some nights where I just cry myself to sleep because I will never be able to look in the mirror again and love myself. I tried everything to try and make myself feel better, I wouldn't eat for a couple days hoping I would lose weight, but I didn't because it was all water weight. I'm left with all these scares that make cry and I have tried everything to get rid of them both of my legs are completely covered in stretch marks along with my hips. I just want to be happy with my body again and be proud of my battle wounds but I'm desperate to make them fade. If anyone can help please do because I'm in need of help right now so badly.

Prednisone side effects are temporary, hang in there.

I think we all get it
I have terrible stretch marks
and I also gained 30 lbs
Still working on loosing that and it stinks

Hello, My name is Rebecca Bailey. I was diagnosed with IGA Nephropathy last year when I was 14. I went in the hospital on New Year’s Eve and was diagnosed 4 days later after a kidney biopsy. They put me on 60mg of Prednisone. And shortly after a week I blew up. My face was swollen and I was so confused. I was on prednisone for 5 months and I thought some of you might have some questions. I’ve been in remission for 9 months and I had many symptoms. My joints and eyes hurt, I was always hungry and moody, and I never slept. I got these strange stretch marks on my legs and back that came across my abdomen like a belt. They fade slightly but they still hurt so I’ll be having them lazered at a dermatologist. The swelling takes as long to leave as you were on the steroid. And most of my symptoms besides the swelling left after a month or two. I still continue to watch my salt and sugar. I excercise regularly and monitor my protein and blood pressure closely. As for the stretch marks I use thick body butter bars to keep them moisturized and shower every other day to keep them from getting dry. My abdomen still doesn’t look the same as it was but it’s gettig better. I was the first known patient in my area with my disease to not only not gain weight on the steroid but I lost weight. Even when you’re sick and you don’t feel well anything is possible if you try hard enough. I know I’m young but I know a lot and if you have questions I’d love you help. Also try to remember that most of the people on these websites have only negative results and it’s usually worse case scenario. You could be doing a lot better than you think.

I know this is very late and I'm hoping you see this or someone else with the marks does too, but I have horrible stretch marks from prednisone all over my body exactly like how you described. I've only had them for a year and I'm only 17, I've been getting laser treatments done but they've done barely anything. Has anything helped you? I'm not even going to my prom because I can't wear a short sleeve dress and I don't want to be the only girl in a long sleeve dress when its 85 degrees out.