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Prednisone Hunger

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Posted 1/19/2009 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
Does anyone feel like they are starving all the time while taking the prednisone? I feel like I have to eat or I will get really jittery,sweaty, and shaky.I get like that anyway on prednisone but not eating a lot makes it worse for me. The hard part is of course eating causes more bathroom time. My flare is finally subsiding so I can eat more but it is just annoying.
Posted 1/19/2009 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
Yes...the feeling of starvation is one I am very familiar with. Unfortunately I always had my hunger issues when I woke up for bathroom breaks and could not get back to sleep b/c of the insomnia side effect. So, I munched on pretzels and crackers...lately it's been rice cakes.

I have gained a substantial amount of weight partially because of this prednisone hunger, and partially because of water weight.

Prednisone is interesting!
Posted 1/19/2009 3:40 PM (GMT 0)
If you can handle them I suggest the baby carrots you can find in the stores. Stock up and munch on them. I get snacky but to try and prevent even more weight gain I try and crunch veggies. I don't like bananas myself but thats also a good snack idea.
Posted 1/19/2009 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
 

I agree with the previous poster, definitely do healthy snacks if that is possible. 

I admit I'm starving when I'm on prednisone - but I can keep it at bay at night.  During the day I try to eat mini meals and that seems to keep me from chewing my arm off. 

Posted 1/19/2009 6:00 PM (GMT 0)
Its kind of unbelievable how hungry I am. Yesterday I think I just kept eating everything. This is my first time I have been on prednisone and I do feel a lot better. I did just lose like 12lbs with my current flare, but it is weight that I needed to take off. I have been trying not to eat anything high in carbs and drink lots of water. Its tough. I went from  not being able to eat anything to this! UGH.

Posted 1/19/2009 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
The munchies was one of the things I enjoyed about pred. I figured it was better to be hungry and gaining weight than to have no appetite and be wasting away. I would go to bed at night planning what I'd have for breakfast and wondering how early I could get up. LOL
Posted 1/19/2009 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
You might try dividing up your dose of Pred throughout the day so it stays constant. The hunger will still be there, but the shaky/jittery feeling might not be from hunger...it could be from the medicine not staying constant in your body. The first time I took Pred, I was told to take it once a day. I would notice that when I got close to my next dose, I would feel really sick. I ended up dividing my dose into 4 doses a day instead of once a day, and I saw a huge improvement.
Posted 1/19/2009 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
     Guess I am a weird one.  Prednisone actually dampens my appetite.
Posted 1/19/2009 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on Prednisone for quite some time and the hunger issues subside. I wish I could have handled fresh veggies, but they are very hard on me. I did do well with pickles for awhile but learned they also caused some serious issues.

Each person is definitely different in the way their bodies react to the medications. I never really had the jittery feelings...just the initial hunger and insomnia...but that ended within a week or so. Ooo...also this last time I ate a lot of rice cereal with rice milk...that was normally my in between meals snack...or a meal in general depending on how I felt.

I know it's difficult going through side effects like this...hang in there!!!

: ) Robin
Posted 1/20/2009 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
When I'm on a higher dose of pred, I have so much energy I don't have time to eat and actually loose weight. As I taper off the hunger comes and I have to FIGHT not to eat everything in the house and blimp up as big as a house.
Posted 9/4/2009 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
I know your pain!

I am on Prednisone and I feel like I am starving all the time! I try to keep to regular meals, but it is so hard. I end up eating like 5 or 6 meals a day... I know I need to stop eating so much, but it is impossible.

For me, I have NO snacks around the house (I'm a poor college student anyways). This forces me to actually think about eating before I do it. I generally can wait a few hours then will go make myself a sandwich or mac and cheese or something, instead of constantly snacking.

I guess eat a lot of smaller meals. I have been having (relatively) small meals more frequently throughout the day. While I am still eating more than usual, I at least make sure not to binge on anything at one time because I know I will be hungry later anyways.

I will have to try the baby carrots thing (though I am not a big fan of them).
Posted 9/4/2009 1:08 AM (GMT 0)
Yes I get jittery when it is meal time while on pred...I try and eat six smaller meals a day and I try to eat lots of fruit...but sometime I crave junk. But I also feel better so I am more active so I only gain a few pounds which is mostly water weight anyways :) Goos luck...I know how it feels to be hungry all of the time.
Posted 9/4/2009 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
Ok seriously guys, as I was reading the replies to these posts, my hunger went from 10 to 10 million and I just went downstairs and ate fish, crackers, bread and pasta salad! I know I am going to be paying for it in about 3-4 minutes. I am coming off of a flare and am still on Prednison 40mg until I can start to taper next Friday- ugh! The worst thing for me has got to be the insomnia and I hate my newfound acne! It's worse than puberty:( I usually don't binge like that but I ate a real early dinner and now that it's 11p, my stomach was aching for food-lol! I can't wait to be done with the Prednisone already. I have surgery in 1 month and 2 days and can't wait! I just hope I can taper off of it do actually have surgery...
Posted 9/4/2009 8:44 PM (GMT 0)
I have just finished a course of Pred, and I am finally getting back to a normal eating routine. I could eat all around me when on the Pred. I went from being 10 stone, lost 2 stone due to a really bad flare, couldn't eat, back to 9 1/2 stone. to be honest I could do with losing another 1/2 stone but I am not worrying about that now, I want to get myself healthy now and into remission.

good luck with the Pred, and I hope you can taper off them soon and get back to eating normally.

IG
Posted 9/5/2009 5:59 AM (GMT 0)
What me? Hungry on pred? Naw, I just eat everything in sight. Come to think of it, after I do that, I'm still hungry.

Funny thing is happening this time though, I've been on 60 mg for two weeks, and not consciously curbing my eating, but I've been losing weight. I've lost about five pounds since starting the pred.
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