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Diet when on prednisone

Posted , 9 users are following.

cheryl74384
cheryl74384

since i have been on prednisone since oct 12, i have changed my diet quite a bit, i always ate fairly healthy, fish, chicken veggies salad, but now i am eating 6 smaller meals a day, starting bkfast with steel cut oats, then low carb, little or no salt, no extra sugar, just apples oranges etc, and yet, seems my stomach is bloated, and getting bigger ? i have always had to watch my weight, but thought with all these changes, i may even lose weight, not happening, how about all of you, anybody want to share their diet, and results when on this prednisone, ?

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • ptolemy
    ptolemy cheryl74384

    Posted

    When I started pred I became paranoid about my diet and bored everyone silly with the contents of any food in front of me. I cut out gluten and simple carbs as I had heard that would stop me getting a moon face. I am not sure if that is true or not but it worked in my case. I also found that I needed to eat less than before as steroids seemed to alter my metabolism. A lot of people put on weight while on steroids. They can also cause fat to move about particularly to the midriff and also the back of the neck, buffalo hump, plus of course the moon face.
    • cheryl74384
      cheryl74384 ptolemy

      Posted

      ooooh, that sounds awful, ok, well although i am eating very healthy, think i need to cut down calories, portions then, i too am worried about gaining, or getting that moon face, i,m drinking lots of water, and since i stopped statin, crestor, i am trying to keep my cholestrol, and sugar levels down, so thought by having 6 small meals a day , good idea, but i,m beginning to wonder now, maybe too much protein, full of calories i guess
    • karen28161
      karen28161 cheryl74384

      Posted

      Hi Cheryl , when I was on higher doses of pred 25 mg I did put on extra weight and hubby said I had the moon face ! But as I was comeing down the dosage of pred after 4 yrs I decided to cut my calories and have smaller meals , , cut carbs in half , limit my diary , eat lots and lots of veg and salads and protein , and slowly I have lost all the weight I put on and even more !! I am just watch watch I eat very carefully now . Down to 2 mg pred , still ocassionaly have morning stiffness . Lots of luck in this horrible journey
    • ptolemy
      ptolemy cheryl74384

      Posted

      In fact I have found the whole thing about nutrition really interesting. It is something I did not even think much about before pred. I now have got into gut flora having read Gut. All my friends are probably becoming even more bored with me! I also started taking interest in alternate medicines and started reading about them too. In fact I am a bit of a disaster, I tried Bowen therapy, accupuncture, manual lymphatic drainage, massage of various sorts, hypnotherapy, physiotherapy and a load more without any great results. I suppose what I really enjoy is massage, but get someone who understands you have PMR. 
  • EileenH
    EileenH cheryl74384

    Posted

    It really does seem to be carbs that make a lot of difference - and fruit, while healthy, does have a lot of sugar. I eat veggies (except root vegetables because they also have a lot of carbs) but no fruit most of the time. 

    I lost well over 30lbs of pred-gained fat by cutting carbs,

  • Silver49
    Silver49 cheryl74384

    Posted

    I had to stop Calcichew as it was causing me other problems. I noticed the bloating was less, though not completely gone, when I stopped.
  • karenjaninaz
    karenjaninaz cheryl74384

    Posted

    I found the ppi - rabaprazole or lanzoprazole- gave me so much bloating no matter what I ate. Switched to an H2 blocker Pepcid 2x a day highest allowed dose and bloating went away.

    I find reasonable exercises broken into short periods kept my weight within 3 lbs of my starting weight.

  • walter98524
    walter98524 cheryl74384

    Posted

    YES YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT WHILE ON PREDNISONE I HAVE, IT MAKES

    ?IT MAKES YOU CRAVE FOOD. IM DOWN FROM 10 MG TO 2MG. AND WHEN IM DOWN TO (0) NO MORE. I'LL TAKE PAIN MED. BEFORE I'LL GO BACK TO

    PREDNISONE. I FEEL GOOD NOW EVEN ON 2MG.

                                     GOOD LUCK

    • EileenH
      EileenH walter98524

      Posted

      That isn't always true - there are some people who lose weight while taking pred, some of them a lot. And many who don't gain more than a few pounds. Everyone reacts differently

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga walter98524

      Posted

      I lost a lot of weight before pred.  I put back a pound or two but they've gone again.  I eat high calorie foods, like eggs, nuts, cheese, as well as veggies and fruit of all kinds, but apparently not enough of them.  Have cut out nearly all refined carbs, especially wheat.  On the other hand I do get a lot of (fairly gentle) exercise so I suppose the calories get used up.

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