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Fasting and PMR

Posted , 11 users are following.

Elizamc
Elizamc

Has anyone tried fasting with PMR? Is there any contraindications? Any papers on this subject? Thank you

1 like, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • karenjaninaz
    karenjaninaz Elizamc

    Posted

    I’m wondering why to fast? I tended to get low blood sugar while tapering and felt terrible until I ate.  I tended to low blood sugar even before PMR.  It is common for my fasting blood sugars to be ~ 62 . Normal is ~90-100. 

    I personally would not want to stress my body into a flare.

    That doesn’t mean reducing food intake to healthier levels is not a good idea.

  • Anhaga
    Anhaga Elizamc

    Posted

    I would never do it, I get faint and headachy when I don't eat, but I do know there are people posting here who do a sort of fast.  Eat one meal a day or something.  Can't see the appeal myself but some claim this is healthier.  "We are all different".

  • EileenH
    EileenH Elizamc

    Posted

    What sort of fasting? No doubt there will be horror at the concept of fasting - but it is used a great deal here in mainland Europe where I live. Fasting is not just total avoidance of food - what it should mean is moderation and discipline. It helps your body learn that feeling hunger is not always a bad thing - you don't have to graze 24/7 and that is often what leads to obesity.

    I do intermittent fasting on a regular basis - that is the sort where you eat in an 8 hour time period, lunch at 1.30 pm, dinner at 7.45pm. Not because I think it is healthier or will make any difference to the PMR but because that is the sort of eating pattern that suits me well. I have never been a breakfast person (unless it is included in a hotel room price) and as far as I'm concerned it just adds calories to my diet I can manage without. In fact, if I have breakfast I usually want something to eat later too!

    I started when I used the approach to weight management where you fast (600 calories) on 2 non-consecutive days and eat normally the rest of the time. I found it readjusted my portion expectations and within a few weeks I actually was far less hungry than before. Linking that then to low carb led to me being able to shed more than 35lbs of pred-associated weight gain over a period of about 18 months. It has stayed off for the last 3 years except when I eat more carbs than usual. 

     

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga EileenH

      Posted

      My problem is the reverse.  I seem to have no appetite and sometimes forget to eat.  Never forget breakfast as it's part of the getting up routine but have been known to look at my watch at 3 pm and realize I've missed lunch, and would no doubt do the same thing in the evening if I weren't responsible for feeding another person.  I do get shaky if I'm out and about, but often don't twig immediately that it's because I haven't eaten for hours and hours.  💀

    • Elizamc
      Elizamc EileenH

      Posted

      Eileen I’ve been intermittent fasting on and off for five years to lose and maintain a weight. Fasting 3days a week to lose weight and fasting 2says to maintain. After years of yo-yo dieting its the one thing that still works for me and is easy to do. I agree - it helps with portion control, decreases hunger, and I lost all my sugar highs and lows which was a great bonus. I stopped fasting when diagnosed with PMR but am thinking of restarting. The only difficulty is that I take my Prednisolone in the morning but as I normally fast from dinner to dinner - that’s not going to work. When do you take your Pred? Am currently reading and thinking of low carb.
    • EileenH
      EileenH Elizamc

      Posted

      I take my pred 10pm at night within 3 hours of dinner because I am on the version called Rayos in the US and Lodotra in Europe. I used to take enteric coated pred with nothing when I lived in the UK - it doesn't dissolve in the stomach but further down the gut. 

      What sort of pred are you on and have you ever tried taking it at night? Some people do. Of course, low carb combined with partial intermittent might do it?

    • Elizamc
      Elizamc EileenH

      Posted

      I have the ordinary Prednisolone, my GP might agree to prescribe it though the enteric coated would be hard to split. I could try  taking my Pred after dinner, have always taken it after breakfast as I was once told that’s the best time for some reason or another that I now forget! Yes, I think fasting and low carb could work for me.  Starting this journey I already have hypertension, am already a little overweight and already pre diabetic. I don’t want to come out the other end with more problems!
    • EileenH
      EileenH Elizamc

      Posted

      In that case I think you need low carb rather than the fasting bit 

      Enteric coated does come in 5, 2.5 and now 1mg doses so with 2.5 and 1s you can pretty much any dose for splitting. 

      The morning thing is due to a study done some years ago that found there is less adrenal suppression with 15mg taken in the morning than 5mg taken at night. For patients on short courses of pred that may be helpful but we are on high enough doses for long enough that you aren't going to escape adrenal suppression. So if that is the case - you might as well take it when it works best for you.

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