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Interaction Prednisone / HMB (ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate)?

Posted , 4 users are following.

nils33
nils33

I am currently taking 80mg of Pred for (not only, but primarily) Minimal Change Disease. To help combat muscle breakdown I am taking about 3-4g of HMB daily. However I am not sure if HMB might lessen the anti-inflammatory effects of Pred through upregulation of mTOR? Anyone got more information?

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • mrsmop
    mrsmop nils33

    Posted

    Hello Nils, I did what I usually do & investigated using Google Scholar.

    I will message you what I found, you can then go into more depth.

    • nils33
      nils33 mrsmop

      Posted

      Thanks, I did, but the results were not really conclusive. There are some hints that it may interfere, but as far as I've seen there is no research on that specific question. Thank you though!

  • EileenH
    EileenH nils33

    Posted

    Check with your local pharmacist - they train for 5+ years to know that sort of thing!

    But you should never take any sort of supplement together with other supplements or prescription or OTC medications without first checking with your specialist doctor or a qualified pharmacist. 

    • nils33
      nils33 EileenH

      Posted

      Honestly, I don't know that a pharmacist would have that in depth knowledege of this exact combination. Most doctors don't even really know HMB, and certainly don't know if it lessens Prednisones effectiveness. They mostly just say "Don't take it" because they don't know if it might - and they prefer being on the safe side. It would be nice to know though ...

    • EileenH
      EileenH nils33

      Posted

      A pharmacist learns mechanisms during their pharmacology degree (which takes a long as doctors and is just on drugs), they are not just pill dispensers, that is the counter staff. They are far more likely to know than anyone on any forum - they are specialists in the field. If you REALLY want to know - why not contact a university department and ask a lecturer?
    • nils33
      nils33 EileenH

      Posted

      I talked to my pharmacist, she said she doesn't know, thats just too specific and in depth. Thank you for the idea still!

      Finding a University lecturer would be nice, I am not sure how easy they are to get in touch with, but I'll try. But to be safe I'll stay away from HMB.

  • ihavenonickname
    ihavenonickname nils33

    Posted

    Your energy would be better served following your physician's orders.

    MCD is the loss of protein and requires balancing of protein and fluid intake based upon weight and age...make an appointment with a renal dietician.

    • nils33
      nils33 ihavenonickname

      Posted

      Sure, but sometimes you know they just tell you to not do something just to be safe. (And rightfully so!) But it would be nice to not have your muscles deteriorate due to the Pred, even for overall health, not just for "athletic" reasons. I think everyone with chronic diseases knows that "just" doing what your doctors tell you is the minimum - there is a ton you can do yourself to get through stuff better.

      I know about nutrition with MCD, but this is mostly in regards to taking corticosteroids.

    • EileenH
      EileenH nils33

      Posted

      Um - my muscles haven't deteriorated in the 7 years I have been on pred other than the loss of fitness because of the illness I have. I did have problems for some months when on Medrol (methyl prednisolone) but not on either prednisone or prednisolone and gentle exercise since then has left my muscles back to normal. Not everyone develops muscle wasting with steroids - there are 82+ listed side effects of pred, no-one gets them all, many get next to none!

      The best way to protect your muscles while on pred is to do appropriate exercises which good physios can provide. Depending on the reason you take pred, you can still exercise - no reason not to just because of pred.

    • nils33
      nils33 EileenH

      Posted

      Methyl Prednisone does waste more muscle, but Prednison/solone (no real difference in mechnism of action) are still highly catabolic. I had (and still have) a fair ammount of Muscle from a lot of Weightlifting etc. but the more muscle you have, the more gets wasted. You will mostly keep a "normal" ammount of muscle, but "extra" muscle gets eaten up by Pred rather quickly, even if you excercise. Best case is you stay on your level with a lot of work and good nutrition.

      And I do workt out, a lot actually, and have been able to stay in good shape, still, if there would be a way to keep the Pred from turning muscle into basically sugar, I'd welcome that. Not knowing for sure if it may interfere with its anti-inflammatory properties however, I will stay from it though.

      To get back to the original Issue, I just guess there is no clear knowledge about this, since mTOR signaling and specifically its interaction with glucocorticoid receptros is not entirely understood.

      Thank you all for your replys nonetheless!

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