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Moon face question

Posted , 20 users are following.

pam1793
pam1793

For those of you on low doses of Prednisone (under 10 mg?), how long did it take for your moon face to go away? Or, does it hang on? 

I'm currently on 14 mg and mine just keeps getting fuller, especially on my chin and neck area.  I feel like I have balloons under my chin.  Blah!

I was not overweight before taking Prednisone , but have now packed on 20 extra pounds, which I'm sure doesn't help.  I have so many different sizes of clothes in my closet, I could open up a thrift shop. Blah, again.

Have a good day, everyone!

1 like, 73 replies

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  • audrey80537
    audrey80537 pam1793

    Posted

    Hi Pam,

    Unlike you and many others I lost 25 lbs on pred.

    My son also with a different auto immune disease lost 23 lbs. I went from a size 10 to a 6.

    As for the moon face I rather liked it - I just had chubby cheeks and any wrinkles I had disappeared. However now at 10 mg it is disappearing

    I was down to 9 mg before a flare about a year ago and I noticed at that point the chubby cheeks were pretty much gone. I guess it depends upon the person.

  • donna60512
    donna60512 pam1793

    Posted

    I started at 20 mg last May and am down to 6 mg now.  I have not had the moon face or the weight gain.  That was my fear in the beginning as my mom had been on prednisone years ago and did have the moon face.  Did you start at a really high dose?  I think I would talk to the doctor about this.  I wonder if others had the moon face starting at 20 mg.  Maybe I was just very lucky.  
    • pam1793
      pam1793 donna60512

      Posted

      Hi Donna.  Yes, I started at 60 mg almost one year ago.  I didn't mind the fullness at first, but now it has created a full, double chin, fullness in my neck and virtually all over that area.  I look like a linebacker! I don't mean to sound vain, but I'm embarrassed to be seen.  Of course I go out of the house because I help take care of my 93 years old mother, but I'd rather stay hidden. Every time I see myself in the mirror, I gasp. I feel as though I've lost control and need to figure how to get that back.

    • jae61606
      jae61606 pam1793

      Posted

      I understand ( as much as I can) even  although I don't have Polymyalgia Rheumatica. My husband does and he has the belly fat and moon face even though he has not gained a single pound. It is very hard for him since he gets stares at work and his clothes are getting tight. 

    • EileenH
      EileenH jae61606

      Posted

      Get him to try cutting carbs - the first place I lost the pred fat from was around my middle - the face came later but it went too.
    • judy93591
      judy93591 pam1793

      Posted

      Oh, Pam, your words mimic mine. After almost 2 yrs, down to 5mg pred, and MTX once weekly, I finally have my face back!  The weight, fighting like the dickens to lose it. Going to follow Eileen's advice, and virtually cut out carbs. I printed a photo of my 'pig' face, as I thought of myself, and I wouldn't have known it was me! 

  • EileenH
    EileenH pam1793

    Posted

    Mine started to go after starting a low carb diet when I was still on 15mg pred. I put on weight originally with PMR (no pred) because I couldn't exercise, it redistributed to the usual places when I finally started prednisolone although I didn't gain more weight. Then I was switched to Medrol - and gained a load of weight in well under 9 months. I was switched to a form of prednisone and started the diet and the weight melted away, from the midriff first and then the face and then finally the back of my neck. I lost 36lbs altogether although a few pounds came back. As long as I eat low amounts of carbs I stay steady - too much and it goes back on, to lose I have to be REALLY low.

  • Nefret
    Nefret pam1793

    Posted

    I should think there will be as many answers as there are patients answering this!

    It's very individual, I got the weight gain going from 7.5st to 10.5st pretty much overnight (that's how it felt) but I never did get the moon face even at my heaviest.

    I guess it's just a Pred gamble, it throws the dice for you.

    I did find all my side effects began to vanish at around 10mg, but sometimes the tapering gets a little tricky around here.  It's really necessary to reduce slowly but it can get soooo frustrating.

  • robert33625
    robert33625 pam1793

    Posted

    I was put on 50 mg of pred for 5 days only. Didn't see any weight change until I was off a day or di, then lost 6 lbs in 4 days. Now stable but can't gain any back which I need no mattet how much I eat. Still have pain most nights and mornings but ok in afternoon. Exercise keeps the pain away.

    • dea13
      dea13 EileenH

      Posted

      I wake every morning with swollen feet and ankles : I do live in the Tropics so I know the heat also is a factor. But could it also be the Preds EileenH in my feet and ankles? and to wake with them, before even getting out of bed? My Dr put me back on fluid tablets, she didn't want to, but we can't work out which med is causing it, and I'm on a few, 25 mg Preds now ....  It's been months now since they are like it.  Thanks

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy dea13

      Posted

      I have trouble with fluid in feet and ankles, but my GP said I should not take fluid tablets with pred.
    • EileenH
      EileenH dea13

      Posted

      Has he not investigated other causes? It is the morning oedema that I find suspicious. My feet get puffy by evening but overnight they go back to normal. I did have swollen feet and lower legs for some time - until it was identified I had atrial fibrillation. When it was sorted out - the swollen ankles eventually went away (helped by a session of manual lymph drainage),

      However, that said - pred can (and does) lead to swelling of the feet and lower legs. 

    • EileenH
      EileenH

      Posted

      And of course - doctors ARE meant to monitor the electrolytes of their patients on loop diuretics ...
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