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Weight Loss

Posted , 14 users are following.

fran2498
fran2498

Has anyone else experienced weight loss whilst taking Prednisolone?  Within 2 weeks of starting just over 6 weeks ago I lost half a stone then put 4lbs back on quite quickly however, when I weighed myself last week I was back to square one, having lost the 4lbs again.  I am eating normally and haven't changed my eating habits so I'm a bit baffled as I thought the indication was to gain weight on Prednisolone not  to lose it - not that I want to put on weight I might add!  Any comments gratefully received.

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  • faye______00403
    faye______00403 fran2498

    Posted

    Some gain (me) and some lucky people lose.....I've gained about 30 lbs

    and will take the blame for half of it.....I've read this is very common.

    Along with jelly belly and moon face.   The bad part is I can't fit

    in any of my clothes....

  • Juno-Irl-Dub
    Juno-Irl-Dub fran2498

    Posted

    Hi Fran,  i assume you have PMR.  I lost weight in the first year of being diagnosed also. I'm not sure it was the Pred., I think it was from the illness itself - lots of sweating and the geneal imflammation. I was taking another medication for osteoporosis at the same time so that could also have been relevant - though it wasn't listed as a side- effect. Either way, it worried my doctor who then freaked me out by ordering all kinds of tests and scans to 'rule out anything sinister'. Nothing found. I also never put on weight at any stage of taking Pred. and am now on 2.5mg. I was always slim anyway and I wonder are you also?  Since joining this forum (3 years) I only very occasionally hear of people who have lost weight - most are quite upset by weight gain. . . No 'moon face' either, which was good.

    I would say, if your doc. is happy wiith you, just forget about it - and be thankful. For myself I hated people pointing it out to me and in fact I reduced the little exercise I was doing to 'hold on' to the extra calories. Now, 3 years later, I'm more or less back to where I was (9 st.) though I eat much more (and better) than I ever did.  

    Kind regards, J

  • constance.de
    constance.de fran2498

    Posted

    Hallo Fran!  I was one of the very lucky ones that lost weight when taking Pred (1 1/2 stone).  That was 4 years ago.  I'm still on Pred (6 mgs).

    After about 2 years, and having reduced Pred considerably (from 40 mgs) I put on about 10lbs.

    Recently I had a flare and raised my dose to 12mgs and, believe it or not, I have lost 5lbs!!!  I suppose I'll put them on again now that I am back to 6mgs.

    Hope this helps.

    Regards fr Constance

  • LayneTX
    LayneTX fran2498

    Posted

    Sorry, I would t call losing weight lucky. I'm so thin now it scares me and now doctors are pushing osteoporosis meds on me. Seriously scaring me.

    Pred for me really caused me muscle wasting. And with the acid reflux it gives me I struggle to eat high calories. 

    Doctor said I might not gain my muscles back. Or she might have been talking of my gross saggy skin I now have. At 55 I wasn't ever thinking I'd look like this.

    i can't find clothes small enough.

    so...now I'd rather have my extra pounds I used to complain about. wink 

     

    • faye______00403
      faye______00403 LayneTX

      Posted

      If I could send you some of my weight I'd love too.   Have you

      ever tried the lemon in water for acid reflux?  I'm sure someone

      will post the receipe .    I can't remember the exact way to do it.

      Sorry for your problems.   Seems there is a side effect for

      as  many people on pred.

    • lodgerUK_NE
      lodgerUK_NE LayneTX

      Posted

      Acid reflux

      One lemon - washed - microwave for 1 minute  - triple the jiuce  - squeeze lemon - divide into three - put one measure into a glass of water - drink after meal.   No acid reflux.

    • faye______00403
      faye______00403 lodgerUK_NE

      Posted

      Thanks, Lodger.....maybe that will help with her problem.

      I LOVE THIS SITE.....SO MUCH GOOD INFO....

    • Juno-Irl-Dub
      Juno-Irl-Dub LayneTX

      Posted

      Fran, You really won't stop worrying until you talk to your doc. and get checked out.  So off you go.  Reassurance goes a long way to helping make you more positive.  AND as you reduce your Pred. your weight may well slowly increase . . .    J
    • lodgerUK_NE
      lodgerUK_NE faye______00403

      Posted

      No problme Faye, if people used this link

      http://www.patient.co.uk/forums/discuss/pmr-gca-website-addresses-and-resources-35316 then followed to the North East website there is a booklet called 'Living with PMR & GCA' cost £5 which contains 4 or 5 pages of Tips and Tricks collected from patients for patients. Where contents are not approved by the medical profession it is stated quite clearly.  Adults are quite capable of making their own decisions as to whether they make use of the information contained or not.

      I would add that some of the contents are now being trialled by research to see if we have got it right.

      Written by some people who have been on this site for over 8 years and collected some good knowledge and put it all together. 

       

    • faye______00403
      faye______00403 lodgerUK_NE

      Posted

      I looked on Amazon and realized that I already have that book.

      I did find one.....The Polymyalgia Rheumatica Patients

      Sourcebook.  Debating on ordering it.

      Interesting....I went to first PT appt for wonky shoulder and talking with the therapist about my problems with PMR she started talking

      about "leaky gut"   First time I've heard any medical person

      mention that ....period.....She seemed to think it was being looked

      at as cause of auto-immune diseases.  It was mentioned in the the book you recommended.   Kind of nice that I could tell her I was aware

      of the theory.  Anyone heard of it before?

    • linda17563
      linda17563 lodgerUK_NE

      Posted

      Just wanted to say, I asked my libraray why every disease book is on shelf, but nothing on PMR...the librarian applied to get one....have been emalied today, it was refused!.....

      About weight, have gained 7lbs over 4 years...not too bad, but appetite has waned now, and losing a pound or two every month now, so expect this is normal, I`m on 11mg?  ....

    • constance.de
      constance.de linda17563

      Posted

      Not enough people to read it - only about 1 in 1000 (?) suffer from PMR.

      Is there even a book?  Leaflet on 'Living with PMR' from the NE GCA/PMR Group is the next best thing I should think.

    • lodgerUK_NE
      lodgerUK_NE linda17563

      Posted

      Kate Gilber's book is availbe on Amazon.

      Our booklet is available read the post above from Lodger to Faye.

      We cannot give them away and both are only £5 and I think less on Kindle, but then I am not sure as I don't have kindle.

    • EileenH
      EileenH linda17563

      Posted

      Do they not do inter-library loans?

      But as lodger says - for patient purposes £5 isn't a lot and I can promise you that the books on PMR you can buy otherwise either tell you far less than these forums or they are aimed at medically qualified readers! Even using google as a dictionary won't help you understand a lot of them.

      Yes constance -  there are a few books on Amazon. The ones most patients can understand are fairly pathetic - I have read a couple! If I rmember rightly there are a lot of falsehoods in them too!

    • linda17563
      linda17563 EileenH

      Posted

      Thank you, I am going to order from the NE Group....
    • lodgerUK_NE
      lodgerUK_NE faye______00403

      Posted

      No but it is worth buying Yeo Valley Organic Pro Biotic Yoghurtthe one with L.Acidoplodus in it and eat it every day witha teaspoonful of Manuka Honey 10+ or over.
    • EileenH
      EileenH faye______00403

      Posted

      It was mentioned to me by the local coeliac specialist as a cause of my apparent wheat allergy some 10 years ago. I had wondered if the exceedingly itchy rash was dermatitis herpetiformis, a gluten-reaction. I can eat other forms of grain and it isn't gluten per se since the UK version of gluten-free flour which is/was made from wheat but has no gluten also cause me to react. His opinion was that if I gave up wheat and that sorted the problem it wasn't worth worrying about. 

      A lot of what you read on the internet though is fairly woo-ish though there is a basis for it.

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga linda17563

      Posted

      I asked to have Kate's book ordered by my library and it was refused - considered self-published, therefore not within their purchasing parameters. 
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