What has been your weight gain on Prednisone? Help - Scared!!!

Pred. and weight gain

Five weeks into 40mg of pred. I have started putting on pounds very quickly. I have not changed any eating or exercise habits. My Crohn's is only in my colon and I do not have diarrhea as a sympton so I have never had issues with weight loss due to either lack of absorbing nutrients or diarrhea.

I have been a normal, healthy weight for an active human and really, really don't want to gain weight at this rate. I don't mean to sound superficial but I have to say with the acne, hair growth, moon face, dark circles from insomnia not to mention the moodiness all from the pred. I really just need to hang on to one thing that is me and my weight had been that until now.

I would love to know from some of you who have been through this before...

How much did you gain on pred? When did the weight gain start? Once you got off pred. did the weight fall off as it came on or was it difficult to lose?

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Try not to fret about this, it is temporary.
Pred weight is sodium weight, and you can lose potassium, this combo results in fluid retention, so stay away from salty stuff, and eat more potassium rich foods like bananas. this weight soon falls off when you finish the Pred.
I was on it for nearly a year, I was mortified at the side effects, chipmunk cheeks, weight, hair etc
But, putting it all into perspective, this med saved my life.
good luck
xxx

I agree with joan I walked walked and walked religiously everyday plus having a physical job, avoided salt and drank loads of water and I managed to avoid most side effects even the moon face and I was on pred for 8 months starting at 40mg and tapered steadily. That said I put on about 1/2 stone but I think it was due to the fact that I felt better generally. It will come off again but I had to work at it with going to the gym etc. I too don't suffer diarrhea often and weight loss was never a big issue, although I could do with losing a few pounds!!

Im on 15 mg now and can not gain any weight. I eat a good amount of food everyday and still feel horrible but just dont gain weight. Now, when i was up at 60 mg and decreasing i gained maybe 20 pounds but i was eating almost constantly it seemed and i was having major heart palpitations and restlessness and feeling like i was gonna stroke out so i stopped eating so much and i didn't feel quite as badly then.

Like Joan said, try not to worry about it too much. You will not be on Prednisone forever.

It is known that Prednisone will cause weight gain. Since you describe yours as rapid, I would be willing to be that rather than actual weight gain you are experiencing fluid retention (as Joan said) which causes weight increase but not actual gain.

It is my understanding that the real cause of weight gain while on Prednisone is that it increases appetite, which in turn leads to eating more. If you keep your food intake and exercise regimen the same despite the increased appetite, you should have nothing to worry about. If it really bothers you, you may want to try to decrease your food intake or increase your exercise regimen to stave off the effect.

That said, weight gain may have to be one of the things you become okay with. It's a reality when we're on these drugs that side effects do things to our bodies that are out of our control. But it's important for you to know that your health is so much more important than that number on the scale.

Thanks for the support! I hadn't thought about the sodium issue. I have probably been getting too much for certain. I will watch that and my general calorie intake.

I will also keep in mind that healthy from Crohn's means a better life all around even if it is a few extra pounds.

Over the past 12 years I've been on and off constantly. Overall I've gained 100 pounds. I've finally lost 30 n still on prednisone. At first it's hard to control the eating, but I've gotten used to fighting the temptation. Good luck hopefully you'll bounce back.

Hey there. I've gained 32 since aug 10thh. Not happy! It was around 10 weeks into I started with a rounder face. Haven't lost a pound while tapering!

I was on it for six months and I've put on a stone and a half. Ironically, the weight gain seemed to start as I was weaning off. It's also due I think to eating more cos able to without pain and starting a new job which is desk bound.
I need to walk more (Hebridean weather permitting) and kick myself in the pants to start David's yoga class.

While I was in remission over the past two years I took up the gym and went from 9 stone (pre-hospital) to 11 and a half stone up until 2 months ago when I dropped back to 10th after a flare up. I hope the pred may even help me build my muscle back as i was gutted I lost my muscle weight!! :-(

When my dose has been 60 mg a day, I gain about 25 pounds, but it is temporary, as many here have said. I also hate this aspect of pred, but usually by the time the doc puts me on it I'm too sick to care anymore.

I follow Weight Watchers whenever I go off pred, and I lose the weight in a few months. The last round of pred I've been on has included 200mg shots every month as well as pills for 9 months, and I stayed on WW and only gained 10 pounds, which I was pretty happy with, and my doctors are very happy about it.

We all hate the weight gain, but it's a necessary evil.

In the early days I gained as much as two stone after the 12 week tapering course but it fell off even quicker, now many years later and no amount of pred can put weight on me, think my body just got used to it, I know its hard when pred messes about with you but it does a lot of good also so I couldn't stay mad at it for long, well for a little while after my cousin said she thought she was talking to one of the guys from ZZ Top (only joking I'm not that bad on steroids!!!)
Hope it's working for you and making you feel better.
Gwen xxx

I am dealing a bit better with the weight, moon face, buffalo hump, beard, acne, etc...LOL! If the pred had worked for me I think I would have felt less upset but it just couldn't do the trick so it felt upsetting. I started Humira yesterday and the hope is that it will bring about remission in 2-4 months and then I will be able to taper off the pred. I really shouldn't complain about anything at all. I am thankful to have the doctor and medicines available and to have my life...a little extra weight will be just fine for a while. Guess the "blues" is another little joy of the pred. that gets me from time to time.

Thanks for all the support and info!

I'm sorry the pred isn't doing the trick for you, it does have all those lovely side effects we just love LOL but I'm praying that the Humira kicks in and you can have some peace of mind.
Gwen xxx

When I was in public school, my nickname was "the squirrel" because Prednisone made my cheeks so puffy

No, some kids are nasty, I got called chubby cheeks by a radiographer while getting a barium enema done once and I replied it's the preds I'm on it gives you moon face till he said I'm not talking about your face!!! NOOOoooooo I was so embarrassed but laugh about it now.

Gwen...Oh my goodness! That would be embarassing!

KWalker...I am so sorry you had to deal with that during your school years...kids are just so mean sometimes. I am thankful that at 38 yrs I am not bothered by what others think the way I was in my school years. I always laugh beacuse with the abdominal weight gain/bloat people probably just assume I am having a third baby...lol!

Jeannette...I have a lot of friends who love WW. I am not able to have any fiber at all right now but may look into that once I am up and running again.

Suschex, I'm so with you! IF the pred had worked, then fine, put up with side effects. But when it clearly did not help, the 20ish pound weight gain, huge cheeks, 3 months on blood pressure medication, and few months with numb arms and legs was Not Pleasant At All.

I just started my pred three weeks ago and I have already put on 1.5kg my ibd nurse said it will start to drop off when you start reducing the dose. I hate the hamster face

Agh don't get me started on pred I've recently had emergency surgery after my bowel perforated and as a result now have a stoma (this part I'm not moaning about as the surgery obv saved my life). But after being on iv steroids whilst in hospital on being discharged I was put on pred but was on 30mg four times a day!!! Which even I know is a massive dose I was promised an outpatient appointment to see my specialist 2 weeks after being discharged whom I still haven't seen. I've now been home seven weeks luckily my surgical team have halved the dose but I still have no plan inplace to reduce it further and guess what I've still heard nothing from my specialist :s. During this time I've gained an alarming amount of weight I'm a slim guy naturally and now I have what someone else described as moon face not a happy bunny doesn't cover it lol

Pred is such a strange drug....I started on 40mg back in August (maybe July?), and started tapering a few weeks later. I had lots of energy, which I love about pred, but not really any of the bad side effects I remembered from before except for being really hot all of the time and having horrible night sweats.

I got down to 15mg and then had surgery. I was knocked back up to 40mg after surgery and started tapering again a week after I got home from the hospital. Both times I was tapering by 5mg a week.

When I got to 25mg the second time, I noticed the side effects starting. Moon face, extra hair on the face (it's a struggle to keep 2 eyebrows right now!), aching joints, etc. I am at 15mg again now, and I've noticed my appetite has significantly increased. I am constantly hungry. It seems the side effects are more pronounced with me the longer I am on pred, regardless of how high or low the dose. Hopefully they will disappear shortly after I stop, I'm getting to where I can't stand mirrors.

@SarahAnne-that's exactly the way I am! On higher doses, full of energy, not alot of side effects, but hen I taper-poof! Weight gain, moon face high BP you name it! My fav antidote to the weight gain is green tea-I try to drink four cups a day and it helps get rid of the extra water.

I think I finally realized today why I am so freaked by the weight gain. I mean I don't think anyone "wants" to gain weight beyond what is healthy but it is not so much that or the vanity of it but the outgrowing my clothes part.

I have hit the point now where in another pound or two I won't fit into my clothes...including bras...and that is tough. It's not like I can just go out and buy bigger clothes along with paying all the doctors co-pays, OTC meds, prescription meds, hospital bills, test bills, toilet paper, etc.

Maybe that is just stupid....

Pete_Scott87 said:

Agh don't get me started on pred I've recently had emergency surgery after my bowel perforated and as a result now have a stoma (this part I'm not moaning about as the surgery obv saved my life). But after being on iv steroids whilst in hospital on being discharged I was put on pred but was on 30mg four times a day!!! Which even I know is a massive dose I was promised an outpatient appointment to see my specialist 2 weeks after being discharged whom I still haven't seen. I've now been home seven weeks luckily my surgical team have halved the dose but I still have no plan inplace to reduce it further and guess what I've still heard nothing from my specialist :s. During this time I've gained an alarming amount of weight I'm a slim guy naturally and now I have what someone else described as moon face not a happy bunny doesn't cover it lol

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email him that's rediculous you haven't seen him to ask about a treatment plan, I emailed my GI after surgery as I wasn't due to see him for 8 weeks after and in fact if I hadn't bumped into him while I was in for the surgery he wouldn't have known I'd had it!!! he told me to do what the surgeon had suggested which was to come off everything anyway but I wanted to hear it from him... good luck

I'm almost 6 weeks into my pred, on 40mg tapering to 35 next week. I've only gained 4 pounds, but I'm under weight and need all I can get! It seems like for some people it's hard to lose weight under treatment and for some people hard to gain.

I have really struggled to loose my pred weight. Was on 40mg a day for 3 months tapering 5mg a day until I got to 20mg then started flaring really bad. Was told I was now steriod dependant and ended up in hospital the bleeding was so bad.
While in hospital they then decided to give me iv steriods. I told them I didnt want them as I dont get on with them. They gave them to me anyway.
Long story short my flare is still out of control and nothing is working. No energy so find it hard to exersize to loose the weight.
Grrrrr makes me mad. To make it worse they wanted me to go back on them in October I said no way, once was enough even though they did stop the bleeding and gave me energy, until I reduced the dose.