I'm 13 and I have an autoimmune disease called "Myasthenia Gracie MUSK" I have taken steroids twice in my life. The first time was when I was 10, after having 5 plasma feresis procedures to clean out my plasma & bad anti bodies. I started with 80 mg everyday! No one warned me about the hunger, so I ate.. and gained 80 pounds!! It was REALLY hard starting middle school like that, when I got off of it a couple months later, I did lose some weight but ever since then I've never lost it all, I started weighing 103 pounds (I was a tall child!) and then ended up weighing around 180 pounds. When I finally started dieting I lost 30 pounds! I was around 150 but I was 11 and 5'5 so it was pretty okay, like I've never been the skinny girl but it was a lot better than being the fat girl! Then, I relapsed. The mg came back, and guess what? So did the steriods! YAYYYYY!!! (sarcastically) now, i'm 13, 5'10 and in the past month of being on prednisone I have gained 30 pounds back! I weigh like 185 pounds now and I've never felt worse. Obviously it's better than before becuase I am taller so the weight is more spread out, but I still feel horrible. I feel like all the work I did is being thrown away so quickly. BUT I CAN'T STOP EATING! It's so horrible and I feel so bad about my body and I don't know what to do because school is starting soon and I feel like no one will like me. I'm trying to eat very little, I eat maybe 2 meals a day? and 2 snacks. For example today I have a chicken sandwich, a small fries, 2 eggs, 2 crossiants, oatmeal and 6 pieces of sushi. I know it seems like a lot but before I started watching my calories I was eating approximately 4,000 calories a day. NO WONDER I GAINED SO MUCH WEIGHT! Unfortunately, I can't really exercise much either, since mg musk weakens the muscles and if I tire myself too much I'll get worse, which will just mean the doctors give me more steriods so I don't want that. I just feel like I'm missing out on my childhood, I can't go shopping with my friends becuase I have my body and I can't eat like a normal person because when someone brings donuts, I just want to eat ALL of them!! I hate this life, I wish it wasn't this way. Does anyone have any advice on how to 1. lose weight and 2. feel better about your body? I know 30 pounds will take a LONG time to lose, especially while I'm still taking 40 mg every other day and 60 mg the day that isn't 40. I'm starting to ramp down, but it's going to take a while. Wish me luck.
Update for everyone: it's been 2 days since I started my "diet" and I lost 5 pounds! I'm pretty proud of myself but I know that the first 10 or 15 pounds are pretty easy, it's the last 10 or 15 that are extremely hard to lose. But I'll worry about that in the future. I'm just happy that I have a chance at a normal weight
Sabrina and others...help! I have Lupus, Sjogrens and low platelets
I've been on prednisone since Nov of last year. We were doing a taper, but I got a little sicker and then it was increased.
I've gained about twenty pounds. I'm short so it really shows.
Especially for those who are enjoying success, can you give me more details on calorie intake and sodium intake?
Have you reduced both of these significantly? Any specifics would be appreciated. I'm starting to look different and I hate it.
Feel sooo relieved to see these posts!
Thank you.
Edited/add:
I'm getting the impression after reading many of the old posts that this diet would work:
1000 calories a day
500 mgs of sodium per day
100 units of carbs a day
NO sugar
Tons of water
Preferably no gluten
Any thoughts? Seems to me this would be mostly fresh vegetables and lean protein. Small amount of low glycemic fruit.
I lost four pounds this first week, although clearly mostly or all water weight.
1050 calories average per day
1500 sodium per day (or less)
No sugar
Reduced carb
No flour
Lots of water
Lots of vegetables
Lean meat (s)
I'm new to this site, but my lifestyle is low carb
Quote:
Originally Posted by Padame
I'm glad to hear that others are losing weight on prednisone. I've been very discouraged because I've been following a low carb diet and I"m gaining weight still. How low did you all have to go to lose? I'm keeping it under 40 grams per day.
Thank you
HI, I would drop down to 20g carbs per day. I live on low carb and 20g is my max, I'm very carb sensitive as it is. Now, with the prednisone, I'm lost. I'm doing an egg fast, which takes Keto to the bare bones to get into ketosis, but the prednisone is preventing this from happening. You can Google.. What is the Egg Fast and try to lose that way to start, then slowly add greens (carbs) and meats, fish, etc.. back in and see if it'll help you. I was totally unaware of the weight gain potential when I was put on prednisone for Vestibular Neuritis, and I'm on my third round, starting each time at 40mg, for 12 days each. It's been over a month and I'm so uncomfortable I could scream. This is the devil of a medication for sure. I just can't seem to get better. I hope this helps you, and that you feel better.
I had stress and combined with prednisone that spells big trouble.
I'm a good fifteen pounds heavier than usual and I'm short so it shows.
I was doing well and then things went nuts.
I think I have to lower my calorie count to below a thousand to make progress and very low carb, very low sugar and never over 1500 of salt.
I neeeed support
Schdisbelief....how is your weight doing? Are you maintaining? Do you need to lose? Are you using an app to track ? If so, which one? Hhhheeeeellllpppppp lol!
If you want to stop weight gain from Prednisone, don't eat simple carbs. Follow a lower carb diet and avoid processed foods. I've been on it for years due to a lung condition. I exercise at the Y 5 days a week and my weight remains steady. The weight gain is due to lifestyle issues - what you eat and how much you exercise.
Congrats! Can you provide as many specifics as possible? How many mgs. Of carbs per day? If you had to lose weight, what would you do differently? What other advice would you give? So, awesome that you are doing well!!!
Prednisone & Weight Gain
