Anyone out there with temporal arteritis, which is inflammation of the arteries in your head. Been on prednisone for over a year with varying dosages. Prednisone is the only drug for TA. All the usual symptoms of prednisone usage....moon face, stomach resembling a pregnant lady at 7 or 8 months along....not pretty. My dosage has been lowered slowly and I am now on 7.5 mg. a day. Still no change in weight, swollen looking stomach and moon face. I am hopeful that I can get down to 5 mg. soon. How long does it take to see reversal of prednisone symptoms? Does the stomach fat ever go away? Also, has anyone had bowel incontinence issues while on prednisone or metformin.....yukky subject, I know. Thanks for reading.
I was on it for 4 yr. and have finally lost the 40lb I gained. The moon face goes away when you get down to 5mg. I still have a tummy but then I have 10 kids, too. If you search the word prednisone, you'll find other info here. Lily, who is on the maintainers thread, has taken it longer than I and lost almost 100lb on a reduced carb diet. It's a bear for sure.
Carol: Thanks for encouragement. Just knowing that the weight will come off is a big plus. The stomach poundage may be the first place to lose, if the carbs are kept low. I realize that I have got to control my eating....prednisone can surely cause you be stay hungry. I had to comment on your script at the end of your posting. I too am listening for the shout....I wonder how many of us think "Come Lord Jesus" every day. It is a blessing just to see your scripture with your posting. Shows me you know what's important.
Thank you thank you to everyone who posted in here. I've read everything and then searched all over the net for answers. I've been on prednisone (and methotrexate and various biologics like kineret) for four years for Adult Onset Stills Disease and have gained 130 pounds while swimming laps for an hour 5+ times/week and constantly dieting.
I wish someone had said to me four years ago, "get on a low carb/low fat/low salt diet and stick to it." That's what I'm doing now and the weight is slowly starting to come off. At the rate I'm going (averaging 2 lbs./week), I'm in for a long journey, but at least the scale is moving down and I feel some sense of hope.
Someone asked about the biochemistry in involved here, and from what I understand, prednisone acts like cortisol in your body which can trigger a glucocorticoid effect during which the body produces glucose from proteins, then uses the excess glucose for lipogenisis (fat production). In other words, your cells think you're in crisis mode and not only don't burn blood sugar but create more of it and store it up as fat. Long-term prednisone users can wind up with a drug-induced version of Cushings Disease.
From everything I've read, the only "treatment" is to get off of prednisone or taper to as low a dose as possible. For those of us who are stuck with it long term, eating low carb forces the body into using protein rather than glucose for energy, thus circumventing the body's efforts to store glucose as fat.
I THINK that's about the right explanation for what's happening biochemically. I think phase one South Beach recipes would be good for pred users, or any foods that are very low on the glycemic index and low in fat.
The salt/water retention is another story. Prednisone is also an anti-diuretic.
Tippers in Maine
Ohhhhh my goodness, this drug... I have a love/hate relationship with it.
I've been prescribed prednisone maybe six different times in my life, usually for severe allergic reactions, those short-term burst packs that you take for ten or so days. Never had an issue with it until this week, and my gosh, is it awful.
I came down with swine flu plus pneumonia almost two weeks ago; it was really crazy, went right to my lungs. The PA prescribed a cocktail of meds to combat both: antiviral, antibiotic, 50 mg of prednisone daily for five days. I felt better almost immediately but was VERY restless within one day (and really needed to just sleep and sleep).
Once I finished the prednisone, I started having a lot of trouble breathing again within a couple of days. It was pretty bad -- I do have asthma, and the flu really messed my breathing up. Went back to urgent care as it was the weekend and was prescribed another burst of prednisone, this time a taper regiment (2 days at 50 mg, 2 at 40, 2 at 30, etc., ten days total).
At the end of day two, my breathing was MUCH improved, but I was whacked. Super tired yet had terrible insomnia, got four hours of sleep that night. The next day I woke up around 6 with a compulsion to clean clean clean. This part is actually rather fun -- I am in a great mood, really must be what it's like to be manic. I am getting a lot done.
However, by the end of the third day, my knees had swollen to 50% larger than normal, my legs were aching, my back hurt, my thighs ached. I swear I could see myself puffing up like a hot air balloon.
Day four, I called my regular doctor; he had no appointments available. Urgent care told me to come in, as my symptoms were troubling. I have NEVER had issues with stuff randomly swelling up.
When they checked me, my blood pressure was elevated (135/88, it's never ever been that high before), my weight was up TEN yes TEN pounds, my heart rate was a little racey, and naturally I was puffing up like a marshmallow in a microwave.
The PA decided to more aggressively step up the prednisone weaning process, so I'm down to 20 mg today and tomorrow, then 10 mg each day for two days, then nothing. Right now I am typing with my snausagey fingers, visibly expanding by the minute, just waiting to hit "post" so I can continue compulsively cleaning the house (current mission: extreme vacuuming of large sectional, and perhaps vacuum my cat if he will let me; again, the hyperactivity IS actually the fun part). Let's not even talk about mood swings (my poor husband, I wailed at him last night, "You're not meeting my neeeeeeeeeeeeds," weeping. We had the "It's not you, it's the Prednisone talking discussion, but still, the mood swings have been really hard on both of us, not to mention the brooding and obsessing. At least my spice drawer is thoroughly clean.).
I'm still not fully recovered from the flu and really hoping that the prednisone side effects will be short-lived and easily reversed. While it made it so I could breathe and so I didn't have to go into a hospital for the flu pneumonia, I plan to never, ever, ever go on this medication again if I can help it.
Good luck to any and all on this med and working to get off it; I've only been on it for just under two weeks give or take a few and I've never EVER had so many severe and alarming side effects from a medication. It's serious stuff.
my mother and sister both take predisone daily for Copd and have for years.. my mother has predisone skin(tears like crazy), had steroidal cataracts, and now has steroidal diabetes.. my sister has the moon face really bad, the large stomach, had steroidal cataracts, and just started metformin for the steroidal diabetes.. its sad that a medicine that works so well for some ailments seems to cause so many more.. it becomes a which is worse scenerio for so many people.. my heart goes out to anyone that has to deal with this medicine on a daily basis
Hi all! I have been on the wonder(?) drug prednisone for 35 years. I have been on either prednisone or Hydrocort (another form of steriods) Plus I am on Fludocort also. I had my adrenal glands removed 35 years ago because of high blood pressure! I currently was diagnosed with Dermatomyisitis and have been on 60mg. of prednisone. I too have the moon face and the hump on my back and a huge ugly abdomen! I hate it. I'm hoping to get back down to my regular 20mg of Hydrocort before long. Anyone else taking prednisone for Dermatomyisitis?
Hi everyone!
My name is Chau and I just started TODAY with prednisone 50mg. I'm 21 years old and I'm so scared of gaining weight all of the sudden. I recently lost 20 pounds, and it makes me so nervous to gain it back again. I'm really happy I found a forum where other women have gone through this too.
I really enjoy reading your posts on this forum. I'll be sure to get a copy of "Low Carb Life" by Jonny Bowdem too and start to eat much better!
Thank you Looking fwd to reading more of your posts and advice!
argh, it is the devil. I got on more of it when I was put in the hospital for severe allergic reactions, then more due to asthma, and I have the moonface and the hump and the belly hanging over my pants all over again. I did lose weight on it a while back, but now I'm back in a terrible situation with weight gain and all these side effects. I've started walking more and eating healthier, but I still have a long way to go and prednisone makes it so difficult. With my allergy and skin problems I don't know how long it might be until I can totally get off the stuff though, so I need to make more of an effort. I really, really hate it sometimes though.
I have been on prednisone now for 5yrs due to C.O.P.D- lung disease consisting of bronchitis, emphysema so I am unable to do much excersizes w/o losing my breath-I'm new to this site but maybe I can help in one way. Walking is great!! Even for short periods(I go by mins not miles). I am on 25mg/day and hope to lower that after some weight loss. Good luck to you!
I have FINALLY started to lose weight while on prednisone! I wasn't sure if I would see results because I am still on 20mg per day. But I've been hitting the gym and monitoring my calories, and so far it is working. I just wanted to share that it IS possible, though hard at times. I'm going to stick with it, and hopefully I'll eventually get off this evil drug!
Hello, glad to have found this forum as well, cuz losing weight has never been so hard but now since realizing the prednisone (after being on 10mg daily for 4years) is what is mainly to blame for the "lock" on my fat cells. I have RA, but my first rheumatologist misdiagnosed my knee pain. A new doctor diagnosed me having osteoarthritis in my knees and got me some synvisc-1 shots about 4 months ago. I felt renewed again! He mentioned that even losing 10lbs would make a great difference in my mobility. I started tapering down off of the prednisone in the last month and have lost about 6 lbs already. I am here to share a website that you may really like cuz I do and use it every day. The website is livestrong.com and once there, choose plate, my daily plate. It is free to monitor your caloric intake along with sodium, sugars, carbs, fat, protein, and calories once you designate your ideal weight. Check it out and you too can finally realize what is in the foods you are eating. Have a great day!
Carol: Thanks for encouragement. Just knowing that the weight will come off is a big plus. The stomach poundage may be the first place to lose, if the carbs are kept low. I realize that I have got to control my eating....prednisone can surely cause you be stay hungry. I had to comment on your script at the end of your posting. I too am listening for the shout....I wonder how many of us think "Come Lord Jesus" every day. It is a blessing just to see your scripture with your posting. Shows me you know what's important.
dear hopeandfaith, i have recently been diagnosed with temporal arteritis and have been on 40 mg daily for 3 weeks, and now down to 30mg daily. i will be on pred for at least 4 more weeks, i think it will turn out much longer. how long before you had no headaches and felt normal? or were headaches a bad problem for ya? i have suffered for 8 months before finding a dr that could diagnose me. i have only gained a few pounds while on pred but i have the moon face already, but i gained quite a lot over the past few months, because of the pain and the inability to even get off of the couch because of the pain. do you feel better since being on the steroid? thank you for your info.....
Temporal Arteritis and Prednisone
Looking fwd to reading more of your posts and advice!
Re Prednisone
