prednisone fat redistribution sticking???

fortysixpounds

Hi everyone,

So I no longer take prednisone. I gained about about 70 lbs on it. I'm pretty close to where I was before I got sick and put on all the weight but my body shape has changed.145lbs does not look the same on me as it used to. I used to be very in proportion. Any bodyfat I had was spread evenly. I know that steroids change fat distribution when you're taking them but I'm off them over a year and I still have the belly and the neck. I don't carry weight anywhere else. It's all condensed in the abdomen. I'm 5'10 and 145 lbs but I have the belly pouches and the neck and the E cup size. It's frustrating. I run and do situps and I have the muscle but it's buried under the fat still. My BMI is 20.9 but 145 lbs looks totally different on me than it used to and I really just want to have my body back the way it was before I got sick. It's so frustrating because I have worked so hard and the belly and the neck are still there and they just remind me of a time I'd rather forget.

I guess I just have to increase my cardio to burn off the fat? I'm just worried that my arms and legs will get skinny and I'll still have the belly.

Anybody have this?

DebbieLyn63

I didn't gain there due to prednisone, but I naturally carry my weight in my belly and as I have gotten older, it had definitely gotten worse. The belly will eventually go,(or at least most of it) it is just the last place to lose. I have lost 90% of the extra weight in my arms and legs, so I know what you mean about them getting skinny. You can only lose the fat that is there, so they wouldn't continue to get skinnier. They will stop at some point and your belly fat will go.
Do some strength exercises to build up the muscle in your arms and legs to help balance it out until the belly goes. And be patient. You probably wont get the belly you once had, but you should get closer anyway.

fortysixpounds

I didn't gain there due to prednisone, but I naturally carry my weight in my belly and as I have gotten older, it had definitely gotten worse. The belly will eventually go,(or at least most of it) it is just the last place to lose. I have lost 90% of the extra weight in my arms and legs, so I know what you mean about them getting skinny. You can only lose the fat that is there, so they wouldn't continue to get skinnier. They will stop at some point and your belly fat will go.
Do some strength exercises to build up the muscle in your arms and legs to help balance it out until the belly goes. And be patient. You probably wont get the belly you once had, but you should get closer anyway.

Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it :flowerforyou:

splixi

Pred has been a nightmare for me....gaining about 25kg I hate it so much...it took my body away from me that I loved! but a necessary evil and I should just be grateful it keeps me alive.

I have managed to budge about 7kg of it in the last 4-5weeks but it is harrrrd! so much calorie restriction because my lungs (that the pred treat) make exercise more difficult for me...

I go on and off it all the time and this is the longest break i've had from it in ages.....there is still the horrible knowledge that i'll be back on it a fair bit all through my life ...

My "natural" body is an hourglass. I think the pred fluid changes me a lot though...to start with I get the whole "moonface" massively....I look like a different person with it. then it bloats out my tummy. While my waist is still one of my smaller parts it feels a lot more "wobbly" than before....like it has just changed in ways that simple weight changes wouldn't explain. - I call it "the pred effect". you end up feeling like you are going to pop out of your skin all over- that someone could "pop" you if they put a pin in!

You are really slim now!- I don't think weight loss is the answer to your tummy stuff- probably more doing things to tone/strengthen it....

How did you manage to get all the pred weight off!? it is so hard to budge...i've been at war with it for the last 2-3years.

Vune

I was on high dose prednisone for a year, and I only gained 5lbs, so I'm useless. I have a friends, though, who is having terrible problems with her adrenal glands shutting down. Maybe your answer lies more in an endocrinologist than a weight loss community?

splixi

another thing with pred....it makes my blood sugars so high!

but yeh- i've heard of the endocrinological stuff happening with many long term users....cushings...

but honestly- what was your secret ? nice work on only gaining the 5pound! (although i'm not sure if weight gain is an issue for you)

Kandace_Riopel

for my h cup i had to have a reduction .. the neck just went away but im still retaining it in my stomach area .... and im down to 125 from 155! .... going to try jillian michaels 30 day shred and see if that helps!

casy84

I was on steroids for ~1 month and I gained 15kg!!! It took me almost a year to get rid of that fat(from what I've read it's also more diet resistant). Also my body became a cellulite covered nightmare. Good luck on getting yourself back, I know how hard it is.

Vune

another thing with pred....it makes my blood sugars so high!

but yeh- i've heard of the endocrinological stuff happening with many long term users....cushings...

but honestly- what was your secret ? nice work on only gaining the 5pound! (although i'm not sure if weight gain is an issue for you)

I think my "secret" was being an active person. I took about 1 month off for my kidney transplant (I was lucky. It was a cadaver kidney that happened to come around 3 weeks after my summer show closed, and 5 weeks before my next audition), and didn't stop moving. A couple years later, I moved across the country and gained almost 50lbs (the depo provera shot and depression contributed to the gain). Scary. I've lost and kept off 30 of those a few years ago. Now that I've returned home(ish), I've decided to be awesome again.

Honestly, it's mostly diet. Portion control and primarily whole foods. Plan ahead until it becomes a habit. Walk a lot and take stairs.

fortysixpounds

Pred has been a nightmare for me....gaining about 25kg I hate it so much...it took my body away from me that I loved! but a necessary evil and I should just be grateful it keeps me alive.

I have managed to budge about 7kg of it in the last 4-5weeks but it is harrrrd! so much calorie restriction because my lungs (that the pred treat) make exercise more difficult for me...

I go on and off it all the time and this is the longest break i've had from it in ages.....there is still the horrible knowledge that i'll be back on it a fair bit all through my life ...

My "natural" body is an hourglass. I think the pred fluid changes me a lot though...to start with I get the whole "moonface" massively....I look like a different person with it. then it bloats out my tummy. While my waist is still one of my smaller parts it feels a lot more "wobbly" than before....like it has just changed in ways that simple weight changes wouldn't explain. - I call it "the pred effect". you end up feeling like you are going to pop out of your skin all over- that someone could "pop" you if they put a pin in!

You are really slim now!- I don't think weight loss is the answer to your tummy stuff- probably more doing things to tone/strengthen it....

How did you manage to get all the pred weight off!? it is so hard to budge...i've been at war with it for the last 2-3years.

Aw my heart goes out to you. Thats a tough position to be in. Are you able to swim or go walking? I met a friend in hospital who was missing about 70% of her lungs and was on predn for life. Lung issues are tough because they interfere with exercise.
I am lucky I got off pred about a year and a half ago. I've lost the weight gradually. The first few times I tried to get fit, I did so by starting walking and even just going around the block triggered attacks and had me back on predn. It took about a year of trying to actually get off predn. It was so frustrating. I was on 80mg and then everytime I got down to 30mg something would happen and back up I went, or worse Id be put on injections and then back to stage one of gradually reducing. And it went on and on. Its been a very gradual process. One thing that really helped me lose the weight in the beginning was the wii. My friend lent me theirs to use and I dropped the first 15lbs doing that. Little by little, I could sit down when I got tired and then take it up again later on then I started walking, then I started jogging, then boxing, then running . Now I do a bit of everything. This week I took a load of different classes.

Then food is difficult. People used to call me 'crumbs' when I was on predn. because I was always eating cookies lol. Predn loves sugar and sugar causes weight gain like nothing else. Check out 'the bitter truth about sugar' on youtube if you get a chance. Predn causes massive appetite, I guess wholesome food is the way to go, try moderate what you can. Fibre is more filling....in moderation though. Its hard to diet on predn. very hard. I understand that.

:flowerforyou:

splixi

Aw my heart goes out to you. Thats a tough position to be in. Are you able to swim or go walking? I met a friend in hospital who was missing about 70% of her lungs and was on predn for life. Lung issues are tough because they interfere with exercise.
I am lucky I got off pred about a year and a half ago. I've lost the weight gradually. The first few times I tried to get fit, I did so by starting walking and even just going around the block triggered attacks and had me back on predn. It took about a year of trying to actually get off predn. It was so frustrating. I was on 80mg and then everytime I got down to 30mg something would happen and back up I went, or worse Id be put on injections and then back to stage one of gradually reducing. And it went on and on. Its been a very gradual process. One thing that really helped me lose the weight in the beginning was the wii. My friend lent me theirs to use and I dropped the first 15lbs doing that. Little by little, I could sit down when I got tired and then take it up again later on then I started walking, then I started jogging, then boxing, then running . Now I do a bit of everything. This week I took a load of different classes.

Then food is difficult. People used to call me 'crumbs' when I was on predn. because I was always eating cookies lol. Predn loves sugar and sugar causes weight gain like nothing else. Check out 'the bitter truth about sugar' on youtube if you get a chance. Predn causes massive appetite, I guess wholesome food is the way to go, try moderate what you can. Fibre is more filling....in moderation though. Its hard to diet on predn. very hard. I understand that.

:flowerforyou:

I'm doing ok at the moment....but things for me just change so fast. I still can't really exercise and I accept that- just gotta make the best of a tough situation I went through the rough stuff....my disease doesn't really get better- it only deteriorates with time.

But like people have mentioned....when I get sick- I get really sick very fast and always end up in ICU and they absolutely pump me full of IV hydrocortisone. I've been trying so incredibly hard with the dieting and i'm actually doing ok....8kg down in less than 6 weeks. Still a long way to go though til i'm back to my "normal weight". I know that any bit flare up that needs lots of pred is probably going to mess things up again though

I do pulmonary rehab at the hospital for an hour twice a week now so I get a bit of "monitored exercise" in then. They keep an eye on my heart and oxygen levels whilst I do it but it is a bit depressing when people who are 70 can walk faster on the treadmill than me (i'm 21). but hey- at least it is some exercise!

I guess in terms of the topic yet the weight sticks to me but I find it odd that my waist is still the smallest part of me (and wrists/collarbones) ....I think maybe because I constantly use all those muscle in the chest and abdo to help me breathe. My main fat area is upper arms and upper legs.....looks really odd.

islandgyrl35

I just came across your post and I want to know if the weight came off your neck and belly eventually and if so, how long it took I have the EXACT same situation - I weigh less now than I did when starting prednisone - but I look fatter, only because of my face and neck. I assumed the fat would go back to being spread out evenly but this hasn't happened yet. Does it ever go back to normal?