Anyone have success losing weight while on Prednisone?

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Franksgreengirl
Franksgreengirl Posts: 14
in Food and Nutrition
I have a rare Inflammatory myopathy call Dermatomyositis that requires treatment with medications that cause exessive weight gain (ie. prednisone). I have tapered down to a dose where it "should" be possible for me to lose weight and still regain valuable healthy muscle tissue. I'm not a sedentary person I love being outdoors to garden and hike as much as possible. I'm just at the beginning stages of this weight loss thing again and need as much support/tips as possible so I can achieve awesome results.
:smile:

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  • Edestiny7
    Edestiny7 Posts: 730 Member
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    I wish you the best! :flowerforyou:
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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    Yes, it is possible. There are a few of us here that have Rheumatoid Arthritis and are on corticosteroids, including prednisone. It is challenging to manage weight, but it can be done. For myself, if I am having a flare and have to up my prednisone for a few days, I will avoid the scale and try to drink more water to combat the extra gain and/or fluid retention. Your best bets are to eat healthy snacks when the prednisone munchies attack and exercise.

    I know it's easier said than done, because my prednisone munchies usually want me to eat ice cream and chips!!! Just watch your calories in vs calories out, exercise, and drink lots of water.
  • medrewiske
    medrewiske Posts: 51 Member
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    I have RA and have been put on prednisone twice. The first time (about 5-6 years ago) I gained 30 pounds. The second time I was determined not to let that happen again, and was able to maintain my weight. Eventually I was able to slowly start bringing my weight down little by little. It was mainly done through healthy snacking and exercise. I would bring vegetables to work to snack on (found myself snacking less when the food was boring veggies), and drink more water when I thought I wanted a snack.

    It can be done, just keep working at it.
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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    As a sidenote, I have had RA for 15 years and have been on Prednisone for ALL 15 of those years on a daily basis! I am currently on a maintenance dose of 15mg DAILY!! I know that's a lot, but it is the only way I can function. I have still managed to lose some weight, albeit slowly, but it can be done!
  • Franksgreengirl
    Franksgreengirl Posts: 14
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    :smile:

    I have not logged onto MFP in so long and don't know how I didn't get a notification about these great comments. I tell you I really could have used this advice a while ago but am so glad to have it now that I'm out of my blues faze. I was on 20 mg of prednisone for 9 months and 30 for a couple months before that. I have now gotten up to a weight that is alarming due to Cushings disease. My doctor says blame him because it's a necessary medicine to control my Dermatomyositis. I am currently down to 7 mg and feel my clothes fitting differently in a good way. I am planning on boosting the exercise slowly as directed and watching the diet. My downfall is planning meals for everyone else but myself. I say I'm not hungry because I don't feel it and then binge.... I'm going to try making my lunch with my sons everyday, and having dinner planned at least a day in advance so I can get into a routine again. It was so much easier when I worked outside of the home to have a specific lunch break. Besides what I've noted here any other tips I can use to battle the bulge?

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