Corticosteroid weight gain

FrostedLight
FrostedLight Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone :) I've been taking corticosteroids for several years now to manage a medical condition. I've been able to manage my weight up until recently by eating in and around 1200 calories per day. In the past few months though, I've gained weight and gained weight and it is showing no signs of slowing down. I have not changed my diet and it's really getting me down now. I have worked hard to lose weight and had gotten to 52kg at 5'1" but now I have BALLOONED to 71kg and I am not happy. None of my clothes fit and I want to cry as I worked so hard and now it feels like it was all pointless as I am overweight again. I am waiting to hear from my endocrinologist, but has anybody else experienced weight gain from taking corticosteroids (like prednisone and hydrocortisone) and if so, how did you deal with it? Could you lose weight? Looking for a friend 😅

Replies

  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Prednisone gave me a raging appetite while making me lethargic. Additional calories plus less activity was a recipe for me for weight gain.

    If you’re not weighing all solid foods (including pre-packages foods like frozen meals and slices of bread/cheese or eggs), and ensuring all liquids, it doesn’t take much for more calories to sneak in.

    The advice to get a food scale and make sure you’re using accurate entires in the database (compare to the label) is solid.

    Medication doesn’t make us gain weight—it contains no calories. However, it can really affect other habits which can impact our weight.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    Prednisone causes weight gain largely by making you hungry — there’s some water weight involved, but certainly not 40 pounds work.

    It’s time to go back to basics. Start weighing and logging everything that goes in your mouth. It’ll come back off when you start eating in a deficit again.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    I too would make sure that you are weighing your food, just to be sure you aren't eating more.

    Steroids seems to have helped lead to insulin resistance for me. Be aware that it can raise your BG and insulin levels, which can make weight management a bit more difficult for some and may make an unhealthy metabolism a bit more likely. If insulin levels are higher and you have eaten more fat than you need, you'll be more likely to store that fat that use it in the short term.

    I was lucky and did not gain a lot of weight when I was on prednisone (young and active) but I did gain about a pound a month when on corticosteroids.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    Are you logging all of your food? If not, that would be the first step. As others have mentioned, using a food scale to weigh your food is the most accurate way to measure intake. But if you aren’t logging at all, start there. Be as honest as possible with yourself about portion sizes.

    I occasionally take steroids when I have an asthma flare up. They do make me hungrier.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Fluid retention is one of the most common side effects of steroid medication. It can be massive. I suggest checking with your doctor. Perhaps something has changed in your body that needs attention.
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  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    FrostedLight wrote: »
    Thanks! I have not been using a scale as I used to eyeball things and it was enough to lose weight but I suppose given that steroids increase appetite my eyeballing has been too much. I'll start using a scales and see what happens.

    Please do! For many people, if they're always hungry portion creep kicks in and what still looks like a small portion to you might be a much bigger one.
    Mind you, I suffer from portion creep without steroids or hunger. I just can't estimate distances, time or volumes. :D
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    I gained lots of fluid weight but once I got down to about 45 mg (from 60mg) I peed and sweat it out.
  • dollface_mell21
    dollface_mell21 Posts: 14 Member
    I gain bout 50 lbs from prednisone lose 10 after I stop taken it ...n was just to much pain for years to lose until just got tried of the weight in started October 2019 ...I hate medication
  • Deyvaen
    Deyvaen Posts: 1 Member
    I have had issues with corticosteroid medications causing weight gain. I have to take medication because I have an autoimmune arthritis and I always ask my Dr and rheumatologist NOT to give me anything with corticosteroids!

    The first time I took prednisone I gained about 85 lbs in less than a year, 12lbs the first month. :'( 3lbs a week would be an extra 10,000 calories and I KNOW I wasn't eating that much more or exercising any less.

    The only way I lost the weight was by refusing to take the prednisone, changing to a new Dr and it took me years to lose that weight. By 2016, I had lost 90lbs (exercising and counting calories) and maintained that until 2022 when I started a new medicine.

    Fast forward to now, my new Dr gave me another medicine last year and when I saw myself gaining weight, I looked up the medicine and it was indeed part corticosteroid. I gained about 30lbs this time, stopped those meds in July and I'm back trying to lose weight again.

    I wanted to comment both to say - I've been in your situation and to follow so I can see what others comment. I'm really hoping someone has some insight into how to deal with weight gain & medication. It's so frustrating to always hear
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Deyvaen wrote: »
    I have had issues with corticosteroid medications causing weight gain. I have to take medication because I have an autoimmune arthritis and I always ask my Dr and rheumatologist NOT to give me anything with corticosteroids!

    The first time I took prednisone I gained about 85 lbs in less than a year, 12lbs the first month. :'( 3lbs a week would be an extra 10,000 calories and I KNOW I wasn't eating that much more or exercising any less.

    The only way I lost the weight was by refusing to take the prednisone, changing to a new Dr and it took me years to lose that weight. By 2016, I had lost 90lbs (exercising and counting calories) and maintained that until 2022 when I started a new medicine.

    Fast forward to now, my new Dr gave me another medicine last year and when I saw myself gaining weight, I looked up the medicine and it was indeed part corticosteroid. I gained about 30lbs this time, stopped those meds in July and I'm back trying to lose weight again.

    I wanted to comment both to say - I've been in your situation and to follow so I can see what others comment. I'm really hoping someone has some insight into how to deal with weight gain & medication. It's so frustrating to always hear

    I'm with the VA and recently fired my "prescribing physician" after she twice prescribed meds known to increase appetite as well as one known to increase bleeding, which landing me in the ER for an emergency blood transfusion, after several incidents of crime scene bleeding. :angry:

    On the one hand, I might never take any medication if I fixated on all possible side effects, on the other hand, I feel like I couldn't trust her anyway to tell me about the important side effects.

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