Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Prednisone

It's making me fat(ter).

I have adrenal gland failure and so I'm gonna be on it for the rest of my life.

Last year this time I was 220, but was sick and finally diagnosed in March. Now I'm 265 and gaining.

For awhile I was eating everything I could but I've since got it under control. I'm still not eating real well, but it's cut back a lot. I eat less than I used to before the gland failure, and don't binge anymore.

When I first started on it I felt like superman for about 6 weeks, then just great, now it's OK, about normal compared to before the health issues. Then top it off with wintertime blues.

So is anyone else here fight the Predisone beast?

It's making me fat(ter).

I have adrenal gland failure and so I'm gonna be on it for the rest of my life.

Last year this time I was 220, but was sick and finally diagnosed in March. Now I'm 265 and gaining.

For awhile I was eating everything I could but I've since got it under control. I'm still not eating real well, but it's cut back a lot. I eat less than I used to before the gland failure, and don't binge anymore.

When I first started on it I felt like superman for about 6 weeks, then just great, now it's OK, about normal compared to before the health issues. Then top it off with wintertime blues.

So is anyone else here fight the Predisone beast?

I fought the prednisone beast, and I won.

I ended up at 320 when i topped out. That was years ago, i've been as low as 220, and now i'm at 245 (because of beer!)

I remember very distinctly eating a whole box of hamburger helper, with a whole pound of ground beef and STILL being hungry afterwards. It's a nasty, nasty drug.

Challenge your doctor. My situation was different (myathenia gravis for me), but they told me i couldn't live without it and i tossed that **** out and told them to find me something else or go kiss my ass.

haven't seen the doctor since, but i've been 100% fine without him :)

not suggesting you do the same, but seriously, that drug is poison. there is always an alternative. seek a second opinion.

Prednisone: Satan's own drug. A miracle cure for many things but it comes at a high price... I was on a 10 day round of it a few weeks ago and it made me manic, aggressive and hungry.

My beloved Girl was prescribed prednisone when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and experienced a great deal of weight gain... the cancer is gone (along with her thyroid) and overcoming the effects of the prednisone have taken a good deal of time.

Because she has to take synthetic thyroxine (for the rest of her life) she also has to have this monitored very closely as any imbalance can result in serious complications... weight gain is a very common side effect.

She inspires me like no-one else for this and so many other reasons... she has beaten cancer...twice.

She works harder than anyone I know to stay in the best shape possible and I am quite fond of that shape... no matter what.

...and the heartburn!!

Yes, evil stuff but when you need it, you need it. I thankfully was only on it for a few weeks to reduce cerebral edema and other swelling before and after a craniotomy to remove a large (benign) brain tumor.

That stuff had me blasting out of bed 6AM to fix 1st breakfast, double portions. By 7AM I was ready for 2nd breakfast, also double portions. I think I gained about 10 pounds.

It also jacked up my resting heartrate from its usual 60bpm to around 85.

Sorry, no coping strategy here - just my sympathies. See if there are alternatives ?

Nasty stuff that prednisone. I have an inner ear condition called Meniere's Disease that requires me to be on it once a year for 2-3 weeks. The first time I gained about 10 lbs. It was the weirdest thing....I had an uncontrollable urge to eat. Finally one night, as I was attacking a pint of ice cream, I came to my senses and realized something wasn't right. I asked around and found out that prednisone has that effect. I was pissed that the doctor didn't warn me. The last few times I resisted the urge to over eat and actually lost weight. Exercise helped me cope. I give a lot of credit to cycling. I can't imagine being on that stuff indefinitely. Best wishes.

Prednisone can also adversely affect blood sugar levels and trigger borderline diabetics into dabetic events due to extremely elevated blood sugar. My wife went overnight from a well controlled blood sugar of 104 to over 400.

They put my dog on it. Now he is permanently living on the counter in the kitchen. My only personal experience was with in 6 weeks of quitting smoking, so it was hard to identify why I had to keep eating.