Another Pred question

[bk1579]

Hey, just have a question about prednisone. I'm sure it has been discussed here a million times. I just didn't see any posts that was exactly what I wanted to see. I've been on prednisone for 2 months now. Don't really have any major side effects except weight gain. From what my Dr. tells me and from what I've read, that is very common. My question is, when I come off of this drug, how long does it take for me to lose this weight or will I? I've done pretty good, but still have gained close to 15 pounds already. It's driving me crazy seeing as how I can normally eat lots and never gain an ounce. I usually stay around 135 lbs. This Friday I start to taper off in two week increments. Tried this one time and flared back up within just a week or so. My Dr says for me to do it in two week increments instead of one week. If this doesn't work, he's going to try Imuran along with the asacol I already take. I'm sure I'll have some questions on that if I have to take that. Anyway, I'm sure everyone is different in the weight gain category, but just wanted kind of an idea on how everyone elses body reacts. Thanks for any response.

 

[Kev]

The good news... coming off pred (for me) meant my pred increased appetite went back to normal (food wasn't a pleasure, and I had next to no appetite).
The bad news? Stopping the pred doesn't mean automatically dropping weight.
The reason athletes take steroids is to bulk up fast... and it really works great.
Your post pred appetite and activity levels will determine how soon you lose any weight you gained while on the pred. In the overall scheme of things, I didnt' see it as a real problem. As for tapering off in decrements, I did it two different ways.. I have a pill splitter, and was able to cut my pills in half, and I did it over both one and two week periods. I suffered a major downturn with my last taper, and then I switched to Imuran. That didn't go so well...