Prednisolone and weight gain/moon face

[hannah-rose]

Hello all,

I'm supposed to be taking 30mg pred daily for 4 weeks to help heal a possibly crohn's related perianal ulcer.

At the moment the ulcer isn't causing me any distress or pain, it's just that it wont heal and my CRS suspects crohns.

I'm really terrified of getting really fat and getting a massive moon face whilst taking the steroids, these side effects would be worse than the actual ulcer!

Anyone else experienced these side effects at this dose? Any other steroids that won't turn me into mr staypuft?

Thanks!

Hannah

 

[Keona]

hey Hannah
Welcome to the forum
I just had someone post a side effects poll on prednisone. If you look in the poll section, you will see what effects people have been having. I am also worried about the same so I asked someone to post a poll....it was helpful! (along with the additional responses you will receive)

http://www.crohnsforum.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=222

 

[hannah-rose]

Aw I saw that poll! It was scary.

I was hoping someone would say if you only take 30mg for 4 weeks I might not resemble the moon from bear in the big blue house

 

[Keona]

lol...

 

[littlemissh]

Hannah,
I think it unlikely you would develop a moon face in 4 weeks of pred. I would have thought you would then taper the dose down reasonably quickly so you could get away without too much in the way of the longer term side effects. I am 7 months in on pred and so far not doing a moonie!! and (unfortunately for me) not very much in the way of weight gain.
Better to be well and a little overweight than have bits of your bowel getting damaged and ending up being removed etc.

 

[hannah-rose]

Oh god I totally agree. At the moment crohn's hasn't been confirmed but is suspected, and it only effects the perianal area. I had a colonoscopy and abdominal CT which were both clear.

I probably sound very vain, I've been reading other posts about pred and it's side effects and people talking about gaining 20lbs etc. I'm only 5ft, I weight 8.5 stn and I'm a size 10, if I gained 20lbs I'd be as wide as I am tall! Here's hoping any weight gain is relative to your build.

I hope 4 weeks is enough time for my little ulcer to heal. It's certainly not doing anything on it's own. Fingers crossed.

 

[ThanksP]

I've been on 40 mgs since February and not gained any weight. You just have to really watch the food cravings and try to reduce your sodium and carb intake. You may still gain a little but not nearly as bad. The moon face is mostly water weight so if you do get it, it goes away fairly quickly once you stop the Pred.

 

[hannah-rose]

I've been on 40 mgs since February and not gained any weight. You just have to really watch the food cravings and try to reduce your sodium and carb intake. You may still gain a little but not nearly as bad. The moon face is mostly water weight so if you do get it, it goes away fairly quickly once you stop the Pred.

Thanks that's really helpful, I'll bear it in mind when I start taking them. No more junk food for me I can cope with a few pounds as long as my clothes still fit lol. And I'm still hoping that I don't get a big ol' face but if my bum heals up I'll be too happy to care!

 

[ameslouise]

I was able to control my weight gain - actually lost weight - while taking 40 mg of pred for several months by cutting out all processed food. I didn't get cravings and I got skinny as a rail. Besides, cutting out junk food and processed food can only be good for you, right?

 

[saltimbanc0]

I was on pred at 30mg for years and didnt gain weight, in fact was able to control it extremely well and drop it when i needed.

Now is a different story but I have adrenal failure due to the long term steroids and doctors not tapering it causing adrenal crisis and my adrenals never picked back up.

Some people get sides some done, they do go pretty quick and the shorter time you are on them the quicker the sides if you get them do go away.

I actually find when im low on cortisol now (because i dont make my own so have to take it orally) is when i get hungry - when my meds are right, obviously not OVER, is when i can lose weight. Not an option now as im disabled but pred and steroids if used right - short term and with discretion at the lowest effective dose, can really be useful - just make sure if it is IBD that they have a plan to switch you to something else for maintenance asap.

 

[Awbrey]

Hannah - Rose,
I lost weight on predisone as well as you i only took it for a month and felt better than ever and lost 15 lbs, everyone is different however I love it.

 

[hannah-rose]

Hannah - Rose,
I lost weight on predisone as well as you i only took it for a month and felt better than ever and lost 15 lbs, everyone is different however I love it.

Wow that's amazing the pred's just got to heal one tiny area in my body, surely it can achieve that over 4 weeks, here's hoping.

saltimbanc0 that's so awful about your adrenal problems. Did the doctors not worry about the long-term affects of steroids on your health? For me at least, the side effects of steroids would probably be worse than the actual symptoms of crohn's, as the only symptom I have is the ulcer and it's painless. Ironically it doesn't actually effect my quality of life, it's just that it wont bloomin heal. I'm young and healthy so that's why they suspect crohn's as they can't work out why my body won't heal normally.

Glad pred has worked for others and thanks so much for all the info about the side effects, you've all been really helpful and reassuring

Hannah

 

[cheeky]

if you can, exercise... at first when i was on pred, i was still exercising "(cardio as much as possible) and even though i was on 40 mg, i didn't gain weight or get moon face for a few weeks.

then when i stopped working out and continued eating A LOT lol, i gained weight... but i never got the moonface ever. maybe slightly puffy? but definitely no moonface.

be glad it's only 4 weeks, you might be ok....good luck!

 

[rygon]

I had no problems with them at all. Was on 30mg for 2 months and now its been reduced to 20mg for 3wks before i see the GI again

 

[hannah-rose]

Thanks guys, appreciated

 

[denisk]

The moon face isn't that bad and I think it affects some more then others. Trust me I had it and it went away fairly quick and if the benifits are you feel better then who cares about the moon. Just think postive and you'll be fine

 

[Saphira]

My son Brandon has been on Pred for 4 weeks he gained 9 pounds in the first 2 weeks on 40mg tapering by 5 mg per week, he is now on 20mg/day. He has a round moon face, hasn't slept more than 4 hours a night, however on th higher doses he felt great and even his joint pain went away
Trina

 

[denisk]

Your right about the sleep also it's like clock work 4-5 hours if your lucky but again you'll get over it once your done the meds.

 

[Joleen23]

I have moon face at the moment, but it only got really bad when i was on iv steroids in hospital though (think it was quite a high dose - every 4 hours for 2 weeks) it wasn't so bad when i was on 30mg, im down to 5mg now and my face has started to go down. Worth it to not be in pain

 

[Zalanicht]

Only thing I can say is gaining weight is always better then losing weight.