This is going to sound really vain but

[owllover]

I'm gaining weight and don't like it!
I've never been 'thin' my whole life. I've always been slightly to quite overweight. Since September last year I've lost 24lbs and felt great about my body for the first time ever, at my lowest I was 137lbs so not under weight by far for my build. Now obviously I was going to the loo about 8 - 10 times a day which didn't make me feel good!
Now I'm tapering off my steroids, got 2.5 weeks to go and I'm start to pile weight on I'm just so hungry all the time! Its awful.

Does anyone else feel like this? Or am I just being really vain and stupid? I really want to be in remission and I feel like I'm nearly there but I feel so depressed about my weight. I'm trying to watch what I eat and stick to a calorie limit but still its creeping on...

Sorry I just felt I need a rant, sorry to all those out there that are still poorly.

Thanks

 

[KayleighMeek]

I understand how you feel completely and I don't think you are being vein at all, sometimes when you feel so ill and horrible you want to feel good about how you look. I find it very hard my weight yo-yos all the time due to medication and crohn's itself it screws up your body image. I always say I dont know what I'm meant to look like anymore I change so much. I think it comes down to acceptance if your body is healthy and you feel better it might be worth putting on some weight. This is what I try and think to myself but I still dread steroids just when I think my weight settles they give me some more.
What helps me when I feel like this is doing my hair nice putting my make up on and a nice dress even if I just stay in the house.
Im sorry you feel this way at the minute and hope you feel more positive again soon. X

 

[kimeric]

I know exactly how you feel. You already feel like crap because of the Crohn's and then throw in weight gain on top of the mood swings caused by the steroids! I am going through this right now and can't stand myself. I don't know how my hubby stays with me because I turn into a tyrant on the steroids. We must hang in there and know that this will soon pass!

 

[JudithC]

Weight gain?

Oh thank goodness someone else feels like me. I'm off the Pred for one week now......and I'm very tired and probably depressed and waaaay overweight, probably by about 50 pounds now. I was working on my weight before all this hit, am still going to the gym, but sometimes embarrassed because my tummy gets so bloated. The Pred helped me put on another 12 pounds. Dang! Am on Pentasa right now, but sharp pains starting up again. I see my GI next week, but don't think there really is anything much he can do. And, life goes on.

 

[kimeric]

Just remember that most of the weight will come off once the roids are completely out of your system. :dance:

 

[sunflower]

It is one of the tough things about being treated for Crohn's. My weight has never come off completely, and I have found that roid weight is harder to lose than regular weight. I was the opposite, and had always been skinny. My family always thought too skinny. Now we know it very well could have been undiagnosed Crohn's. Anyway, after having been on pred for quite some time, my poor body finally put on weight and it never left. The crowning jewel was when I was on Depo Provera. I put on 50 pounds in just a couple of months and now my weight seems permanent. HOWEVER, I am alive and I was close to death when they finally put me on prednisone. So, the alternative to being heavy is not as attractive to me!! Who know, maybe I was always a heavy person and the pred just made me normal. LOL!!

It sucks, but it is just a part of our lives. We have to find a way to feel better about it.

 

[owllover]

Thanks, its good to see other people feel the same - if you know what I mean!

I'll just have to get used to being a fatty again, at least I'm alive and have energy for my son now! We are going camping next week and I keep thinking 'ah I won't have to go to the loo every half an hour!' instead of worrying.

Out of interest what do you say to people when you gain the weight? Like do you shout at them 'im on steroids!' or just try to ignore it!

Ive definately noticed the mood swings thing too, me and my partner have done nothing but argue the last few weeks and I reckon its coz I'm just so moody and argumentative! (apart from him being a pain anyway lol!)

 

[tiloah]

I'm sorry you are frustrated about your weight. I firmly believe that people are beautiful and attractive at all sizes and it is SO MUCH more important to be healthy than to be thin.

I read this article this morning. It's absolutely crazy what our society does to make people want to be thin.

As far as what to say to people... well it's really none of their business. You shouldn't feel the need to make excuses for yourself (there's nothing wrong with what's happening to you!) and if they comment they are really out of line. When they do comment I'd come back with something about how it's important to your health, you're on steroids, it's better you be overweight than too thin from this damn disease.

Hope you can get off those steroids soon. They are so nasty.

 

[owllover]

Thanks. Im going to ring in the morning and see if I can go down another pred pill tomorrow. I was taking 4 pred a day for a month then after having a bit of bleeding last week they told me to stay on 4 a day instead of tapering to 3 so from tomorrow I should have been on 2 a day then finished in a couple of weeks.
Just want to be off them now!
They gave me predfoam enemas to have for 2 weeks, does anyone reckon these make you put weight on (or be really hungry) like the oral pills do? So if Im on 20mg enema and 20 mg oral then am I on 40mg a day in total? Or does it not work like this?

 

[steph38]

Owllover,
I completly understand I was diagnosed 16 years ago and have been on steroids since. I gained 100 lbs in the first year and when I go up on the steroids I keep gaining a little more and cannot loose it no matter what. My attitude is I would rather be fat and semi-healthy than skinny and sickly....

 

[bluedrops]

You are not vain.. in fact your speaking for so many of us!! I have never really been thin either and I lost 50 lbs with a flare It sounds so messed up to say but sometimes I wish I was still that weight and could figure a better solution than the steroids. I have gained that all back and am starting school for the first time in 10 years soon. I miss that body but I am thankful there is something to help my pain... even if I eat like food is going out of style Keep your head up!!

 

[sunflower]

owllover, the pred in the enema is not absorbed as completely into your system so you should see less side effects. The purpose, and hope, is to deliver as much steroid to the site as possible, and hoping that as little as possible is absorbed into your bloodstream, and hopefully you won't have as many side effects. I am on 100 mg cortenema. The highest oral dose I have ever been on is 80 mg. The IV stuff - I have no idea what the dose was for that.

That is some weird stuff. I didn't feel the side effects as much - as in I could sleep and I wasn't as cranky. But, I bloated up like a toad quick on that stuff. In fact, my face swelled up so much that I had to have my husband take my glasses in to the shop to have the frames bent out because they were cutting into the side of my face.

 

[Gidget]

No Worries! I have lost 23lbs. I lost 5 just last week in only a few days! :LOL The best part is I look GREAT! Feel sick all the time and achey! This is after the Pred about 5mo's ago and I did gain some of what I initially lost back then.. then I was on Entecort and stopped that 4 or 5 days ago. I think that it will eventually get better for you and heavens NO you are not vein! Jeez, the weight loss is the only positive in this for me! :soledance:

 

[Astra]

I think the majority of Pred weight gain is fluid retention.
Pred causes the body to retain sodium (salt) and lose potassium and this combo can cause fluid retention, weight gain and bloating.
So, to avoid this whilst on Pred; eat a reduced sodium diet, and increase your potassium uptake with bananas, and other potassium rich foods, if you can tolerate them.
Higher calorie consumption is common whilst on Pred, so decrease dietary fat, and eat several small meals a day instead of 3 large ones.
Pred can cause the redistribution of fat, which makes it harder to lose the weight gained.
And this tends to be the face, neck and abdomen.
The good news is, that this weight tends to reverse once the dosage hits below 10mg, and the fluid retention and increased appetite will reduce.
I was on it for nearly a year and gained a lot of weight, these tips ^ helped me.
Once I came off it, it all went away, like it'd never been there!
Good luck everyone, and remember, with or without Pred, a bit of weight gain is a good sign you're absorbing something!
xxx

 

[ellipse22]

I have always had poor self body image issues. I have gone through periods of losing & gaining. In January I decided to eat healthy and exercise. I was on a 90 day work out program and lost 20lbs. I felt great! I had a bad episode in July and lost 8lbs in less than 2 weeks. I have now gained the 8lbs back plus more. I absolutely HATE it! I attribute the weight gain to the foods I am eating. Carbs are my enemy but it seems to be what my body can handle and I am not having D issues. My body needs exercise in order to maintain. I miss it terribly!

So, you are not vain because if you are then I am too :ybatty:

 

[Jennifer]

If people ask I tell them that its the medicine. Everything will go back to normal once you're off the meds. The appetite will get lower which will give you a chance to make healthier decisions and peak your interest in more exercise because you'll be feeling better. Remind yourself that this is temporary. Plus a lot of it is water weight so once you stop taking it, that weight will come off quickly. While on steroids, even for a year at high doses, I only gained water weight and didn't have to lose any fat that could have been gained.

 

[owllover]

Thanks everyone, Ive had a really bad evening, just cant stop eating, nothing is getting me full. Its the strangest feeling! I love food and eat just for the sake of eating sometimes but this is like REAL hunger, stomach rumbling, mouth craving hunger. All I can liken it to is having the munchies from smoking weed - from what I remember in my teens!
I'm hoping tomorrow is better.
Nice to know people know how I'm feeling

 

[Jennifer]

Perhaps more protein might help. It tends to make you feel full longer. Also many times feelings of hunger can be from dehydration so maybe you could try increasing your liquid intake (but try to avoid soda or other salty drinks). I know I just mentioned salt but maybe even jerky or other foods that you have to work for might help.

 

[Jessica]

If I know I'm not hungry, but just want to eat something.. I used to grab a spoonful of peanut butter. Gave me something to do with hands/mouth and put protein in my stomach so I'd think twice before getting up again.

And I hate it when I gain weight too. I'm in the midst of putting weight back on that I've lost recently... that I gained not that long ago... ha! What a cycle. I was just diagnosed with a thyroid disease, so it's just another way that I have to fight to keep weight on. But sometimes I'm too good at that. Just love food too much. Mmm... think I'm gonna go grab some applesauce!

You're not being vain or stupid.
<3

 

[kimeric]

Jessica

You're too funny. Grab a spoonful of that applesauce for me too since I'm on my way to the fridge to grab cabbage rolls and perogies and I know THAT will not be good for my gut or my waist!

 

[soretum]

wow your storey is exactly the same as mine! I was stalled on 20mg for a month as well, now on 10mg due to go down to 5mg in a couple of days....I only really started to balloon in about the 3rd week of 20mg and can totally realte to not wanting to put weight on, the weight loss was the only good thing to come out of this!! I must say though that it does feel like water weight, my fingers are really puffy so heres hoping it all reabsorbs when the roids stop. Have put on around 3kg of the 9 lost, really hoping it's all water!
I dont thinnk you're being vain at all, our bodies go thru so many changes with this disease that if the weight loss has made you feel good then you have every right to hold onto that! Good luck with the rest of your taper xx

 

[Jessica]

@kimeric - Pierogies love my stomach! I always get the potato & cheddar ones. Saute in a little butter, s&p... mmm. Always helps me when my stomach is twitching

 

[crohndee]

I completely understand where you're coming from...
Not too long ago I came off cortisone.. i was on a highish dose (50mg) initially.. and my face puffed up within a week or two of being on it.. i felt discusted looking at myself.. and yes, munchies, and thus weight gain, hardcore... it gets to me everytime.. EVEN when i tell myself, and i know, that health far outweighs appearance.. there was a part of me that wanted to stop taking it.. i woulodn't, but the thoughts were there...

how we look.. affects how we feel.. our mental health.. which is important.. so, i wouldnt say you're being vain.. just comes down to a desire to feel good physically AND mentally.. something everyone is entitled to.. !

Im off it and back to my normal weight.. under even.. so yes, hang in there

 

[jesseiam2]

Ugh, the weight issue, I understand your sentiments completely. Your not vain at all. But its a struggle for me as well.

I am 6'1". I went from pre-sickness of being about 230 pounds. I was a bit heavy, but I was also in really good shape as I was a volunteer firefighter and got lots of physical activity. I started losing weight as I got more sick and when I left the hospital after my surgery I was 116 pounds. (I looked horrid!) Then I started putting weight back on and leveled off about about 200 pounds, still a bit overweight but nothing I couldnt live with. I just started getting sick again and that wonderful prednisone has me back up to 220 pounds. I cant quit eating! Hopefully the weight will receed as I make the shift from steroids to 6MP and Humira. Anyone have any experience with these drugs and weight?

 

[sunflower]

Oh the munchies!! CrabbyRelish is right in that protein helps. And peanut butter. And drinking. Just try not to let yourself mindlessly munch through bags of pretzels and cheese dip. They were my downfall!! I don't buy either one any more. LOL!! And it is true, if you don't have to be on too long, the weight does seem to come off pretty easily. It changed for me after several years of being on and off. They didn't have any alternatives then, except Imuran and stuff like that and for some reason I have always been scared to take it. I don't know why. So, I took pred instead.

 

[Zalanicht]

Just remember, it's always easier for someone to not eat when they're hungry then it is to try to eat when they can't eat. Gaining weight is gooooooood!!

 

[owllover]

Well Im still hungry all the time. Going to weigh myself tomorrow just to torture myself a bit more!
Only 2 weeks left til Im off the pred now, phew!