prednisone

[Guest guest]

Hi ....

To answer your question on Prednisone... I have been on Prednisone since February. I don't necessarily feel anymore hungry than I did when I wasn't on Prednisone, but I have gained about 12 lbs. My husband and I had been on a lower carb diet prior to going on Prednisone, so I stayed on the diet, but it didn't help. When I see friends that I haven't seen in awhile they tell me that I look "puffy" in my face. My whole body just feels bloated and I am so depressed by it all.

Jo Strecker wrote:

Dear Carol,What you say is true in most cases, but a few yars ago I took adiabetes education seminar and to my surprise quite a few of thediabetics were of normal weight. One recently diagnosed guy was railthin! He said his doctor kept retesting him as he didn't look like atypical diabetic. I think he must have had a strong familypredispositon to it. Let me ask a prednisone question, since you brought up the weightproblem. Does prednisone make you hungry or does your body justthrive on fewer calories? Can will power keep the prednisone weightoff, or is it pretty much unavoidable? I have heard of people gaininghuge amounts from prednisone. I think that is what made Jerry gain so much. He lost 65 lbs since he went off his pain meds. He has25 more to go, and he looks so much better

already!Love, BTW: My friend, Eisenbarth whom was the smartest boy in ourH.S. now is a research MD at Duke Univ. specializing in pediatricdiabetes. He said the cure is right around the corner. wouldnot lie to me. :-)

[Guest guest]

Dear Jo,

You are to be congratulated on gaining only 12 lbs. on prednisone.

that is a small gain compared to what many have said. When you go off

it the weight will probably come off easily as you are still keeping

to your diet. The puffy face is another issue that I have heard of,

but one that goes away, right? Try to think of all this as a temporary

state...like pregnancy.

I don't remember your age, but have you ever noticed that as people

age their faces either become fuller or they look gaunt? This is even

if they don't gain or lose weight. It happens to men and women both.

Why is it so hard to be beautiful? :-/

Love,

[Guest guest]

Jo,

I know how you feel- I get really " puffed out " on

Prednisone and I know how upsetting it can be when

you're trying to fight it. Diet doesn't seem to stop

the weight gain in my case.

I suppose the good news is that the drug works and

indeed the weight does come off once you stop and your

body starts to balance out its chemicals. A small

consolation, I know, but at least there's a lot of

people who understand. I for one, love to wear form

fitting (not skin tight) clothing, nice jeans etc...,

but with the drugs, I've already noticed that I'm a

bit fuller all around.

We'll all get through this- I'm rooting for you and

for everyone on Prednisone. Here's hoping they

someday find something that does the same thing

without all the side effects.

Hang in there,

--- Jo Yancey wrote:

> Hi ....

>

> To answer your question on Prednisone... I have been

> on Prednisone since February. I don't necessarily

> feel anymore hungry than I did when I wasn't on

> Prednisone, but I have gained about 12 lbs. My

> husband and I had been on a lower carb diet prior to

> going on Prednisone, so I stayed on the diet, but it

> didn't help. When I see friends that I haven't seen

> in awhile they tell me that I look " puffy " in my

> face. My whole body just feels bloated and I am so

> depressed by it all.

>

> Jo

>

> Strecker wrote:

> Dear Carol,

>

> What you say is true in most cases, but a few yars

> ago I took a

> diabetes education seminar and to my surprise quite

> a few of the

> diabetics were of normal weight. One recently

> diagnosed guy was rail

> thin! He said his doctor kept retesting him as he

> didn't look like a

> typical diabetic. I think he must have had a strong

> family

> predispositon to it.

>

> Let me ask a prednisone question, since you brought

> up the weight

> problem. Does prednisone make you hungry or does

> your body just

> thrive on fewer calories? Can will power keep the

> prednisone weight

> off, or is it pretty much unavoidable? I have heard

> of people gaining

> huge amounts from prednisone. I think that is what

> made Jerry

> gain so much. He lost 65 lbs since he went off his

> pain meds. He has

> 25 more to go, and he looks so much better already!

>

> Love,

>

> BTW: My friend, Eisenbarth whom was the

> smartest boy in our

> H.S. now is a research MD at Duke Univ. specializing

> in pediatric

> diabetes. He said the cure is right around the

> corner. would

> not lie to me. :-)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your kind words.~

At this point, I will be on Prednisone for 2 1/2 more months, and I am sooooo hoping that the weight will come off easily once I am off of the medication. At this point, I can't fit into any of my nice jeans, and all my capri pants that I bought this summer (larger size)are starting to get rediculously tight. I'm so depressed about all of the weight gain that I don't even want to leave the house.

I'm with you....Hopefully some day they will find something that works as well but without the side effects. Best of luck to you too! You hang in there, too!

Hugs,

Jo

wrote:

Jo,I know how you feel- I get really "puffed out" onPrednisone and I know how upsetting it can be whenyou're trying to fight it. Diet doesn't seem to stopthe weight gain in my case. I suppose the good news is that the drug works andindeed the weight does come off once you stop and yourbody starts to balance out its chemicals. A smallconsolation, I know, but at least there's a lot ofpeople who understand. I for one, love to wear formfitting (not skin tight) clothing, nice jeans etc...,but with the drugs, I've already noticed that I'm abit fuller all around.We'll all get through this- I'm rooting for you andfor everyone on Prednisone. Here's hoping theysomeday find something that does the same thingwithout all the side effects.Hang in there, --- Jo Yancey

wrote:> Hi ....> > To answer your question on Prednisone... I have been> on Prednisone since February. I don't necessarily> feel anymore hungry than I did when I wasn't on> Prednisone, but I have gained about 12 lbs. My> husband and I had been on a lower carb diet prior to> going on Prednisone, so I stayed on the diet, but it> didn't help. When I see friends that I haven't seen> in awhile they tell me that I look "puffy" in my> face. My whole body just feels bloated and I am so> depressed by it all.> > Jo > > Strecker wrote:> Dear Carol,> > What you say is true in most cases, but a few yars> ago I took a> diabetes education seminar and to my surprise quite> a few of the> diabetics were of normal weight.

One recently> diagnosed guy was rail> thin! He said his doctor kept retesting him as he> didn't look like a> typical diabetic. I think he must have had a strong> family> predispositon to it. > > Let me ask a prednisone question, since you brought> up the weight> problem. Does prednisone make you hungry or does> your body just> thrive on fewer calories? Can will power keep the> prednisone weight> off, or is it pretty much unavoidable? I have heard> of people gaining> huge amounts from prednisone. I think that is what> made Jerry > gain so much. He lost 65 lbs since he went off his> pain meds. He has> 25 more to go, and he looks so much better already!> > Love,> > BTW: My friend, Eisenbarth whom was the> smartest boy in our> H.S. now is a research MD at Duke Univ.

specializing> in pediatric> diabetes. He said the cure is right around the> corner. would> not lie to me. :-) > > >

[Guest guest]

From what I have read, Prednisone is a tricky drug,

I have been on the Prednisone roller coaster ride since 1993.

Any questions, I will be happy to answer.

Jim

[Guest guest]

Greetings

Here's the biggest soap opera twist ever, I do not have EN.LOL

I have brain vasculitis.

I think wanted me here, because we use some of the same medications.

Or she just loves me:)

My best to Guy always

Jim

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I have a short but pertinent story about prednisone, which I'm on

again at this time for asthma.

Years ago (in the 1980's) I used to drive a propane truck in

California's Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Well, I once got sprayed accidently by a crop dusting airplane.

Within a couple of years later I got what's known as " Allergic Broncho

Pulmonary Aspergillosis " (Or APBA for short).

I was on prednisone for almost a YEAR in a very large to a small

tapering dose.

AFTER I finished I was completely CHANGED physically. The classic

balloon face, but I felt better than I had since I was 18 years old.

But then came the rub, my FMS and then CFIDS came after me to the

point that I was (and STILL AM) not the man that I was before that.

I was in my early 30's then, and the massive doses of predisone made

me into an old man.

Beware predisone.......it'll make you FEEL much better sometimes (like

now with my asthma), but it's " payment " is WAY HIGH!

And it's got a knife to your immune system, chopping away the whole

time......use it sparingly, and ONLY as your Dr. tells you to!

It also gave me big time allergies to MANY other drugs, and there is

only ONE kind of all natural deordorant that I can now even

use........all of these lovely side effects due to this very powerful

drug....prednisone.

Take care.....Be Well as possible, Albion

>

> Hi,

>

> I was put on prednisone because they thought I had asthma which I do

not.

> While on it, am still going off, it felt like a miracle cure! I

felt fine

> with no pain, no memory problems, no sleeping all the time, etc. etc. I

> felt like I had my life back again and now that I am going off of

it, I feel

> like I am going back into a dark abyss.

>

> Why does this medication make you feel so great? Why did it even

help my

> memory problems? I wish there were something like it that didn't

have the

> dangerous side effects. I did get the moon shaped face with serious

water

> retention though I was only on it for 3 weeks.

>

> Take Care,

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi , well Prednisone is a powerful anti-inflammatory drug, which is why

you felt so great – I’ve heard that before. It just points out the

inflammatory nature of this disease <sigh>. But you are right, the long term

effects of taking it are dire. Too bad, hey? You might want to try

anti-inflammatory herbs like Curcumin, which might help you. It hasn’t

helped my brain, but it helped my pain a lot!

You know, they thought my son had asthma, but he didn’t either…it was ME. 15

years on, though and he is healthy. He was bedridden for 3 years. Breathing

problems can be a part of ME, which so few docs recognize, so they say

asthma. The asthma drugs did my boy NO good at all. You TC, and I hope that

abyss isn’t as deep for you this time. I’m still crawling out of my last

plunge! Aylwin xox

[Guest guest]

If you have any type of inflammatory disease (even one that may not

show up in the typical tests) going on prednisone can decrease your

symptoms. Sometimes they have to put you on the meds to see if you

have it (my Rheumatologist did that...it didn't really help me) it

might not show up otherwise.

DonnaL

>

> Hi,

>

> I was put on prednisone because they thought I had asthma which I do

not.

> While on it, am still going off, it felt like a miracle cure! ....

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I was on prednisone in June and started tampering off in July. Now I have

ended and I have a sinus infection for which the doctor put me on

antibiotics for. But now I feel like death warmed over as I have bronchitis

and I can't stop coughing which I never had before. I also hurt all over

and I don't know if this is from the bronchitis or me going back to my old

pain-filled self.

I took another 5 mg. today, my last dose was Friday, even though I am

suppose to be off because I read somewhere that sometimes it is better to

tamper off to 5 mg. every other day for awhile until the adrenal gland kicks

in. I developed the moon face and lots of weight while on it. Now I am

getting leg cramps and just feeling lousy. I don't know which is which now

as I was in pain all the time before so.?

Has anyone else had this experience or ideas?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

I concur. Neti pots are awesome. Got mine at amazon.com. Judy :-)

----- Original Message -----

Hi B, have you tried nasal lavage (Neti pot) for the sinus infections? I

know it sounds so simple, but I had 3 years of them when I first got ME (21

years ago!), and when I did that for a month, they went away.never to

return. Also very helpful for colds & nasal allergies. Just plain salt water

(to taste) in warm water does the trick, though I suppose you could add a

tiny amount of a therapeutic agent such as Grapefruit Seed Extract or

Essence of Oregano or Golden Seal.