How long does it take to lose the Prednisone "weight?"

Good morning, everyone!  I have been steroid dependent for 2 years.  I have been on 12mg for a long time.  My GI and I are trying a SLOW Pred taper, one mg a month.  I am finally down to 10mg as of yesterday.  (10 more months to go, lol!)

You are not alone!! I hate the prednisone weight and for me so far its been really hard to lose. The moon face though did go away after about 3 weeks but the weight I gained at my waist is still there. Hopefully someone will have some advice for you that I can use too! Take Care

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JenG

I've heard 10 mg is the magic dosage to start seeing symptoms disappear. But this is just what I have heard from a lot of people so that could have been coincidence. Maybe you will start to notice soon? Let us know how you are doing on that.

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20 years old, Diagnosed with severe Crohn's and colitis in May of 2008.
Currently taking:
Prednisone, pentasa, alinia, bentyl, prilosec, tandem plus, and the occasional ultracet
Surgery for ectopic pregnancy(very possibly due to Crohn's inflammation) in July of 2008.
Due to start Imuran September 17 depending on blood results.

it takes quite a while. you end up gaining a lot of extra water weight and such from the prednisone. i suggest hitting the gym hard, even now. go on a modified version of atkins (ie carb ceiling at say 80 grams net carbs per day instead of 15) for a few months. this should help shed the pounds. changing your diet from caloric dense food (ie processed/refined and prepared foods) to nutrient dense food (ie real food) should help too. have patience cos it is a slow process.

i never truly lost all the weight until i had surgery and from complications of not being able to eat for my 13 day stay in the hospital i lost like 30 lbs and that was what did it for me. but i dont recommend this drastic route. what i suggested above is better.

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Crazy Harry

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Crohn's since 1993 (17 yrs old then)
surgery in July '05 - removal of 2 inches at ileum and 8 inches of sigmoid colon (had fistula into bladder)
Nov '05 developed colonic inertia; July '06 told i needed ostomy surgery
began maker's diet in August '06 - now feeling the best ever with no symptoms of colonic inertia and i kept my colon
med free as of 10/31/07

Thank you all so much for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated!!:) Blessings, Julie

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I haven't lost any of my pred weight. sadface.

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Crohn's (diagnosed in 2006 and currently in remission), severe migraines, Seborrheic Derm., Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (1994), chronic pain, ulcers/GERD and possibly Lupus. Medications: Nexium, Pentasa, Percocet and Vicodin as needed, Flintstone Vitamins (my favorite part!), calcium and magnesium supplements, vitamin D once weekly. I follow a low fiber, low residue diet.

Well meowese you are not alone not that that makes it any better :)

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JenG

WOW! You guys actually lose your Pred weight! ;) Ugh! I'm dreading this one. I saw about 10lbs go at first, but that was it. The moon face went after about a month. I'd cut out your sodium intake as much as possible too, because a lot of what we are dealing with is water retention. I'm right there with you. Have gained 19lbs with it this time. I've been trying to stick to healthy snack options, but that doesn't always work. You don't necessarily need to hit the gym, as much as you just need to do something. Be it walking, housework, or some other activity.

I noticed my acne, and moon face started to disipate some after I went to 5mg. But, then they bumped me back to 30mg quickly after I lost 4lbs in 2 days due to flare. Now, I'm awaiting a clinical trial. I cannot WAIT to stop the darn steroid and take my body back!

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Kaycie - Age: 26
Crohn's - Dx Nov 05
Failed Remicade, moving onto a Clinical Trial called ABT-874 - Tentative start date - 10/2/08 - 10/16/08  - Infusion, every 4 weeks.
IVF #1 (In-Vitro Fertilization) - Failed
IVF #2 - IVIg, Heparin, Baby Aspirin - TWIN GIRLS!!!
Reagan Dawn - 8/2/07 - Lived 1 hour 27 minutes due to Cloaca, NOT affiliated with my Crohn's
Addison Maria - 8/2/07 - 13 months old

I'm an 18 year old girl recently diagnosed with Susac Disease. My specialist tells me I'm the 15th person in the world to have it, even though the internet claims around 200. I started on prednisone at the end of March. It helps to make the disease I have go away faster, rather than the 5 years it takes. I started off at 60mg and am now on 5mg. The "moon face" for me, started to go away when I went down to 10mg. It didn't completely go away, however. Personally, I didn't really notice but my family and friends did. I stayed at the same weight while my prednisone was being lowered. My moms cousin was also on prednisone for breast cancer. She told me that it took her approximately 6 months to lose the weight, and three-four weeks to completely lose the "moon face." She has a very slow metabolism and always needed to watch what she ate, so my specialist told me that the quicker your metabolism is, the faster the weight will come off.

I started losing weight at 10mg. Thank goodness...I always puff up like marshmallow man in ghost busters. I have been on and off of prednisone consistently the past two years and know all about the wonderful weight fluctuation. But, if it's the only thing that keeps you in remission, you gotta do what you gotta do.

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turboemma.blogspot.com/

 can anyone tell me, am i the only fat chrohns sufferer. i so far have not had the weight loss side affect dispite having severe fistulating chrons and surgery.  pred just made me gain more weight and i'm finding it hard to lose can't eat traditional diet food such as salads because of chrohns. my specialist says it is a good thing not to lose weight as i may need it later on but really who wants to be the fat girl with chrohns

Hi Wendy,

No, you're not alone -- I'm also overweight and have Crohn's. I lost 30 lbs in about 2 months when I was first diagnosed, but I gained all of it (and a little extra) back after being put on Predisone. The moon-face went away about 2 weeks after I stopped taking it, but it's been a month and a half since I've been off it and have had absolutely no changes. I'm relatively careful about what I eat and I work out a few times a week, so I'm wondering if it just completely trashed my metabolism.

If you guys have any suggestions for getting the weight off (going to "real food" generally causes flare ups, so I try to stick with fruit and gluten-free sandwiches -- it's a boring diet), I'd really appreciate it; I'm starting school in a month, and I don't need my weight issues as an added stress :(.