Weight gain & Prednisolone & other side effects

[Tatti19]

How inevitable is weight gain on moderate dose Prednisolone? I’ll be taking it for up to a year.

I struggle with maintaining my weight as it is.

How much did you gain? Did it come off easily
once stopping?
How many other side effects did you get?

I’m not looking forward to any of the potential/likely side effects but I’ll be honest from a vanity point of view its that which is bothering me the most …. I know they need to be taken etc etc but I’m still bitter about it 😂

This will depress you but if you really want to know …

I was on prednisolone for a couple of years, needed after side effects from cancer treatment.
I gained four stones because of insatiable hunger.

Sleep deprivation was awful. My head would not switch off and I was up at all hours of the night.

A friend who has had shorter but regular prednisolone prescriptions says she gets really angry whilst on it but I didn’t experience that side effect.

Your doctor will wean you off very slowly. It takes a long time but they manage this well so have no worries on that particular issue.

This all said, I really needed the prednisolone and it was extremely effective.

You need to be worrying about the possibility of secondary adrenal insufficiency with being on them for a year, rather than the weight gain - which is likely but will usually come off easily when you stop them. Have a google about adrenal crisis and adrenal insufficiency and learn to recognise the signs of low cortisol- being on steroids longer than 2 months can suppress your own cortisol production and you need to be very alert to signs of adrenal crisis when you stop them: not enough medics understand this and do not give people any information about it. (I have Addisons disease which is a type of adrenal insufficiency, albeit a different cause, and I advise in an adrenal insufficiency group). If you need the steroids you need them and that’s fine but make sure you’re fully aware of everything - if you do develop adrenal insufficiency you will need to be referred to endocrinology.