Muscle atrophy

[katarzena]

I've seen someone mention this as a side effect of prednisone. Has anyone experienced it?

[Jack]

It was probably me.
I started to lose muscle mass and body weight about 3 years ago and my docs are sure that Pred has a lot to do with this although I do have other problems too which mean that I often don't eat as much as I should.

[katarzena]

Oh I see. I was wondering because I lost some weight, it seems like my legs ae thinner but I don't know is it because of muscle atrophy or me eating less because of chemo therapy that gives me low apetite. Is it even possible for the atrophy to appear if you're on prednisone for less then a year? It seems to fast

[Sangye]

Pred causes simultaneous fat accumulation and muscle atrophy (aka steroid myopathy). There are degrees of muscle atrophy. Jack's is severe, while most of us have mild to moderate atrophy. It can develop at any time. Some people experience it soon after starting pred.

If your legs are getting thinner while your abdomen and upper body are getting bigger, that's the typical pred effect. Unfortunately my legs didn't read the textbook and have gotten bigger along with the rest of my body. :(

[katarzena]

Well I have kind of a bloated stomach but nothing that anyone had noticed.is there anything I can do to prevent my legs from getting thinner, such as riding a bike to build muscles?

[Sangye]

It's good to do as much exercise as you can tolerate to maintain muscle and overall flexibility. Pred will change your body shape--there's no way around it. It's due to its effects on the endocrine system.

Make sure you don't overdo your exercise. Stop long before you're tired and go for time, not intensity. If you do any weight-training, keep the weights very low because pred makes it easy to tear tendons and ligaments. If you overdo your exercise, you'll have worse Wegs symptoms up to 2 days after and/or feel very sleepy within a few hours of exercising. Both of those are signs to back off.

[katarzena]

Thanks for advices. I will try to do this sumemr as much as I can; riding my bycyle, roller blading, walking etc.
I was wondering doesn't the prednisone effect on muscles subside while you're below 10mg? I mean, most people loose all the side effects (swelling in belly and face) and look normal (no thin arms and legs) from what I've realised. I might be wrong tho.

[elephant]

I am on 8 mg of prednisone, the moon face went away but still a little more round....I have a very oval face. But basically all the fat pads went away. I am walking 20 miles a week..but not very fast.

[Sangye]

As soon as I went back on 4mg pred, the collarbone fat pads came back. They were finally much better at 1mg, but still there. Just taking 2mg pred this morning, they're already big. I don't get the full moon face on this low dose, but my face is rounder and I've gained weight despite controlling my diet.

[ian anderson]

I've seen someone mention this as a side effect of prednisone. Has anyone experienced it? hi katarzena this is a problem with prednisone(prednisilone uk) as opposed to an anabolic steroid anabolic means to build up pred is a catabolic steroid catabolic means to break down which what happens when you take preds its horrible believe me i was a bodybuilder weighing 17st when i took wg and they put me on preds it didnt take long to cannibalise my muscle tissue i looked like i had never trained take care
Ian

[Deanne Hull]

Hi Sangye I have the collarbone fat pads they make me look huge,, i still have the big tummy and the moon face and i have dropped down to 12.5 mg of pred since last friday so i have dropped a kilo in weight, so i am hoping with some exercise and the appetite not so demanding i will be able to drop some more. But i have been big all over and no sign of skinny legs...It is very interesting reading about all this stuff and confusing at the same time.

[Sangye]

It just shows how individual our bodies are. There's no predicting how pred (or any of the drugs) will affect us.

I notice when I have the supraclavicular fat pads my purse falls off my shoulders. I really hate that.