Carolyn
Hi Karen, here's what I went through and continue to go through. Prednisone was great for what ailed me, but the side-effects were monstrous; and post-effects are too. I was on Prednisone over 10 years ago for asthma. I went from 115-120 lbs, size 5/7 to 180+ lbs, size 16+ in one summer! I was 21 and devastated! No one told me that would happen - but it was a medical life or death emergency situation. I'm 39 and still struggle with releasing the weight, among other things. During the time I was taking Prednisone I had severe mood swings, I was angry all the time (for no apparent reason), and had sleep issues. I now have bouts of insomnia. Water rention was a monster. Here's the skinny of it: I took the Prednisone for the asthma; a pressure pill to counteract the high bp Prednisone caused; a water pill for the water rention it caused; and potassium pills because the water pill depleted my potassium. I had the round face & thick neck; swollen feet, I was a 7A and went to a 7 1/2 wide (threw all my shoes away because they no longer fit); my breast grew to a 38 D (I never wore a bra before taking this, didn't have much to put in one, except for a trainers); my sight began to diminish; my hair broke off no matter how much money I spent, or what type of treatment or conditioning I received; my skin broke out, I had beautiful skin(I went thru puberty w/out one pimple); depression kicked in (visited a shrink a few times); and my periods lasted for 7-10 days - HEAVY! It was an experience from HELL, but it did keep my asthma in check, and that's the only good thing I can say about it. I now have issues with my knees (their achy)because Prednisone rob's your body/bones of calcium (didn't know that). When I stopped taking it, my asthma went down tremendously and my sinuses hit the roof. Like I said I still have some weight and have tried nutritionist, dieticians, etc., etc., etc., and nothing has worked. The weight is moving slowly. But I refuse to give up, I will drop 40 lbs of this weight this year, somehow, some way! I think that's enough of my past and present horror story, but you did want to know more, other than the weight gain issue. One thing I would suggest is to take a calcium supplement and/or the MSM/Glucosamine combo to hopefully counteract the calcium robbing issue, and for you to do what you're doing and continue to exercise. Eat more fiber, fruit & veggies, and drink tons of water - this I've recently learned. Read up on this, there's now more to read on Prednisone than when I took it. Hope I didn't freak you out too much, but you must be proactive about offsetting the side-effects you may experience. The dr's won't tell you about any of the drastic symptoms you may experience. Prednisone is an aggressive drug and you mustlearn to listen to your body, and work to balance the side-effects it can bring.