Weight Gain from Solumedrol

[VickiD]

Hi everyone,

Hope today's a good day for you.

I just have a quick question. Have any of you gained a significant amount of weight from Solumedrol. I just got off a 5 day period of IV Solumedrol (actually, it's been about 3 weeks) and I gained 10 lbs. I've been exercising and eating less since then and the lbs. won't budge. I've heard that some people who use it can get the condition called Cushings Disease and now I'm concerned that I may have it.

Any ideas on how to get rid of the weight in a healthy way?

~ Vicki

[Redwings]

Hi VickiD:
A great deal of the weight gained from Solu-Medrol is water weight, and it will not will not will not come off through diet and exercise. So quit beating yourself up if some of the weight hasn't come off yet.

Some weight can be gained because steroids can trigger a voracious appetite. But that weight gain (from overeating) is fat, and should come off with diet and exercise within about a month. If your weight hasn't come off after 3 weeks, it could be because it's steroid-related water weight. It may come off within the next couple of weeks, and could come off fairly quickly. I carried almost 20 pounds of steroid-related water weight for several months that absolutely refused to come off, then suddenly came off within a couple of weeks without me doing anything different. I've also gained 15 pounds from a single 3-day Solu-Medrol series, but it all came off about 3 weeks later. So it could be worthwhile for you to keep up the healthy eating and exercise, but give it a couple more weeks to see if the water weight comes off.

Cushing's disease comes from long-term -- months to years -- use of steroids, not a single 5-day regimen. It isn't even possible to test for Cushing's disease only 3 weeks after a 5-day regimen of Solu-Medrol (and your doctors will likely quickly dismiss the notion). Try not to jump to conclusions by assuming the worst while you're still bloated.

So keep up with the healthy habits and see what happens in a couple of weeks.

[VickiD]

Hi Redwing,

Thanks so much for your response. It was extremely helpful. I didn't realize it was not unusual to gain so much weight from Solumedrol. I barely ate while I was on it and have been making healthy choices since being off of it so your message makes me feel hopeful that the weight will come off at some point.

Thanks also for the reassurance about Cushings Disease. I guess I did leap ahead in worrying about this condition.

Hope this is a good day for you.

~ Vicki

[Redwings]

Correction

In my previous post I meant to say "A Cushing's disease-like presentation" comes from long-term use of steroids...