Hello gang...

Well, the mysterious skin condition is getting better with the help of steroid shots, and a pretty hefty dose of prednizone. The problem with this stuff is that it is causing me to retain water like crazy, and I'm so freaking hungry that I've eaten about three times the amount that I usually eat in a day!
All of last week I was pretty much sedated, and I slept through some meals. So... this week I'm feeling better and I'm eating like there's no tomorrow.

Here is all that I ate today:

all-bran and cream
all-bran, butter, sugar free syrup (a pattie that I made and ate like a cookie)
a quarter pound of sausage
with cheese, onions, olives and tomato sauce (1 tsp)
three slices of roast beef
a small snack bag of almonds
a total of six beef sticks
about 10 pieces of sugar free chocolate
a whole 99 cent bag of pork rinds
pork rinds and dip
some lettuce and mayonaise
a half of a tin of velemints
a cup of cabbage
a polish sausage
nuts

It came to about 3500 calories... but the carbs were at about 35 for the day.

My question is...
can I eat that many calories, and still lose weight if I keep my carbs so low?
I don't intend on making this way of eating a habitual. It's just that I'm really hungry from the medicine I'm taking, and the doc said that was normal.

Thanks,
Leah

Okay... but at least it's all LOW CARB!!!

I don't know about all low-carb! I looked at a box of All-Bran after your post the other day about it only having 6 g of net carbs. By my estimation, a cup of it would easily put me over my 20 g all by itself.

I found a table comparing bran cereals, and for one cup, it says the total grams of carbs at 44, and the fiber grams at 19.5...

OMG I feel so bad for you. I was on that stuff for years, it was horrible. I gained insane amounts of weight, my face was always red, and my skin broke out from that stuff. Hopefully you wont have to be on it for very long. It really really does increase your appetite. Stick to the foods on induction and eat until you are full. Cut out the nuts, watch the cream, and only eat chocolate on very rare occasions for a treat. I feel so bad for you, I really know how it is. You food isnt very low in carbs, you should try to keep it at about 20 grams. Dont worry too much about the calories, just make sure the food is on the induction list.

I'm not on prednizone but I'm on Depakote and while it doesn't cause hunger it does cause severe weight gain (yay!! for no reason! That's just the BEST!) so I can definitely understand your predicament. . . . . as for pigging out. . I do that all on my own without the help of medication! I'm naturally a piggy! Problem is "back in the day" I burned it right off. . now I sit on my rump making beads all day and it stays put. . . . just do like **skibunnie** said.. . . stick w/induction foods for now. . . easier said than done I KNOW, but well worth it. . . .at least it's not one of those "you can have one carrot, two pieces of lettuce and a half a can of tuna" type diets. . eat until you're full. . . what else I find helps is forcing myself to eat a lot of something really fatty and carb free that I'm NOT hungry for. . . I feel REAAAALLLLY full after that. . . then dont even TALK to me about food for at least three or four hours! You can do it. . . and you know where to post if it gets tough!

I was too worried about that... but one serving for me is 1/3 of a cup. The Post Bran has 6 grams of carbs per 1/3 cup. It also has been helping with the constipation that I've been experiencing since starting this WOL.

Thanks EVERYONE for all of your kind words and encouragement. Having this forum makes this WOL sooooo much easier!~

Love ya,
Leah

Hi Leah,

I just want to say hang in there. I know all about steroid hunger - it can be quite vicious!

All I can suggest is to stick to LC foods when that hunger (and it's worse than usual "hunger" ) strikes. You probably won't lose much while you are still on the prednisone, but once you finish the course, you will lose a lot of extra water, so that's something to look forward to. There is just no way to cut down on your intake when you are on steroids. It's as though there's an alien inside you demanding you eat. Totally normal.

I'm lucky in that when I'm on steroids (none needed for over 12 months now ) all I really want to eat is meat and cheese. No yearnings for sweet things at all. Of course, pre LC I used to worry dreadfully about all that fatty meat and cheese. Nice to know it's actually good for us!

Cheers, and may the weight loss soon recommence!

Rosebud

I've gotten three shots of steroid in the last two weeks, plus I'm on 1600 mg of tagament per day, 60 mg of prednisone, 20-80 mg of hydrocortzyde, and tylenol as needed.

I've been doing some research (and thanks again by the way for all of your answers)...

I'm on 60 mg a day of prednisone, and the doc wants me on that amount for another week. That's really high, and I didn't know how high that was.
The pharmacy actually called to make sure that the dosage on the prescription was correct.

I'm afraid that taking this medication is going to really stall me. Once I am weened off of it (over the next month or so) will the weight drop off right away, or will I need to put some effort into losing it? What a way to shoot down your motivation... ya know?

I have been very hungry, but today wasn't as bad. My calories were under 2000, and carbs were around 30-35

I would like to report that my skin condition is improving. It was HORRIBLE!!!! I'm back at work now though, and I should be back to my old self once I get off all of this dreaded medication!

I've lost 15 pounds on this WOL... The success is being reversed! This is such a morale killer!

The water weight will leave pretty much immediately. If you have gained weight while on the steroids, that will take a little longer. I suspect you won't gain much though, as long as you stay LC.

These days when I need a course of prednisone I only need 50 mg daily for 5 days (for my asthma). And since switching to low carb, I don't gain anything on that. I used to gain lots - but that was because I was eating plenty of pasta, rice, potatoes etc with my large serves of meat. And the weight would take a long while to leave. As a matter of fact, my whole weight problem only began about 16 years ago when my asthma grew worse. If only I'd known about LC then!

Unfortunately you are unlikely to lose anything while you are still on steroids. But your health has to come first, as I'm sure you realise. Doctors don't put people on steroids lightly.

All the best to you, matey, and as I said before, hang in there!

Rosebud

Hey Galaga! That really sucks. When I saw your name by this post, I thought it was probably just something funny you'd posted. Sorry to hear it was something serious! I've had to be on steroids for a bad rash years ago, and after about 2 weeks of going off the steroids, the weight did fall back off. I wasn't LC'ing then, and only gained about 6 pounds in a 2 month period. Hang in there!

I feel so bad for you galaga, while I have never been on prednizone my husband was for awhile and it made him gain weight and have crazy mood swings! He was the biggest sweetheart then be the biggest A**h**e within minutes! He gained about 20 lbs. being on it for a couple months. My boss has been on it the last 2 weeks and the same thing has happened to him, wth no weight gain so far. Hopefully things are going well for you!

Just when I didn't think it could get any worse...

this morning my husband went to put the medicine on my back and he said "GOOD GOD! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!!!"... I was like "ummm... I don't know???"... then he exclaims "YOU HAVE ZITS ALL OVER YOUR BACK!!!"

I was embarrased... and then I looked in the mirror. It is HORRIBLE! All over my lower back... every inch dotted with bright red pimples! I found out that it's called steroid acne, and it's another WONDERFUL side effect of prednisone!

My weight is up to 177. I'm sure if I wasn't low carbing, it would be up a lot higher than that. Since prednisone makes you gain weight like crazy, I think that being on Atkins is evening things out. It's discouraging though.

I am so bloated though, and my stomach feels like there are rubber bands wrapped around it. I can't wait to get weened off of this medicine. It's really crazy stuff!
Hey... on the bright side... at least I'm not taking it for organ transplant, cancer, chrone's disease, lupus, or any of the other terrible things that people who have to take it have. And I was talking to a lady with chrone's disease who was on 40 mg (I'm on 60 mg) for eight months and gain 90 pounds!

The rash is better though...

Glad you have such a good attitude about all this! I bet you have a 10 pound whoosh when all of this crap is over! Hang in there!

I sure hope so...

I bet that I already had a 10 pound woosh, and I'll never know it. ha ha ha

I just wanted to tell you how sorry I feel for you. I have a friend that had a kidney transplant and the steriods are awful on her! My son also has to have steriods whenever he gets poison ivy, it gets all over his face. He gets all weepy and emotional whenever he's on it. It isn't pleasant but sometimes a must for good reason.

Good luck and i'm sure the weight you gain will come off quickly! Oh, also, the acne will go away! Just hang in there!