Prednisolone and training at gym

I am currently serving in the military as a physical training instructor and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis on Friday. Yesterday I started medication taking 40MG of prednisolone each day reducing dose by 5MG per week until off them so 8 weeks of meds.

I am aware the prednisolone breaks down muscle but is there anything I can do to prevent this? Like take over the counter supplements

Can I still do weights at the gym? to try maintain muscle whilst taking prednisolone rather than lose it.

Finally should I expect to see a massive loss in muscle and gain in fat on 8 weeks of the prednisolone.

Any advice is greatly appreciated as this is all new to me, thanks for your time.


Leeo

Hi, I'm female (presume you are male from your name?) so maybe my body will be different but I think that in 8 weeks you will be OK and not see too much atrophy. I would say keep up the resistance work to help your muscles stay in shape - and as Chiron said, careful with the salt. Same goes for sugar as pred can affect glucose metabolism.

What I'd really be looking out for though is mental health side effects, Pred can cause insomnia, euphoria and you can think you are strong as an Ox and overdo it and wind yourself up even more by over exercising.

You can't avoid some puffiness in your face and probably stomach area. I find this goes down quickly when off the meds so try to live with it and don't stress over trying to change that.

I don't know if you incorporate any "slower" exercise like Qi Gong or yoga where you use your own body weight to build up muscle but now would be a great time to start to help you combat the effects of Pred while keeping fit.

To change the subject a little, are you taking anything else other than prednisone? Prednisone only works while you are on it and does not work once tapered off. If you don't have an additional game plan you will be back to square one.

That's not true for all Gary, there are lucky ones who do get away with one episode. My first episode, which was proctitis, cleared with steroid enemas (big ol bags of liquid in those days) and, as back then, maintenance drugs were not prescribed in the UK for proctitis, I was sent off knowing nothing thinking this was a a one off disease. I had absolutely no symptoms for the following 4.5 years and the next flare came on the back of living abroad in rough conditions for 6 months with all sorts of food poisonings. It may be that, if I hadn't subjected my body to that, I would never have reflared. I'll never know....

These days it's so much easier to monitor, regular calprotectin checking will be pretty reliable to know if inflammation is creeping back into the bowel, in that case I'd be getting on the mesalazines for maintenance for sure.

garylouisville said...
Might not be true for all but it seems to be true for 99%. My GI is one of the most respected GI's in this area and he rarely even prescribes prednisone for anyone because he knows it only works while you're on it.

For once I must take Gary's side on this one.

I've hardly ever heard of Pred knocking anyone into a prolonged remission, i.e. a remission that lasts for years without any other meds being taken. I have, however, read countless stories of people taking Pred, getting quickly into remission, then the symptoms returning as they taper down or shortly after coming off it.

I personally spent 8 years on and off Pred (with the majority of the time spent on it in the last two years). From my viewpoint it was an utter waste of time. It didn't stop my disease from getting worse, but it did delay my need for surgery by a few years. That probably sounds good, right? Not when you're suffering more and more during those few years, as I was.

GIs literally rely on Pred as a cheap, easy crutch. It's understandable (patients want quick results and Pred certainly offers that to most people). But if you start needing Pred more than once, then it has already outlived its usefulness.

Cheers for the response people.

decided to increase protein intake gradually as the dosage tapers down, lower sodium intake and increase potassium to see if I can at least maintain what muscle I have without gaining too much fat.

Doctor hasn't mentioned anything about maintenance drugs.

I am taking a few other things along side the pred but I think they are just for sides (balsalazide, fossamax & ranitidine)?

On average how long should I be expecting to wait until the pred kicks in?

Does anyone with UC take protein shakes or are they bad news? I'm currently not but would like to begin again in the future if possible

Many thanks - Leeo

Pred tends to kick in fairly quickly especially your first time on it (it of course varies from person to person) you should typically see results in the first few days (way it happened for me at least) be sure to take it all in the morning (all pills at once) to help avoid common insomnia issues for those on pred...often after being on it the first two weeks and then tapering down on it symptoms tend to creep back (which I what some posters above are pointing out) which is also why posters were asking if you were also put on maintenance meds as well.

Sorry for your DX, IBD is a lousy club to have to join but you've got support here at this forum, just be sure you do your own research and pay attention to how your UC is affecting you because it's typically very individual and some people flare worse than others. You'll soon discover that when it comes to IBD it's very trial and error (including your work outs) so tread with caution, including with all advice you get we are generally sharing how we're affected by IBD because it's different for all.

Weight lifting is also beneficial for your bones, which prednisone will weaken. Calcium helps too to try to combat the bone thinning effects of pred.

Exercise helps with UC, as it helps with every facet of your life.

I got sick about a year ago, diagnosed this past January and still not fully in remission. I still lift weights at least 3 times a week. There have been times though when I just physically couldn't on some days.

When I first noticed something was wrong with me last year it was because I was having chronic diarrhea and also felt like I was plateauing in the gym when I thought the weight should have still been going up(I had only started lifting about 6 months prior to getting sick).

UC seems to be the anti-gains disease. Over the last year, whenever I do start to see progress, I will get sick again. It is very frustrating and my lifts seem to yo-yo up and down but I keep at it trying to maintain so once I get fully into remission I won't have to start from scratch. As far as mass, I haven't noticed much difference although I am slowly getting bigger. Slowly getting stronger too. I haven't gotten fat though and weight wise, I probably lost 20 pounds from last summer til right after I was diagnosed and have gained about 5 of that back in the last few months. I'm trying to gain some weight still so I eat a lot....but then I get sick and it will erase all that work.

If you are flaring on UC, I have also noticed that recovery time almost doubles. Your body just isn't working how it should and absorbing all the nutrient/proteins you need to recover. If anything, I do better lifting when I am on pred because I'm not flaring then. I can recover quickly and I'm not staying out of the gym to other effects of flares(my back gets all messed up when flaring and I can't squat/deadlift)

miestomaga - Its pretty similar for me too, just as I get happy with my gains and start to notice a difference I had my first flare up.

Prior to falling ill I was taking an all in one protein powder with bcaa's and creatine in. After doing some research I realised simple protein is probably best for me. ill probably get whey isolate next time to be fair, not too sure about bcaa's ect though.

Been trying to get most protein from meat and eggs now, if I get hungry due to the meds going to have a chicken breast or poached egg ect. got some banana's and dried apricots aswell as they are good for potassium


Since being diagnosed have you ever tired using any pre workouts? Something id like to do again just what to know if anyone has had troubles as they contain large amounts of caffeine

When I first noticed symptoms I was taking pre workout a few times a week and they were going straight through me so I stopped & haven't used them since. To be fair haven't really noticed a difference in energy levels without them

my dad and his girlfriend do triathlons and I always see a chocolate milk drink in the fridge as they both swear buy it, I thought my dad was just being cheap haha

I agree to a point with bananagirl, depending on how severe your flare is of course you should tone down your workouts maybe even do just some light-moderate yoga (yoga can range from light to very intense) so listen to your body of course BUT keeping in mind that exercise is always beneficial and as long as you pay attention to your body, it can help your flares too....common sense prevails when living with IBD and exercising.

"Cortisone Decreases Bone, Ligament and Tendon Strength"

"Corticosteroids, such as cortisone and Prednisone, have an adverse effect on bone and soft tissue healing."

"Corticosteroids inhibit the synthesis of proteins, collagen, and Proteoglycans in articular cartilage, by inhibiting chondrocyte production, the cells that comprise and produce the articular cartilage. The net catabolic effect (weakening) of corticosteroids is inhibition of fibroblast production of collagen, ground substance, and angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation). The result is weakened synovial joints, supporting structures, articular cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. "

Lifting heavy is just asking for trouble until some time after you have tapered off.

www.surfacehippy.info/cortisonedangers.php