I stopped eating almost everything because of my weight gain while on Prednisone. Exercise during PMR was nearly impossible to do because of pain. Overwhelming fatigue from adrenal insufficiency made my life very sedentary. It was impossible for me to "overdo" anything.

I have lost a significant amount of weight since coming off Prednisone. I think that has helped me to discontinue those medications. My weight loss is mostly because of more exercise.

I participate in a "MOVE" program which emphasizes both diet and exercise. A dietitian says I need to eat more because I shouldn't go all day without eating anything. She says that lowers my metabolic rate. I'm exercising as much as I can but the dietitian says "exercise won't overcome a bad diet." I need to work on eating a "healthier diet" instead of eating less. A healthy diet includes "healthy carbs" but I confess to liking the "unhealthy carbs" too.

An endocrinologist has been working on my metabolic syndrome that was caused by long term Prednisone use. He says hormones play an important role too. He says there is much more to losing weight and it isn't all about diet and exercise.

Overall I'm pleased with the progress I have made. I still have room for improvement. I need to make some more lifestyle changes. I think getting off Prednisone was the biggest change. That has made a huge difference in my life.

I have learned that being and staying healthy is never about one thing. A healthy lifestyle is a combination of many things which included the medications I took.

To be honest, I don't think Actemra is the best thing for me to take. Actemra just seems better to me than Prednisone at the moment. I really don't want to be on Actemra either.