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Prednisone and Wegovy (or other weight loss medication)

Posted by lni888 @lni888, Feb 13 11:01am

Has anyone taken prednisone along with a weight loss medication like Wegovy? Before I started my autoimmune disease journey in October, my doctor prescribed Wegovy. I couldn’t find it anywhere at the time. After I started prednisone, I was concerned about adding any other new medicines. Plus, I read that prednisone may interfere with blood glucose control and reduce the effectiveness of weight loss medication. Now that it’s February and I’m still on prednisone and still struggling with my weight, I want to revisit taking Wegovy. Anyone have success with Wegovy (or another weight loss medication) while on prednisone?

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pm56 | @pm56 | Sep 19 9:34am
In reply to @pm56 "I gained a lot of weight as I’ve bounced from my maintenance dose of 8 mg..." + (show)
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I gained a lot of weight as I’ve bounced from my maintenance dose of 8 mg of medrol (a stronger version of prednisone) to 36 mg to control a flare and gained close to 80 lbs over the years as I’ve become more immobile. I’m not a candidate for the GLP1’s as my mom had thyroid cancer, and I’ve had bouts of pancreatitis. Last year I met with a weight management specialist who started me on topiramate, a seizure medicine, to curb appetite. There are other combos such as phentermine/metformin that can be used as well (I have tremors and phentermine is a stimulant so that’s out for me). Phentermine curbs appetite and metformin deals with the insulin-resistance. He mentioned he’d had a few patients with severe autoimmune disease go “whole food plant based” and they’d lost a good amount of weight and felt better as their inflammatory markers were lower. I committed to it for a year and lost 42 lbs. While I have lost weight, my inflammatory markers have been resistant, unfortunately. I have since added back eggs and cottage cheese to relieve the monotony of beans and greens lol and am still losing. My husband’s PCP put him on Wegovy to lose some weight, and he has Sarcoidosis. She said she wanted to start him on Wegovy as there are two doses so he can go up if need be, and then if he becomes resistant to the Wegovy, then she still has the option to switch him to either Mounjaro/Zepbound which are stronger if I understood correctly. His pulmonary doctor said research shows the Wegovy may have some anti-inflammatory effects as well. Best of luck 🙂

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(My husband has lost about 30 lbs and is on Methotrexate)

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shjort | @shjort | Dec 14 7:14pm

Almost a year that I was diagnosed with PMR. Started 15 mg prednisone. I’m finally down to 10.5 mg. I’m 70, F, love to walk. I can’t believe the pain. I also feel bruised if I sit to long or when in bed and lay to long on one side. The steroids help, but wondering if others experience this? If no sugar or processed foods I feel better. With holidays it’s awful.
I to have gained up to 30 plus lbs. one of my questions was a weight loss drug while on steroids. When I stumbled across this page.
Thank you. Oh one question
What type of doctor does one see for PMR? I live on a tiny island in Alaska with a general doctor. Will be traveling to Seattle WA soon for medical.

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swalex | @swalex | Dec 14 10:50pm
In reply to @shjort "Almost a year that I was diagnosed with PMR. Started 15 mg prednisone. I’m finally down..." + (show)
Profile picture for shjort @shjort

Almost a year that I was diagnosed with PMR. Started 15 mg prednisone. I’m finally down to 10.5 mg. I’m 70, F, love to walk. I can’t believe the pain. I also feel bruised if I sit to long or when in bed and lay to long on one side. The steroids help, but wondering if others experience this? If no sugar or processed foods I feel better. With holidays it’s awful.
I to have gained up to 30 plus lbs. one of my questions was a weight loss drug while on steroids. When I stumbled across this page.
Thank you. Oh one question
What type of doctor does one see for PMR? I live on a tiny island in Alaska with a general doctor. Will be traveling to Seattle WA soon for medical.

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@shjort
Did he rule out other conditions: Excluding issues like arthritis, infections, or hypothyroidism?
Did you have a blood test for inflammation (ESR, CRP).
Suggestion: Check a your rheumatologist.

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shjort | @shjort | Dec 15 11:36am
In reply to @swalex "@shjort Did he rule out other conditions: Excluding issues like arthritis, infections, or hypothyroidism? Did you..." + (show)
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@shjort
Did he rule out other conditions: Excluding issues like arthritis, infections, or hypothyroidism?
Did you have a blood test for inflammation (ESR, CRP).
Suggestion: Check a your rheumatologist.

Jump to this post

@swalex I had so many blood tests. Then retest again. It was getting worse and there was no answer. I could not go on walks, I could barely walk to bathroom or stand very long in the kitchen due to pain. I finally put every symptom I had in search and hit the button. It came back to PMR. Remember I only have access to a General Practitioner. I sent her the information and on my next visit we started the prednisone. It was like two days and I started to feel better.
After weeks I finally started walking again with my dogs. Not very far a mile max, but I’ll take it.

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shjort | @shjort | Dec 19 7:35pm
In reply to @swalex "@shjort Did he rule out other conditions: Excluding issues like arthritis, infections, or hypothyroidism? Did you..." + (show)
Profile picture for swalex @swalex

@shjort
Did he rule out other conditions: Excluding issues like arthritis, infections, or hypothyroidism?
Did you have a blood test for inflammation (ESR, CRP).
Suggestion: Check a your rheumatologist.

Jump to this post

@swalex yes, I have had those test. I do have inflammation. As for a rheumatologist, there is not one on our island. I hope to see one in April 2026 in Seattle WA

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