I have steadily gained weight since I got RA. Mind you, I attribute that to the fact that I am less active, because of RA, and because I gain 5 lbs each time I go on prednisone, to bridge med gaps, or for asthma, as I was all summer.

I also cringe every time I see that a symptom of RA is weight loss. I don't know of a single person who has. It makes me feel as an overweight person, that people are going to say that I don't have RA. It simply should not be a symptom, ever. The only thing I see is weight gain, and certainly, if they have to bring up weight at all, it should be weight gain, not loss!

I don't know anyone with RA who lost weight either. Not sure where they got this data or what they attribute it to. Most people with autoimmune diseases I know have gained weight due to pain, fatigue and corticosteroids.

Exactly!

Yes, I have lost 25kgs since being diagnosed but judging by the comments here I appear to be the exception.

As the only male in this discussion thus far.....when diagnosed in Feb, 2013, I was between 210 and 215 lbs. Around 2 yrs later I was down to about 148 and the Dr. was very concerned so even though I stayed on the no night shades diet, I did add processed sugar back into my diet. For about the last year and a half stabilized around 168 lbs. So I did lose 40+.

No help from RA side effects here either but I also have thyroid disease that makes me gain weight and I have to take medication that makes me gain weight so no I'm over weight and it is not helping my RA one bit wish I would lose weight from it.

Another male, NS2... BTW, how tall are you? You maybe needed the loss?

I have always been active except the first 2+ years of RA. I had little appetite when I was disabled, and not long after I began to respond well to MTX, I began a period of lethargy and ennui. Again, no appetite. I dropped 30 pounds from my standard 165. Since my RA has been well managed (I'm in my 11th year of Rituxan), I've been active again, save recovery from surgeries, the latest being a 2nd TKR. I lose weight after surgeries, however, because of loss of muscle mass. Once I go through PT, regain muscle and strength, I find it fairly easy to stay in a 160-170 range. I had "ballooned" to 175 after coming home from my surgery on Jul12, but proceeded to drop to 158. I'm back up to 165, which is where I hope to stay. Maybe a few more lbs with a little more muscle.

Susie, as I said, I like to be active, but diet is important for my weight control, too. I eat 4-5 meals a day (the 5th is an afternoon snack if I've worked out) consisting of early and late bfasts, luch maybe a snack if I've worked out and dinner. I eat small portins and I don't eat anything after dinner, usually 7:30 or so. I don't eat a lot of carbs, concentrae on protein, veggies and fruit. I use a topical steroid and I have a steroid in an inhaler, but don't take prednisone.

I just had the first of 2 infusions in my latest round, and, as par for the course, II gained several lbs and my blood sugar skied, both from the 150 mg solumedrol I get as a pre-med. It takes 5 days for the effect to wear off.

Good luck. I don't know if RA affects (or ever has) my weight, per se, but all the tangential BS with drugs, mood, pain, activity level, etc. will affect most everyone in some way.

Well, I walk the dogs 4-5 miles a day and am now eating less than 1000 cal/day. I lost 10 lbs in 3 wks and have now plateaued, I guess. Not unusual and not RA related. I just wish RA side affect of losing weight without my participation happened for me. :)

I too have GAINED weight since RA, but also I am aging and have had 4 pregnancies.

Losing weight is a MAJOR STRUGGLE. I finally lost 10 lbs by practically becoming anorexic and am now struggling just to keep it off, and am still about 25 lbs overweight!

i’m a 40 yr old guy, new to all this, but yeah, i’ve lost 50 lbs. i’m 6’1”, in college weighed 225 and looked good (i’m big boned)...since then i gained 75 lbs over the years....so i was at 300, but since the beginning of the year, when this hit me, i’m down to 250. my appetite is minimal, i still basically eat like shit, and have not increased exercise. it’s kinda cool, i won’t lie....although i no longer get pleasure out of eating, no longer enjoy eating out. went to one of those all u can eat brazilian steakhouses recently, bored...hardly ate, 6 months ago I woulda looked forward to it all week, gone in there and tore it up like a champ.

Well - it does seem to follow non-RA tendencies that men lose weight more easily than women. Anyway, Warrior - the same. Since Labor Day, I've lost 14 pounds, but only by averaging 800 calories per day. I'd like to lose 9 more, an already fear how I will keep it off if I ever increase my calorie intake. But I guess that's a topic for a different group, right?

Apparently I need to lose weight. My liver is unhappy AGAIN. Catch is, I was off mthx. I ate no fat, drank no alcohol, no meat, just veggies and beans. And yes, milk products like cheese and yogurt.

I am back to juice beet fasts, we will see how that goes. Interesting about thyroid. I got hypothyroidism exactly the same time as I got RA. And of course, mostly had trouble losing weight, always gaining. The exception to the rule was when I was on Kineret and mthx, and feeling 100%, all the time. I started exercising, then losing weight, and lost 80 lbs. The minute I had to go back on prednisone, to bridge for Rituxan, the weight started to go up.

Perhaps the blame, for me lies with pre dnisone? I am down to 2 mg for another 12 days, then 1 mg. Trouble is, I am going to be forced off mthx again, because my liver enzymes were in the 200s. And I didn't even take mthx for 2 weeks. Enough is enough! I need a liver transplant. Except the liver specialist says the fibroscans come back just fine. I'm really annoyed with this stupid game!

I am a 58 yr old female. Normally weighing 117-118 lbs. I am down to 109-110 lbs. now. I think because of the severe pain level that I have, contributes to that. I am also on prenisone, which normally causes weight gain. Go figure!

I'm a 49-year old male. I initially gained weight after my diagnosis, but I believe that was entirely due to Prednisone, eating horrifically, and the amount of sleep I needed when I would flare. I gained almost 20 pounds and did not see any signs of the weight going away. I was horrified.

Now I am losing weight again, even though I am not eating all that well. However, I have also been working on my house to get it ready for sale because my wife and I are moving in the next month or so (depending on sale of that house). I have been working so hard at getting projects done that I am not sure how I have been able to cope. Maybe it is the medical cannabis I am using, or the fact that my RA is more controlled (I am hoping for this, but my fingers turning and twisting tells me otherwise), or the fact that I just don't have as much of an appetite as I did when I was first diagnosed. Either way, I have lost those 20 pounds plus 10 pounds more and am shooting to be down to 205 in the not too distant future.

Wow Derby and Frazzled. I've added even more vigorous walking to my days and less than 1000 calories daily. I've lost 17 lbs since Labor Day. HARD! Nothing RA related. I am between Humira that didn't work and Enbrel which I can't start till I get a freaking injector!