Prednisone PROMOTES Muscle Growth?

Astartes

Well-known Member
Interesting read below:

For those that push your joints and tendons too hard and have experienced the nightmare of Prednisone or Methylprednisolone treatment over a two week course… it is possible that WEEKLY doses have a POSITIVE effect on strength and muscle repair/recovery.

The study insinuated that infrequent weekly doses (though it doesn’t specify the dose due to being in mice) may actually stimulate the muscle repair process.

I myself have in hindsight experienced what MAY have been this effect. Typically I am STRONG the first day after my initial dose (Usually 30mg Prednisone or 24mg Methylprednisolone) to start, tapering to 5mg or 4mg respectively by week 2.

I have always thought this was due to the drop in debilitating pain from tendon injury or inflamation. (Perhaps it is, but endurance is strong as well)

The second day I am starting to suck wind, and by end of the first week I am “slack” or “flat” and by the second week I have lost muscle size and volume alongside strength.

Knowing a “pulsing” weekly dose may provide positive benefits, is encouraging. I intend to give this a go, and report back in the next month after trying it for 30 days during my cruise.

STUDY BELOW:
LINK
: Weekly Steroids Strengthen and Repair Muscles - News Center

Steroids thought to waste muscles surprisingly turn out to be beneficial in weekly doses​

Weekly doses of glucocorticoid steroids, such as prednisone, help speed recovery in muscle injuries, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The weekly steroids also repaired muscles damaged by muscular dystrophy.



mcnally_steroids_musclesImages of mouse muscle repair with and without prednisone. The red images indicate the area of muscle injury, which is reduced by prednisone. The green images show the repair cap (scab) forming over the site of injury. The repair complex forms more quickly with prednisone.
The studies were conducted in mice, with implications for humans.

One of the major problems of using steroids such as prednisone is they cause muscle wasting and weakness when taken long term. This is a significant problem for people who take steroids for many chronic conditions, and can often result in patients having to stop steroid treatments.

But the new study showed weekly doses — rather than daily ones — promote muscle repair.

“We don’t have human data yet, but these findings strongly suggest some alternative ways of giving a very commonly used drug in a manner that doesn’t harm, but in fact helps muscle,” said lead investigator Elizabeth McNally, MD, PhD, the Elizabeth J. Ward Professor of Genetic Medicine and the director of the Center for Genetic Medicine.

The study showed prednisone directs the production of annexins, proteins that stimulate muscle healing. Giving weekly doses of prednisone also stimulated a molecule called KLF15, which is associated with improved muscle performance. Daily doses of prednisone, however, reduced KLF15, leading to muscle wasting.

In the study, normal mice with a muscle injury received steroids just before injury and for two weeks after the injury. Mice receiving two weekly doses of steroids after the injury performed better on treadmill testing and had stronger muscle than mice receiving a placebo.

Mice that received daily steroids for two weeks after the muscle injury performed poorly on the treadmill and in muscle strength studies, compared to placebo-treated mice.

Scientists also tested the drug in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy, since prednisone is normally given for this disease. Mice with muscular dystrophy that received weekly prednisone were stronger and performed better on the treadmill than those that received a placebo. When prednisone was given every day, the muscles atrophied and wasted.

McNally, also a professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology and of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, initiated the research because she wanted to understand how prednisone — which is given to treat individuals with a form of muscular dystrophy called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy — prolongs patients’ ability to walk independently and stay out of a wheelchair.

“It’s been known that long-term daily treatment with prednisone also has the side effect of causing muscle wasting in many people,” McNally said. “So it has always been something of a medical curiosity that it is also used chronically to treat conditions like myositis (muscle inflammation) and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.”

While years of being on the steroids cause growth suppression, osteoporosis and other bad side effects, boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy walk two to three years longer if they take steroids. Only boys get Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy because it is on the X chromosome, and males have only one X chromosome.

“A typical boy goes into a wheelchair at age 10; if he takes steroids, it’s age 13,” McNally said. “So in muscular dystrophy, there is definitely a benefit, but it’s a double-edged sword with all the side effects.”

For the study, McNally and colleagues used high-resolution imaging to view the muscle’s ability to repair itself. This technique uses a laser to poke a hole in muscle cells. Then the muscle cell is observed in real time as it reseals the hole, a natural repair process.

Next, the scientists tested to see if steroids could boost the repair process.

“The steroids made muscle heal faster,” McNally said. “We were like, ‘Wow!’ It accelerated the repair in the muscle cells.”

For the second part of the study, scientists tested steroids in mice. They damaged the leg muscles in mice and noticed the mice receiving the steroids recovered more rapidly from injury.

“We showed steroid treatment, when given weekly, improves muscle performance,” McNally said.

Her work also implies normal muscle injury would improve more quickly by taking a weekly dose of steroids such as prednisone.

In the future, McNally would like to test steroids in humans and is considering studying it in forms of muscular dystrophy in which steroids would not normally be given, like Becker Muscular Dystrophy or Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. Steroid treatment is not usually offered for these diseases since the side effects are thought to outweigh any potential benefit.

The study was funded in part by National Institutes of Health grants NIH U54 AR052646 and NIH RO1 NS047726, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and the American Heart Association.
 
If you're training to induce muscle damage (repair/regeneration) rather than to stimulate hypertrophy (remodeling), then you might want to take a look at your training program.

Glucocorticoids do not benefit hypertrophy, though they may (speculatively, assigning a scintilla of value to this study) positively influence repair processes (i.e., myogenesis).

I note that their claim that increased Klf15 is associated with improved muscular performance is dubious - up-regulation of Klf15 would be associated with muscle atrophy (and even turning off Klf15 would not be likely to induce muscle hypertrophy).
 
If you're training to induce muscle damage (repair/regeneration) rather than to stimulate hypertrophy (remodeling), then you might want to take a look at your training program.

Glucocorticoids do not benefit hypertrophy, though they may (speculatively, assigning a scintilla of value to this study) positively influence repair processes (i.e., myogenesis).

I note that their claim that increased Klf15 is associated with improved muscular performance is dubious - up-regulation of Klf15 would be associated with muscle atrophy (and even turning off Klf15 would not be likely to induce muscle hypertrophy).
Was hoping you and a few others would comment. Appreciate you.
 
I bet prednisone will have benefits but.........it's a dangerous road to go down.

I would guess that "tiny" doses would be of benefit. It doesn't take much prednisone to really knockout inflammation. And a tiny dose may not cause any suppression.

Overall, most people can't handle experimenting with a drug like prednisone, so they should stay far away from it.
 
I was recently prescribed prednisone at 20mg per day and it wrecked my progress in terms of gains. My gains were decreased pretty dramatically after the first few weeks with no changes to cycle, training or diet. I'm off it now and things seem to be picking back up. Just my experience for what it's worth.
 
I bet prednisone will have benefits but.........it's a dangerous road to go down.

I would guess that "tiny" doses would be of benefit. It doesn't take much prednisone to really knockout inflammation. And a tiny dose may not cause any suppression.

Overall, most people can't handle experimenting with a drug like prednisone, so they should stay far away from it.
What's dangerous about it.
 
What's dangerous about it.

Because it has miraculous anti-inflammatory actions, and as a result, everything can feel better/improved/resolved when taking it. It can make a million different medical problems simply disappear. And because of that, it's addictive.

And if you take it for too long, your body is dependent on it, and withdrawal is difficult to impossible to get through.
 
Iv used both prednisone/hydrocortisone. I do not recommend any of them unless you have low cortisol, thats the only way it will help with muscle growth. If your cortisol is good and in range then do not take these for muscle growth.

Do not fuck around with these steriods.

Iv manily used them to correct hpa dysfunction.
 
The study used 1mg/kg of prednisone in mice. This is roughly 5mg once weekly for a 60kg human.

There should be no real risk to trying to mimic this and see if it does anything.
 
The study used 1mg/kg of prednisone in mice. This is roughly 5mg once weekly for a 60kg human.

There should be no real risk to trying to mimic this and see if it does anything.
How does 1mg/kg roughly equal 5mg for a 60kg man? Seriously confused here lol. 1mg/kg would be 60mg for a 60kg man.
 
Used it twice for crohns. Both times was going to the gym and slamming back food, no PEDs. Gained weight, but was also severely underweight.

The side affects were not remotely worth it.
 
Because it has miraculous anti-inflammatory actions, and as a result, everything can feel better/improved/resolved when taking it. It can make a million different medical problems simply disappear. And because of that, it's addictive.

And if you take it for too long, your body is dependent on it, and withdrawal is difficult to impossible to get through.
no. that has nothing to do with it. it has nothing to do with "withdrawal" or "addictive". If you know people on it, they want to get off of glucocorticoids. Most people hate it.

long term glucocorticoids is associated with muscle wasting, osteoporosis, alot of endrocrine issues, weight gain, water retention, insomnia, severe acid reflux, increased chance of infection.

 
no. that has nothing to do with it. it has nothing to do with "withdrawal" or "addictive". If you know people on it, they want to get off of glucocorticoids. Most people hate it.

long term glucocorticoids is associated with muscle wasting, osteoporosis, alot of endrocrine issues, weight gain, water retention, insomnia, severe acid reflux, increased chance of infection.


Yeah, people "want" to get of them, but they cannot get off them because they are dependent on them, and the "withdrawal" is worse than the side effects of being on the drug.
 
Yeah, people "want" to get of them, but they cannot get off them because they are dependent on them, and the "withdrawal" is worse than the side effects of being on the drug.
Wait what?

No they can't get off of them right away because the doctor needs to wean then off. Some of them need to get off slowly because of the rebound inflammation it can cause.

It's not a patient controlled off taking them off typically, but provider .
 
I definitely had some withdrawal when I came off of them. It wasn't terrible but I've also been thru heroin/opiate withdrawal several times and compared to that prednisone wasnt that bad..
 
Wait what?

No they can't get off of them right away because the doctor needs to wean then off. Some of them need to get off slowly because of the rebound inflammation it can cause.

It's not a patient controlled off taking them off typically, but provider .
People wean down due to side effects, and then the underlying condition reappears, which feels worse than the side effects. What do you then? Most people continue the prednisone etc. It's just the way it is.

You have to understand that prednisone etc can remedy a million different conditions, and when you come off it, all of those conditions are unmasked and come back with a vengeance.
 
Used it twice for crohns. Both times was going to the gym and slamming back food, no PEDs. Gained weight, but was also severely underweight.

The side affects were not remotely worth it.
Yeah, but for Crohns that may have been exactly what you needed. I don't want people to avoid these drugs if they may really benefit from them.
 
Yeah, but for Crohns that may have been exactly what you needed. I don't want people to avoid these drugs if they may really benefit from them.
There are so many more options for Crohn's thsn Prednisone. Veered off the topic. You said the danger of it were patients taking it would be addicted to it because it made everything better
Majority of conditions that Prednisone would be prescribed for have a very short end date.

Herniated disc inflammation, eye surgery, cancer treatment, shortness of breath, shingles . Those are not ongoing reasons of why someone would continue taking it.


Nobody is talking about sticking to Prednisone but your reason of why people are "addicted" to it is a little ridiculous.

You failed for mention the true issues of Prednisone that a health care providet would be worried about.

Even for Crohn's there are so many other options nowadays from methotrexate to a MAB.

I can't help but wonder what you do for a living cause it seems like you are speaking out of your ass.
 
Prednisone is like the 22nd most prescribed medicine. It's used for nearly.......everything, and it's taken long term MOST OF THE TIME.

It's a miraculous drug........that has consequences. Nearly everyone on Prednisone comes to the point of wanting or needing to ween off it due to side effects. Most aren't able to do that. Dosages go up and down. This is the story of Prednisone.
 
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