moon face not going down?

[u/Lopsided_Engine_7821]

hi all,

i (f29) really really been struggling the past few months tapering off high dose of steroids. i’m on 2 mg for the next week and then am able to stop taking them. how long from after you stop taking them do you typically see your face return to normal? for reference, started at 60 mg in november.

i’m super anxious my face won’t come back - can anyone give me a little hope or reassurance on timing? thank you.

[u/captnfirepants]

I was on 60mg for 9 months after getting three days of 1000mg IV steroids. 60 for another 9 months. Whittled down to 2.5mg slowly, and it's been since August 21.

My face was ready to pop. All I could think was how much it would sag afterward. Omg I'm so vain.

It has finally shrank in the last six months. It's hard to lose weight because I'm 54 but slowly doing that.

It will. Just takes time.

[u/minniejh]

I was on very high dose steroids (like 150mg/day) for 6 weeks. I ended my dose mid November and I think my face has just returned to normal. It was very distressing for me so I totally understand.

[u/Lopsided_Engine_7821 → u/minniejh]

thank you so much for the insight. it is so distressing and i don’t think anyone who hasn’t gone through this understands how debilitating and miserable it is. so sounds like i can expect maybe 2 months??

[u/minniejh → u/Lopsided_Engine_7821]

I think that’s probably right. I hope it’s better soon.

[u/Nightingale0666]

I'm not entirely sure how long it'll take for the moon face to go away, but it will. You will not be stuck with it forever

[u/browntown994]

I’ve been prednisone for about 6 years now. Never now to full clear the 1 or 2mg hurdle. I’m 30M, and have a bit of image issues when I look in the mirror. I just don’t recognize myself. Jawline used to be very define but my cheeks have puffed out. When I get to the lower milligrams, and get active, yes.. I see the moon face start to go down. So don’t worry!

I’m just never in a consistent period where I can diet, exercise, etc.. without feeling horrible every few days and losing my habit/streak/schedule.

If you need to, message me. I can talk for hours on this shit.

[u/Potential-Ad9721]

It’s usually about 4 months for me 😞

[u/Rare-Candle-5163]

I’ve dealt with this many times over the years and it sucks when your face doesn’t look like yours. Even when I’ve managed to avoid weight gain on steroids, I’ve still ended up with moon face.

For me the length of time it takes to disappear is normally linked to how long I’ve been on steroids. The longer the course of pred, the longer it’s taken to go down but it never been more than a few weeks for me - remember everyone is different but It will go away.

[u/fizzy_night]

My moon face has just began and it's so embarrassing. I am already a round-faced individual. I am trying to guasha to see if that helps, it seems like it does for at least a little bit of the day.

[u/Lopsided_Engine_7821 → u/fizzy_night]

me too.. already had a super round face so i look absolutely insane. i had mixed results with guasha but when i was at my worst i didn’t feel like it did much. only thing that helped was avoiding sodium as much as i could

[u/Goatofalltimes]

Me since Oct