Weight gain from medication?

[KiraKiraHikaru]

What is it exactly that causes weight gain when taking medication. Is it due to changes in metabolic rate? Increased hunger? Does it change the way your body processed fat?

If you are on meds that cause weight gain how do you manage this? I’m already overweight and starting meds that cause weight gain and I’m very eager to combat this.

Does anyone have any insight or advice?

What is it exactly that causes weight gain when taking medication.

often the assumption when starting that it will result in a weight gain which then goes hand in hand with a “fuck it” attitude to diet because “what is the point if i amgoing to gain weight anyway”

I see the same with lots of pregnant women. Which then leads to too much weight gain, which then leads to struggles to lose post birth and then the rationalising it accordingly

This has happened to me big time. I have no tips I'm just fat now when aside from pregnancies I've been a size 6 my whole adult life. I think it depends what meds you are on but mine both make you have intense hunger and cravings as well as slowing your metabolism right down. Double whammy yayyy.
But for me it's either be fat and sane or slim and insane soooo... fatty it is!

Levothyroxing I always being bandied around as a drug that causes weight gain

no. Hypothroidism can cause weight gain

levo thyroid replaced the missing hormone and once on correct dose, weight will return to normal. Unless of course you adopt the “fuck it I’m on levo so sod the dirt as no point”

Sod the diet

Ahh I wish that would have been the case for me. In fact I was the opposite I was absolutely 100%sure I wouldn't be one of the ones to be affected by weight gain side effects. I had no appetite ever and spent most of my days having an ice lolly or a frappe as my biggest meal of the day. That went on for years and years. So boy was I wrong first time in my life I've had an appetite.

I'm on anti psychotic medication and they told me straight away that the tablets will cause weight gain.

I had a battle because I'm trying to lose weight for surgery and they've now put me on tablets which perhaps aren't as effective but I'm losing weight under an NHS plan.

So yes, medication can cause you to gain weight.

It sounds a very unhealthy pre medication

But no answer! Just keep on at your care providers to manage your medication.

I gained from steroids despite actively calorie counting low carbing and fasting.... some meds just do I think. More weird was the redistribution of fat with a neck hump moon face and buttocks that influencers would pay ££££ for

I really need to go back on my meds but part of me would rather die than get even more fat than I already am. I’m feeling so low about it.

What meds are we talking about?

Op I recall you on another thread about your 8 year old ds.

op - you have a serious mental health condition. For your childrens sake, you really should take the prescribed medication

I’m going back onto lithium, which is going to slowly poison me anyway so I guess there’s no point in worrying

my neighbour, who's my friend has put on 6 stone is 2 months because of a contraception injection and broke out is severe acne.

she had a 5 year one and within days weight just pilled on and pilled on as did the spots
she was a size 10 to start and now a 20-22 with severe acne and dry painful spots

she regrets it is so much, but it can't be undone. {well, that's what she was told when she went back to the nurse}

nurse doing the injection didn't tell her about the side effects at all.

all she was told was use condoms for 7 days and she should be ok on day 8.
nothing about weight gain and acne

she's become so depressed because of it and still had 4 years 10m left

6 stone in 2 months?! How is that possible!?

I've no idea OP but I personally know two people it's happened to and contrary to a PPs opinion it was nothing to do with overeating and laziness. Both were antidepressants. One person was a mum I knew from our toddler group and we were chatting about clothes one day and she was telling me all about it. She said the medication had made such an unbelievable change to her life for the better but the weight gain was awful . This woman walked everywhere and was a keen cyclist so was otherwise very fit and healthy.

I was on a medication for a year that made me gain weight. I feel there where several factors to the weight gain. 1 was bloating/water retention as I dropped a dress size within a little over a week after coming off the meds.

2 was a general feeling of laziness/sense of couldn't quite be bothered/lesser joy from movement that I think was obviously a depressive side effect. (Depression is a common side effect of those tablets.) I'm normally extremely athletic and on the meds things that normally felt joyful ended up feeling blah. So I was just seriously unmotivated to be active. And I was more inclined to eat more crap as I wanted something to cheer me up a bit.

3 I probably was retaining more fat as a biological change as when I forced myself to have a more normal diet and exercise as much as normal, the weight didn't really shift.

4 My immune system was lowered and I was low level sick on a really continual basis, constantly getting viruses which made any exercise impossible much more often than previous winters.

I'm on lithium and quetiapine op unfortunately it's got to be done. If your anything like me if you stop taking your meds you go really poorly. It's just not worth it when you have kids, I'd rather be fat but stable and happy providing my children a loving home than end up in hospital long term and the children being without me for months, again. It's a shit hand in life but it is what it is.

It’s fucking bullshit isn’t it. Being fat makes me so miserable anyway I may as well just stay unmedicated. I’m not in any photos with my kids, I refused photos on my wedding day, I won’t go outside in the summer or take the kids to the beach. I won’t try new things because I think we’ll I’m too fat to do that. I know my mental state probably isn’t helping I just don’t see the point in life anymore.

I was on olanzapine it is used for severe anorexia as an antipsychotic/appetite stimulant (I was not on it for anorexia) I gained 4 stone in a couple of months I am now funny enough on lithium and quetiapine and if I take my eye off the ball for a week I gain weight but I do have a healthy bmi now but it is with great struggle but I know coming off the meds is just not an option.

It is hard people do not realise I could not physically stop my self from eating on my previous meds.

I gained a huge amount of weight in a year from an SSRI. It wasn't a self-fulfilling prophesy as this was years ago and I had no idea it could cause weight gain.

For me it seemed to be three factors. Firstly my appetite massively increased. I could eat a big meal and feel physically hungry less than an hour later. Secondly, it messed with me somehow so that I put on weight astonishingly quickly even given that I was eating more. And thirdly, because of the mental effects of the tablets, I was somehow able to be in utter denial as to how much I'd gained. I thought I'd gone up two dress sizes when in fact it was more like eight or ten.

When I stopped, the weight dropped off really quickly and it was also like I'd woken up from a spell and realised just how huge I was. I am back to my baseline weight now and have been for years but I have the silvery remnants of the stretch marks I developed from the rapid gain.

Similar as PP for me. An SSRI caused never ending weight gain. 4 stone in 3 years, I weighed more than I did at 9 months pregnant! The weight gain was steady, no matter if I ate and drank loads over xmas or spent a month restricting calories. Since stopping a few months ago I've lost just over half a stone without trying. Still drinking, still eating biscuits, same amount of exercise, it's great!

But, I didn't mind the weight gain. The benefits of the medicine outweighed () the negatives. They weight gain was absolutely worth it for me.

So there’s nothing I can do really then :(

I’m already an 18-20.

This is you on your anti depressive medication? Op - you need to book an app with your GP asap