weight loss and asthma medication paradox

yirara

This is the second time I'm having an asthma attack (a very mild one! I could do without medication but it's easier this way and probably better) and I'm dropping weight big time again. Went from 62.3kg to 60.6 in 5 days. My normal weight fluctuation is not more than 200 grams up or down, and up to 300 upwards for 2-3 days when I take a contraception break and a slower decrease again. This is certainly outside normal fluctuation. I'm eating and drinking as ever and count and weigh everything. No whoosh either. I'm aiming at losing 250 grams per week and have been pretty much on schedule. If this persists for two more days I've reached my goal by cheating my way down.

Anyone else not gaining on asthma meds?

LKArgh

I cannot think of any relief medication for asthma that causes weight loss. Unless you are referring to singulair or something similar, which can make you lose your appetite, but which is also not for treating an asthma attack in an emergency. So I am curious, what are you using?

yirara

I'm using symbicort as emergency medication as all others I've tried so far had too severe side effects.

I'm only finding anecdotal posts on the dark side of the net about using it for weight loss/muscle gain and lots of people complaining they gain with it, but I'm sure the latter is from eating too much.

Lissa_Kaye

Do you drink coffee? I know with my little sister when she would have an attack a little coffee opens up the blood vessels and relaxes the muscles in the lungs. She used to have nebulizer treatments every 4 hours for sever asthma for the first half of her life. She also had a liquid epinephrine that worked wonders. The steroid inhalers were horrible on her teeth. I hope this may help.

yirara

No, I don't drink coffee and only very weak green tea (lots of it) because I don't like it otherwise and don't like coffee at all.

Sued0nim

it's not connected with asthma meds

It may be sodium, exercise, good hydration, hormonal weight loss

or it may be the whoosh - why do you think it isn't?

what are your measurements like - scale weight is quite a bad judge

mumblemagic

yirara wrote: »

I'm using symbicort as emergency medication as all others I've tried so far had too severe side effects.

I'm only finding anecdotal posts on the dark side of the net about using it for weight loss/muscle gain and lots of people complaining they gain with it, but I'm sure the latter is from eating too much.

I'm on symbicort for prevention but was told by my doc that it is not useful for emergencies as it takes about 30 mins to kick in. I was recommended to use salbutamol as normal for a releiver. I also take montelukast.

That aside have you checked the patient information leaflet? If it's not on there its unlikely to be the meds. Wait a couple of days then see your doc either way if you're still losing weight rapidly.

mumblemagic

Lissa_Kaye wrote: »

Do you drink coffee? I know with my little sister when she would have an attack a little coffee opens up the blood vessels and relaxes the muscles in the lungs. She used to have nebulizer treatments every 4 hours for sever asthma for the first half of her life. She also had a liquid epinephrine that worked wonders. The steroid inhalers were horrible on her teeth. I hope this may help.

Coffee tip is really useful, thanks!

deathbybunny

I'm on modulair (singulair with another name) and symbicort turbuhaler daily for prevention, after my last severe asthma attack and hospitilization. Haven't noticed helping me or not during this weight loss process, but I'm definitely way more careful with my daily sodium intake.

yirara

rabbitjb wrote: »

it's not connected with asthma meds

It may be sodium, exercise, good hydration, hormonal weight loss

or it may be the whoosh - why do you think it isn't?

what are your measurements like - scale weight is quite a bad judge

I don't think it's the whoosh as I'd be running to the loo quite a few more times, which isn't the case. I only measure on Saturdays, so I don't know what happened in the meantime. I don't have the time on weekday mornings for that. Last Saturday my measurements were down a bit more than expected.

And all the other things.. well I'm having a cold for two weeks now and this is for how long I haven't exercised. I certainly lost the exercising water quite a few days ago.

The last time I had to take asthma meds I also lost weight like crazy, and things normalized again once I stopped using them.

Sued0nim

yirara wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

it's not connected with asthma meds

It may be sodium, exercise, good hydration, hormonal weight loss

or it may be the whoosh - why do you think it isn't?

what are your measurements like - scale weight is quite a bad judge

I don't think it's the whoosh as I'd be running to the loo quite a few more times, which isn't the case. I only measure on Saturdays, so I don't know what happened in the meantime. I don't have the time on weekday mornings for that. Last Saturday my measurements were down a bit more than expected.

And all the other things.. well I'm having a cold for two weeks now and this is for how long I haven't exercised. I certainly lost the exercising water quite a few days ago.

The last time I had to take asthma meds I also lost weight like crazy, and things normalized again once I stopped using them.

That hasn't been my experience of the whoosh at all - it just drops on the scale, no increased urination ..it's at a cellular level not connected with kidneys and bladder .. more likely released through the skin and breath

yirara

mumblemagic wrote: »

I'm on symbicort for prevention but was told by my doc that it is not useful for emergencies as it takes about 30 mins to kick in. I was recommended to use salbutamol as normal for a releiver. I also take montelukast.

That aside have you checked the patient information leaflet? If it's not on there its unlikely to be the meds. Wait a couple of days then see your doc either way if you're still losing weight rapidly.

I tried salbutamol, but the side effects were too severe for me: swollen nose and throat, very fast heart beat, disorientation, bleeding from gums, nose and the likes... I also tried ventolin, which only works with a nebulizer for me, and only for a really short time, plus it also gives me this really fast heart beat and spaced out feeling. The side effects on Symbicort are relatively mild, and for that I'm willing to wait for half an hour. And I currently only need to take it about 3 times in 24 hours. So that seems to work for me.

Francl27

I've used asthma meds all my life, it hasn't impacted my weight one way or another.

yirara

Right, I reduced the dose last night to see if it's sufficient and the loss seems to have stopped.
Btw, when the weight loss occurred I also checked my blood sugar regularly this time, which was ok whenever I checked during day and night time. So that's not it either.

Maybe I should simply put it down to: yet another strange thing. I have a few paradox and otherwise strange reactions to some medications, while no problems at all with some most people seem to have problems with.