My prescription causing weight gain...need help

0505amos

I have vertigo and my prescription is meclazine. Long term useage of it can cause weight gain. I guess I've won the lottery on this one. Just figured it out and Dr agrees. Looking for a group with same/similar issues to help me lose. Currently following Mediterannean WOE. Anyone out there?

AnnPT77

Not the same drug, but . . .

. . . most drug-induced weight gain comes from one of the following mechanisms:

1. Drug induced fatigue: Tired, move less, burn fewer calories.
2. Water retention: Adds pounds on the scale, but isn't fat. Frustrating, though!
3. Appetite: Drug causes hunger/cravings, so we eat more.

Calorie counting can help, in the sense that counting calories carefully for 4-6 weeks will give you an idea what your true calorie needs are, so you can adjust accordingly. In the bummer cases, that means you might need to eat somewhat fewer calories than the average to accomplish X amount of weight loss, but generally it isn't a *huge* different. It can also help identify water retention issues (if you didn't eat enough calories to account for the gain, it can't be fat, so . . . .). Finally, calorie counting can help you realize that you're craving more calories than your body burns (darned body/drug!), and possibly also - via reviewing your food logs - figure out your best satiation strategies, even with the drug effect in the picture.

I'm not claiming any of this is a walk in the park, but it's worth realizing that a drug can't make you absorb more calories from a food than are actually in that food in total, so calorie counting with MFP can help find a path to weight management, perhaps, even with the drug in the picture.

Wishing you success!

P.S. Yes, I have taken drugs that reportedly cause weight gain, but didn't gain weight. I didn't take meclazine, so I can't comment on that specifically.