Why am I gaining 1-2 pounds a week?

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  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    You're either a marvel and a medical miracle or your not eating at a calorie deficit. So either hire yourself out to a circus or be honest with yourself and have a look at why you're eating too much either not counting calories accurately or not being honest with the amount you're eating
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,757 Member
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    My doctor tried me on Paxil for pain and it's the largest I'd been until recently, though I gained it and stopped instead of steady gaining. I hadn't changed my eating that I can recall, it's been quite some time.

    The only other thing I can think of that hasn't been listed is Polycystic ovarian disease.

    You can get your metabolism ruled out by getting it tested. I know my doctor does it for around $50 and it'd help to know if you have a slow metabolism or not. She suspects I have a very low one, unfortunately!

    Best of luck and hope you figure out what's going on soon.
  • gaet0011
    gaet0011 Posts: 20
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    I don't often post on these message boards, but I can relate to your struggle so I'll chime in a bit. First, don't blame the meds, while they may be a part of the problem, they are never the whole story. I'm not going to say that you must be lying if you're gaining as some others on the thread of so charmingly stated. I'm saying you have to figure out how to work your body with the medications or try to find a more homeopathic remedy for your ailments...they are out there. I gained a ton of weight with the Depo shot...but the depo shot only compounded an already existing problem with my poor diet and lack of exercise.

    Here are a few questions/suggestions I have:

    First, are you taking an essential fatty acid, like fish oil? These help your body process fats more easily.
    Secondly, are you eating breakfast? More specifically, are you eating protein for breakfast? This is important to kickstart your metabolism in the morning. Also breakfast is most effective when consumed within 1 hour of waking.
    Thirdly, do not take this website a absolute truth when figuring out your calorie burn. They tend to underestimate calories in foods and overestimate calories burned doing a particular exercise.
    Fourthly, are you making sure that you are getting enough balance in your eating plan? Many times when people make the switch to any specific eating style, if they have not done the proper research they can be missing out on essential nutrients...like B vitamins, calcium, potassium, magnesium, etc.
    Fifthly (is that a word?), you may want to mix in more than just black tea as white tea, red tea and green tea all have properties that are good for digestion and metabolic rate.

    You do not need to respond to these questions, just consider them. :smile: And good luck!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Seriously, blame the meds. I was gaining 1.5lb per week eating 1,800 calories when I was on medication. Weight gain is a side effect, but it shouldn't have been as much or as fast as I was experiencing (they've taken me off for the time being so I can actually lose some weight)

    Meds may increase your appetite, but they don't magically make you gain weight. If you eat in a deficit, you will still lose.

    Actually, the hormonal medication I was on reduced my metabolism. A LOT. So, yeah, I was no longer in a deficit. Where I was previously maintaining on 1,800 I started gaining 1.5lb on it. No change in diet before the meds vs on the meds. The meds alter the 'calories out' part of the deficit equation. It doesn't have to be 'increased appetite'

    I started losing in December when I was still on meds by netting 1,000 cals most day. I was losing around 1lb a week that way. They took me off the meds in February and in the first WEEK of being med-free I dropped 2.5lb.

    Edit: I was gaining so much faster than could even be 'normal' for those meds that the doctors did a whole bunch of tests in case my thyroid or anything was messed up and nothing. I was just having an extreme reaction to being given incredibly strong hormone medication normally reserved for cancer treatment.

    It sounds like the hormones were making you retain major water. I've been there. But once again, medications don't change your metabolism. They make you more hungry or retain water, or a combination of both, which leads to an increase on the scale.
  • Jade0529
    Jade0529 Posts: 213 Member
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    From WebMD

    Experts say that for up to 25% of people, most antidepressant medications -- including the popular SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) drugs like Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft -- can cause a weight gain of 10 pounds or more.

    It's the meds. Talk to your Dr
  • summerlauren007
    summerlauren007 Posts: 8 Member
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    What jumped out to me was that it doesn't sound like you are getting enough healthy fats in your diet. Make sure you are having fish, avocados, nuts, olives, and seeds each week.

    Also, if you are going to do a fast day each week, you might want to add in a high calorie day so that your body doesn't get stuck in starvation mode.

    Good luck!
  • pepperpat64
    pepperpat64 Posts: 423 Member
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    I suspect the Paxil regardless of what your doctor says. Anti-depressants affect everyone differently. When I first went on them I started with Lexapro and gained 25 lbs. in a year, with no other changes in my diet or activity level. That's 2 lbs. per month, just like you. I switched to Effexor and started losing a couple pounds a month. I have a friend who did the same meds but they had the exact opposite effect - the Effexor made him gain and the Lexapro made him lose. You may have to decide what's more important to you - your state of mind, or being a little overweight. If you know you're eating well and exercising enough, that's what matters.
  • starrylioness
    starrylioness Posts: 543 Member
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    You're either eating too much OR you have a medical condition.
  • sdereski
    sdereski Posts: 3,406 Member
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    For months now, I've been gaining 1-2 pounds a week no matter how much I diet or exercise. I am having the worst time trying to lose any weight. I eat under 2000 calories a day always, but it's usually 1200-1500 (Never below 1200 including exercise). I fast one day a week, which I started due to the weight gain hoping it would help deter it.

    I eat low carb/paleo/gluten-free, so lots of veggies, eggs, protein (chicken, fish), and fruits, and very rarely nuts. I do not eat/drink any dairy products. Only drink black coffee, water, or tea.

    Exercise is only 30min 4-5 times a week. How am I gaining weight every single week? Even if I wasn't dieting, 2000 calories or less a day shouldn't cause this much weight gain. I keep a real journal, so my MFP journal is empty for the most part.

    I'm 27, female, 5'3".

    Are there any physical/medical reasons my body is gaining weight? My Dr. is testing for hypothyroid but is very doubtful that's what it is. I've been complaining to her for about 2 months now. She thinks it is also unlikely my paxil (SSRI) as it does cause weight gain, but usually not this fast and usually because it causes one to eat a lot, which I don't do.

    I'm so lost and helpless! I started this diet 6 months ago and I've gained 50 pounds instead!! :(:( I weight more now than I ever did and its making me so depressed.

    I can sympathize with you. I was doing weight watchers and gained what felt like 10lbs overnight. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid. I know it can happen. I went from my jeans being baggy one day and then wearing them after a wash and them being skin tight. (no they didn't shrink)
    So yes, meds or lack of CAN do that!

    I certainly hope you get some answers quickly.
  • sdereski
    sdereski Posts: 3,406 Member
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    There are one of two things going on -

    1. You are underestimating your intake.
    2. You are overestimating your daily calorie burn.

    That's it. Period. Fin. Finito. Ende. Sfarsit. Your body doesn't magically create weight from nowhere. Gained weight is stored surplus energy.

    At this point you can either choose to find and fix the under and/or over estimates, or you can continue to insist you are doing everything right, and continue to gain weight.

    I beg to differ. I KNOW in my case calories in / calories out does NOT work.
    There is an underlying cause here and she and her doctor need to figure it out.
  • angdpowers
    angdpowers Posts: 311 Member
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    There are one of two things going on -

    1. You are underestimating your intake.
    2. You are overestimating your daily calorie burn.

    That's it. Period. Fin. Finito. Ende. Sfarsit. Your body doesn't magically create weight from nowhere. Gained weight is stored surplus energy.

    Don't believe this honey!

    ITS THE MEDS MEDS MEDS!!!

    First, even at 27, it could be your thyroid. This is the case for many people I know. But, its most likely the med. Docs don't like to really switch you around on meds. Chances are, they push the med that their office has chosen to be "the one" for the condition you have. If you want to switch, it needs to be a different CLASS of medication.

    Also, it sounds like you are eating all the right stuff. Whether you "measure" or not. Whether you log it into MFP or in a journal. If what you posted is what your eating, all of that is good healthy stuff even if you are eating 2000 cals of it. And yes, 30mins of exercise 4-5 week is plenty. People are so crazy to think that you just need to eat less less less and burn more more more and that'll solve it all.

    Geesh.

    Talk with the doc. From reading I can hear your frustration and desperation. It will get better.
  • angdpowers
    angdpowers Posts: 311 Member
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    You're either a marvel and a medical miracle or your not eating at a calorie deficit. So either hire yourself out to a circus or be honest with yourself ...

    ^^ how is this helpful WHATSOEVER!!

    DON'T READ this negative garbage! Why do people even bother to act like this??
  • WhiteRabbit1313
    WhiteRabbit1313 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    ...I eat under 2000 calories a day always, but it's usually 1200-1500 (Never below 1200 including exercise)....

    ...I'm 27, female, 5'3"....

    I'm 35, female, 5'2". I am at maintenance at 1400 calories/day, regardless of exercise (2x/week cardio, plenty of walking, and 4x/week weight lifting). I'd say that you're #1: not looking at the overall average (weekly average daily intake) and #2: you're underestimating your caloric intake.
  • 1pandabear
    1pandabear Posts: 336 Member
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    Some medications (including the ones listed in this thread) can make weight loss more difficult, but not impossible.
    Obviously impossible for me.



    I quit Zoloft cold turkey after 2 months. Now that I'm off meds and doing paleo I've been losing slowly but surely

    Word to the wise, it is unsafe to stop psychiatric meds without medical supervision, because some of them require a gradual step down of the dosage. Nothing too discouragingly long, usually 10-14 days at each level. But do not guess the duration or the doses, please see the Doctor!
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Some medications (including the ones listed in this thread) can make weight loss more difficult, but not impossible.

    easier to say than do...my friend has been put on medication for her health issue and losing weight becomes impossible...as you can only cut back this much calories and keep functioning as a person...

    It's not impossible but unlikely. I sympathize these people and hope they get better soon and stay out of medication.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Wow, I feel for your predicament. I believe you that you are validating your calorie intake and the problem seems to be your body is burning substantially less than 1,500 calories. I'd keep pushing your doctor and even search out a second opinion. I've seen that show "mystery diagnosis" where the people have to go to multiple doctors until they find out what is really going on. This may be your case.

    ha, I used to watch that...

    not to mean to hijack the thread...one espisode when a woman couldn't lose weight no matter what she did...she had a small chicken breast for lunch and a bowl of broccoli for dinner, a hour a day on the threadmill but weight kept creeping up in very alarming speed...after sereral doctor visits, it turned out she had abnormal cortisol level...like offchart abnormal...
  • timberowl
    timberowl Posts: 331 Member
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    Obviously impossible for me.

    I quit Zoloft cold turkey after 2 months. Now that I'm off meds and doing paleo I've been losing slowly but surely

    I was on Buspar for less than a month and gained 12 lbs. I went cold turkey as well...haven't been able to lose it in the last 6 months but at least havent' gained any more
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    This thread is hilarious.

    I have been on Lexapro, Zoloft, and Celexa. I was OP's age when I started on Zoloft. Moved to Lexapro, then Celexa, until I went off of it last summer. I was still overweight even off meds; nothing magically happened when I stopped taking it.

    Turns out, I was eating more than I thought.
  • PinkyFett
    PinkyFett Posts: 842 Member
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    I was on Zoloft for 6-8 weeks and gained 12 lbs, so I can say, antidepressants CAN cause weight gain fast. That could be what it is. Try seeing if your doc would change to another one?
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    I was on Zoloft for 6-8 weeks and gained 12 lbs, so I can say, antidepressants CAN cause weight gain fast. That could be what it is. Try seeing if your doc would change to another one?

    my understanding is once off meds, one's hormone level should fall back to normal which should make controlling appetite easier than when on meds...

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