Losing weight while on meds

sadwizard

Hi,

I gained lots of weight in the last year or so due to what I believe to be my medications and my poor diet choices in the last year.
My HS gone so bad that I was put on 50 mg of Prednisone a day. That is an insane amount, but no less than that would help.
That caused lots of things to happened. I gained lots of weight, and I was so depressed it was unreal. I gave up on everything and was eating poorly. HS did not have any mercy on me so I could even leave the house. I was either lying on the bed or lying on the couch. That lasted for like 5-6 months with me like that.

Then I discontinued prednisone, which I was already taking too much of for too long. I started taking Accutane for few months now. It is not helping at all and I'm still gaining weight. I fixed my diet now and all but I just can't lose the weight at all. I do not think Accutane has that much to do with it, but it may. I already checked my thyroid functions and all and everything seems alright. I'm getting high cholesterol as side effect of Accutane, but my doctor says its not big a deal.

In less than 18 months I went from 230 lbs to 370 lbs!!

This is all weight gained again, since I started my journey to lose weight long ago. I was 400 lbs once. Then lost all the weight down to 230 lbs. I did not have HS then, but now it is harder to lose weight with HS since I can barely move. Also, mentally I'm depressed and self loath all the time. And now I'm up to 370 lbs. That's too much!

I'm not sure how to start losing weight again. I even considered getting DNP pills. However, I know that would backfire with HS. Having hot flashes on top of HS is not a good idea.

Any thoguhts about weight loss and HS meds?

laylawaffles

Hey, I'm so sorry you're suffering so badly. Well done on the initial weight loss though, it's typical that HS got in the way of that for you. I've never been on either of those meds you mentioned, I've gained small amounts of weight with other meds though.

For starters, see what it is that's making you gain weight, are the meds increasing your appetite or causing you to retain an awful lot of water. The biggest thing that helped me was counseling. I gain 2 stone since my hs diagnosis, i gave in to the hs and became sedentary because of it. But I found a really understanding and cheap counsellor, who tried to understand the condition and then help me improve it as much as i could based on my mental state.

Since I came out of a depression and have learned some stress-relief techniques my hs has improved enough to allow me to do some yoga and some jogging. Stress and depression seemed to be the biggest triggers for flare-ups for me.

Another thing, check your bloodwork, check your b and d vitamins. my d was very very low (which is very common among hs patients) and since taking supplements it has improved even more allowing me to use some machines in the gym. Also have you heard of Tara Grant? She released a book called "Hidradenitis Suppurative: The Hidden Plague", it's all about how changing her diet helped put her hs into remission. A fantastic and enlightening read backed up by various medical studies.

But firstly sort out your mental health, the rest will follow naturally. Seeing a counselor is honestly the best thing I've ever done to help my hs. Please feel free to message me if I can help any further.

I wish you so much luck with getting this thing under control. It's a horrible but worthwhile journey.