IV fluid weight gain

jackieatx

I just got out of the hospital, and they were pumping me full of IV fluids. To my dismay, I discovered that I gained 7 pounds when I got home. I ate like a bird when I was there because I was nauseous, so it was not from overeating. Has this happened to anyone else, and how long did it take you to lose the water weight? Any insight would be appreciated, as its very discouraging to see I've gained half the weight I had lost back.

sarahrbraun

give it a few days to a week.

rileysowner

I agree a few days to a week. The thing is you shouldn't freak about it since it is most certainly water weight not fat. Keep yourself well hydrated, and it will come off quick enough.

jpvanzut

Trust me... it's all water weight. Give it time because it does take a while for it to shift. You'll feel like the Michelin Man for a bit. Hope you're feeling better.

Francesca3162

You were getting fluids around the clock... so your tissues are well hydrated right now.. give it a few days! Hope you are feeling better!

jackieatx

Thank you guys. The michelin man is the perfect way to describe it, even my fingers are puffy!

meghanner

I had a similar experience in the fall. I gained 17lbs in 3 days (a lot on my 110lbs frame). I was so puffy I couldn't put my pants on over my knees. Give it time, drink lots of water, take a supplement of dandelion or nettle (natural and gentle diuretic) and wait about a week. It took me about 10 days to get back to normal but I promise, it does happen.

lauralind5

IV fluids are sodium based It will come off.

momtokgo

Its happened to me too. During my last pregnancy I was really really sick, and had a central line in my neck, as well as 3 arm IV's. The equals 20 differnt lines going into my body, and I packed on over 20lbs in just over 5 days.

It does come back off, but it can take awhile. Give it a good week at least.

jackieatx

I'm so glad I'm not the only one. I didn't even stop to think that its saline! Makes much more sense now.

alivenus

I searched for this topic on google and this discussion came up. I'm so relieved to find this as the reason for last week's weight gain/no loss while being so good on my diet! I only just noticed that all my self-administered IVs have "saline" on the label. A total d'oh moment

Each day I am inputting 45mls pure saline and 210mls of saline mixed with the IV antibiotics over 2 weeks. Ouch, no wonder I feel like I've been inflated with a pump. :noway:

MsEndomorph

1 liter of extra water will put 2ish pounds on ya, so yes, IV fluids can pack on weight! Normal saline does have sodium in it, but it should be at the same level as the normal fluids in your body, so I wouldn't expect much water retention from that amount, but definitely enough for you to notice, especially if you wete dehydrated. You'll pee it off before you know it.

Not to be too gory, but what goes in must come out. It you track your output AND your input you'll see if you're holding onto more water and gaining weight that way.

Quilled

I was really sick and very dehydrated earlier this year. Put on 6lbs after IV fluids, took about a week for it to go away. Was very frustrating to see my weight the highest it had been in about a year and a half, and it trickled off rather slower than I thought it would but it did eventually go away. I think part of it was I had been so dehydrated they couldnt find a vein (took 5 tries to get one). So my body probably overcompensated and held on to that water longer than it normally would

alivenus

Thanks for the responses. I think also I've been a bit less active than usual. Can't wait to get back to the gym!

hog_farmers_wife

Glad to see I'm not the only one that had this problem. I had carpal tunnel surgery Monday and weighed myselfthat morning and then the next morning and I had gained 3 pounds. I know it has to be from the IV cause there is no way I can gain 3 pounds in 1 day especially when I haven't even been eating my normal calories for the day. It has been 3 days & today I still have 2.5 of those pounds on. I haven't had much of an appeitite with my pain medicine so I have been 500-700 under my calories evryday & I have been still walking on my treadmill so I know I should be losing weight. I'm ready for this water weight to be gone now!

skulegirl

Thank you thank you all for sharing your experiences here! I started tracking my weight on new years day, and then on Jan 8th I developed appendicitis. Despite throwing up everything I'd eaten that day (and having my appendix removed the next evening), I weighed myself after 24 hours in the hospital attached to an IV to find I'd gained 8.5 pounds! Very frustrating after having lost most of my holiday weight due to good tracking and my new fitbit. It sounds like it will probably take longer than I'd like to lose it all, especially since I won't be able to be as active as I usually am, but its comforting to be reminded that it's all water weight so I will eventually pee it out. :-)

DyanaEz

I just got out of the hosp..up 19lbs..i about cried!! I didnt even eat..liquid diet

missefletch

I am so glad I found this. I was admitted into the hospital Saturday night for Kidney stones (worst pain known to mankind) I was 163 pounds and looking quite fit. I was released Monday at 1pm. I felt really bloated. I was on an IV the whole time. When I got home I weighed myself.....And I was 180 pounds!!! Up 17 pounds!! I am so frustrated because I follow Paleo. I feel so fat but I know it will go away.

harryp69

I did the same thing.. googled the question to find this thread and im also glad it should come off because I managed to pack on 5kgs in 3 days, thats 5 weeks hard diet and training down the drain (I thought )

tped41

So glad I found this. I had my parathyroid out Friday. Came home today 9 pounds heavier! Had nothing but liquids! So depressed.

redheaddee

I have to ask. You just got out of the hospital, and your primary concern is your weight?

Dear gods. Focus on getting HEALTHY. Focus on your recovery. Be thankful you are well enough to be home rather than still in the hospital or worse.

#firstworldproblems

tped41

Thank you very much, I do focus on getting healthy. I am healthy. I have lost 85 pounds since April 1, 2013. I must watch my weight every single day without deviation. Yes, it bothered me that I had put that weight on in such a short period of time--hospital or no hospital. I was on a liquid diet for 2 days, and I felt it had something to do with the parathyroid being removed. It was a feeling I had and a feeling I shared. When you are a person like myself, and this is the only thing that has worked, and I had worked this consistently, things like this do freak one out. I am fine with my recovery, but obviously my weight gain upset me. I was not complaining about my health. After reading similar cases of the "water" weight gain I felt much better and am glad that I came to this site to see what was up. That is what the message boards are all about.

cinger6364

Redheadee - don't just others. I'm sure tped41 is thankful that she is out of the hospital and healing. However, after losing so much weight for health reasons I'm sure it is frustrating to see that you've gained weight back, especially when someone has more weight to lose.

Kalikel

I had a brief, but life-threatening emergency immediately following my surgery. They ran my fluids at a high rate for a while. I don't know if the doctor forgot to lower it or the nurse didn't do it, but when I woke up the next morning I was visually swollen and felt like...I can't even describe how it felt, lol. When you're doped up on morphine and have pain inside from the surgical manipulation and outside from the big old gash and your complaint is that you feel swollen, that's some swelling!!

I never checked my weight through all that, but am sure I gained a ton.

Once the fluids are stopped, it begins to go away.

Just drink normal amounts of water and wait a few days.

princess_lisa_2006

Thank goodness for this post! I had an I've in for 3 days running at a very high level causing me to gain 11lb. I'm so relieved to hear it will go down and it's all just Water!

pganton

I am also very happy to have found this post. I had 3 extended stays in the ER, hooked up to IV, over a 4 day period due to kidney stones (as someone else has already mentioned: worst pain ever!!!!!). In 4 days I had only eaten a few Saltines because I had to eat something to take the antibiotic I was prescribed. Was in too much pain, and too nauseous from the pain meds, to want to eat anything. Yup, stupid as it sounds, I'm thinking that the "payoff" for all the pain and suffering will be to have dropped a few pounds (which I know always comes back in these circumstances), so I was shocked when I got on the scale the morning I had to get dressed to see the urologist, only to see that my weight had gone up 5 pounds from the weight I was at just prior to this all starting. My jeans were less than comfortable, and I felt (and still feel) like an over stuffed sausage. It's obvious from reading all of these posts that this is par for the course. Today I was down 8/10s of a pound, so I only have 4.2 pounds to go to get back to where I was before all of this started (which I thought was a bit too high, but I'll take that number over this one). I'm bummed that it sounds like this is not going to drop off as quickly as it was put on, but I just need to have some patience and hope I can figure out what I can wear to work on Monday! Thanks, everyone, for sharing your stories!

azulvioleta6

If you are sick enough to be in the hospital, you are sick enough to stay off of the scale for a few days.

Your body will normalize--give it time.

pganton

I did stay off the scale for a few days, so I was just going through my normal "pre-shower routine" on the first day I felt better. Not where my priorities should be, I agree, but out of curiosity I wanted to see what changes had taken place! Glad I did, because now I know how IV fluids affect weight (gain)!

dolliesdaughter

When I had surgery in 2013, I weighed myself the morning before surgery and when I returned home 2 days later. 12 lbs weight gain (yikes) from IV fluids, it was gone 2 days after I returned home.

emrathmill

This is such a frustrating post, not for the subject, I've found that really helpful and found all the answers I had been looking for, but for the two idiots that have commented on it basically belittling people for feeling bad about worrying about their weight. I'm in hospital for the 12th time over an 18th month period and because of fluids my weight has gone up yet again. I don't know this from stepping on the scales every day, I know this from doctors weighing me every few days to keep an eye on my conditions. Weight issues don't all come down to somebody being vein and wanting to be skinny that's where people are quick to judge. When I leave this hospital I still won't be healthy, I have life long health issues to come to terms with so sorry if gaining extra weight and struggling with pains in my joints on top of that dont seem very appealing to me. Like the person said above, why can't we have a little hope that after all the pain and suffering we've been through we could have at least one positive out of it and have lost some weight? I think we deserve it!

hekla90

emrathmill wrote: »

This is such a frustrating post, not for the subject, I've found that really helpful and found all the answers I had been looking for, but for the two idiots that have commented on it basically belittling people for feeling bad about worrying about their weight. I'm in hospital for the 12th time over an 18th month period and because of fluids my weight has gone up yet again. I don't know this from stepping on the scales every day, I know this from doctors weighing me every few days to keep an eye on my conditions. Weight issues don't all come down to somebody being vein and wanting to be skinny that's where people are quick to judge. When I leave this hospital I still won't be healthy, I have life long health issues to come to terms with so sorry if gaining extra weight and struggling with pains in my joints on top of that dont seem very appealing to me. Like the person said above, why can't we have a little hope that after all the pain and suffering we've been through we could have at least one positive out of it and have lost some weight? I think we deserve it!

Unless you're on iv fluids containing dextrose, TPN, or propofol or other drips that contain calories, it's water weight gain not real weight gain unless you're also consuming at a surplus. I mentioned it the other day but I had a patient gain 48 something lbs in 24 hours due to receiving 22 liters of fluids and blood products. It was all gone by the time they left in 3 weeks. If a patient can't rid of fluids to the point we are medically concerned with the weight gain from it it's usually due to renal or heart failure.