Ibuprofen and water retention/weight gain

cktb4him
cktb4him Posts: 56
in Health and Weight Loss
I have to take ibuprofen every once in awhile for aches and pains from fibromyalgia and IC and endo. When I do it seems my weight immediately goes up about three to five pounds. I have monitored what I am eating and I never have anything out of the ordinary and am right at my calorie level for MFP (set at 1200 right now). After I stop taking it my weight goes down after about a day or two. What gives??? Has anyone else seen this happen with their weight and ibuprofen? Just wondering if I'm a weird anomaly or if this happens to alot of people. :huh:
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Replies

  • PaulaDygert
    PaulaDygert Posts: 148 Member
    I have kinda begun to put these 2 things together myself. I take it for headaches and have noticed a 2lb gain just starting to connect the dots so I am going to pay more attention to detail from now on.
  • fitnfabulous
    fitnfabulous Posts: 21
    very interesting. i too have fibro and this past couple of days i was taking celebrex (high ibuprofen) and i didn't lose any weight. i am going to track this more closely as well. i'm also going to ask my husband his opinion on this matter, he's a physician.
  • mandi0901
    mandi0901 Posts: 6
    Now that I think about it, I think your on the right track. I have been taking Ibuprofen for some major headaches recently and noticed I was really retaining water in my legs. I didn't know why but that was the only thing that was different. I will have to keep track of it since I just took some about 30 minutes ago.
  • cktb4him
    cktb4him Posts: 56
    Thanks so much for your input everyone! I'm starting to feel a bit better. Maybe I'll try something else. Tylenol doesn't seem to touch my pain but maybe the doctor (going in two weeks) will have an alternative or maybe I'll just deal with it if I know it's only water weight. At least I know I'm not alone! :smile:
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
    A quick google search reveals there is some validity to what you are saying:

    "CARDIOVASCULAR Edema, fluid retention (generally responds promptly to drug discontinuation) Congestive heart failure in patients with marginal cardiac function, elevated blood pressure, palpitations "

    Read more: http://www.drugs.com/sfx/ibuprofen-side-effects.html
  • mollyelliott
    mollyelliott Posts: 55 Member
    i have found the same thing when i take other NSAIDs (Torodal and Mobic) and lost the weight a few days after i stopped taking both. Ive been trying aleve (I have to take it everyday for a knee injury im resolviong :))
  • fitnfabulous
    fitnfabulous Posts: 21
    i spoke to my husband this morning and he confirmed that ibuprofen indeed does cause water retention and bloating. that sucks!! now everytime i take my meds i'm thinking of it as my new 'fat' pill!! argh!
    anyone know what we can take to get rid of water retention and help with bloating?
    help!
  • atlmom
    atlmom Posts: 27 Member
    it's the only thing i take for cramps. go figure it promotes bloating!
  • MCproptart
    MCproptart Posts: 92 Member
    ^ THIS!

    TOM = salt, chocolate, and ibuprofen for cramps = water weight gain.

    Well, this too shall pass!
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    i think Midol and Pamprin both have a pain reliver and a anti bloating componenet. I don't see why you could't take them for soemthing other than cramps ( I often took them for a hangover in college). Might be worth a try.
  • fitsin10
    fitsin10 Posts: 141
    Wow!!!! Who knew! Thanks for putting 2 and 2 together, because now that I think about it the same happened to me last weekend. I ate clean and healthy and nothing out of the ordinary. Thank you so much!!!!!
  • mulderpf
    mulderpf Posts: 209 Member
    Well, I take ibuprofen if I had a little bit too much to drink the night before, so when I take it, I am very dehydrated and the next day, I'll be 3 pounds up!

    What does seem to help a lot is to track my weight trend, rather than actual weight (described here: http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/signalnoise.html) and a nifty Android app called Libra, helps me to track this. So I weigh in daily with it and track my weekly weight on MFP.

    At the end of the day, it's all just water and it's not really fat. So I'm not too worried from day to day as long as the trend keeps going down in general.

    Don't let the daily fluctuations bother you too much...
  • MrsNANSEE
    MrsNANSEE Posts: 42
    I would try drinking more water when you have your pain meds.,I'm no doctor but if you are bloating when taking them it would be an good idea xxx
  • SunnyAndrsn
    SunnyAndrsn Posts: 369 Member
    I have to take ibuprofen every once in awhile for aches and pains from fibromyalgia and IC and endo. When I do it seems my weight immediately goes up about three to five pounds. I have monitored what I am eating and I never have anything out of the ordinary and am right at my calorie level for MFP (set at 1200 right now). After I stop taking it my weight goes down after about a day or two. What gives??? Has anyone else seen this happen with their weight and ibuprofen? Just wondering if I'm a weird anomaly or if this happens to alot of people. :huh:

    I have chronic pain and use NSAIDs daily, along with tramadol and tylenol #3. No issues with retention.
  • Rockdrop
    Rockdrop Posts: 22 Member
    I absolutely do retain water after taking Ibuprofen...and lots of it! The first time I noticed it, I was shocked and appalled! But now I understand what's happening and try not to get too concerned.
  • Gwenski
    Gwenski Posts: 348 Member
    I did take ibuprofen for quite qua while for my arthritic pain. I mentioned to my doc that I was retaining fluid. I showed him my ankles and he told me tomstop the ibuprofen immediately.
  • julialashay
    julialashay Posts: 1
    Thanks for posting this. I've been taking ibuprofen for the past three days for a knee injury and instantly put on 4lbs. Because I haven't been eating any differently I figured it must be water retention. I'm so glad that you all have confirmed this. I'll calm down now knowing that after I'm done taking the pills the weight should drop right off.
  • Sweetsugar0424
    Sweetsugar0424 Posts: 451 Member
    Very good to know! Ibuprofen is the only medication that really works for me so I take it when I need it. Just another thing to pay attention to when tracking (not a bad thing as I love figuring these things out).

    Thanks for posting!
  • 1horseygirl1
    1horseygirl1 Posts: 98 Member
    oh wow, thank you for putting this up here. I have had this problem also. Now I know why.
  • Btmartin54
    Btmartin54 Posts: 69 Member
    Thanks for posting and responding to this question. I've been taking high doses of ibuprofen and Vicodin for an injury, and was so concerned about the immediate weight gain.
  • frustrated51
    frustrated51 Posts: 1
    Thank you for your post. Yes I most definitely experience weight gain when i take IB. As you state it will come off a few days after you stop taking the medication. I journal ALL of my food intake and I exercise 3 -4 times per week. If it were not for my tracking all of this through my fitness pal it would have been vry discouraging.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
    I'm glad this post was bumped back up! I was extremely discouraged after the scale went the wrong direction after a ton of exercise last weekend. But I was taking ibuprofen for a badly bruised wrist/forearm! I stopped yesterday, so I'll see where the numbers go.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
    Bingo! With 48 hours off ibuprofen, the scale thinks I've lost 2.6 pounds this week. Most of that is water, but it's sure nice to see a good number.
  • ashandstuff
    ashandstuff Posts: 442 Member
    Whoa I never realized this, that's something to keep in mind the next time I weigh in! :] You learn something everyday
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Weird. I have a lot of Ibuprofen around ovulation and my period, and I gain water weight, but I always kinda assumed it was linked to my period and not the ibuprofen.
  • bjshields
    bjshields Posts: 677 Member
    Don't know if it's related, but my blood pressure always goes sky high when I take ibuprofen the day of a doctor's visit. Interesting.
  • charlottey11
    charlottey11 Posts: 1
    I'm so glad I found this! I had dental surgery on Monday and have been taking 200 mg doses of ibuprofen every 3 hours for pain. I weighed myself at my gym on Sunday and just this morning weighed myself again - i've gained 3.5 pounds in 3 days! I nearly cried! Nothing has changed as far as my diet and physical activity, in fact i haven't been able to eat what I normally eat until dinner last night. I'm relieved that Advil could be the culprit and hope I can button the nice pants that I would like to wear to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night!:smile:
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    Wow, this was so informative. I as well took a couple pills to alleviate some knee pain and I couldn't understand why I was so bloated. Ppl actually commented on my weight gain ...well guess I'll look at other options.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    I agree, this was good to hear. i have been popping them like crazy because of back pain, neck pain, life pain. When i got on the scale yesterday, i had put on a few pounds and I actually did cry. Plus my TOM is next week so I'm sure that didn't help. I feel so much better. I will not give up.
  • xkarinadollface
    xkarinadollface Posts: 4 Member
    wow this is insane, i had no idea!... i get bad migraines and take advil a lot and i just got a breast augmentation and once i got off the prescribed painkillers, i started taking both tylenol and advil cause my surgeon said its better than the prescribed ones since they are pretty strong.. I came into surgery with lean abs.. i came home after looking pregnant and the bloating still hasn't gone away.. I heard this is normal and shall pass, i eat very clean too..

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