The battle against medication weight gain

What are your experiences with trying to lose weight while fighting your medications? Is there a trick to it?

I've been on medicine for years and since a med change 4 years ago I gained 40 pounds. No matter how well I eat, and how appropriate my portions are, the weight sticks to me.

According to my calculations I should be losing 2 pounds a week, but I'm barely doing 0.6 pounds a week. It's slow going. I'm fighting my medications but I'm finally seeing progress.

Share your experiences with me!

Replies

  • salendire
    salendire Posts: 53
    I've never tried to drop weight when I am medicated. I go through bouts of medicated and not all the time, I get these feelings that I need to know how I work (mentally) without the medication and then only go back if I am really not coping. Not that I suggest you do the same, of course.

    But what I do know is that a fair few years ago I was put on to an anti-anxiety med that inflated my weight by about 30kg (66lbs) in a year. Shockingly, I didn't even realise it was happening until I saw a photo of myself. Once I stopped taking the meds I stopped putting on weight and now I am working to drop it off.
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
    But what I do know is that a fair few years ago I was put on to an anti-anxiety med that inflated my weight by about 30kg (66lbs) in a year. Shockingly, I didn't even realise it was happening until I saw a photo of myself. Once I stopped taking the meds I stopped putting on weight and now I am working to drop it off.

    This was also my experience on an anti-anxiety drug. I felt great, but had a supersized appetite and when I gained weight I was still feeling so good about myself on the pills that I didn't get the normal 'oh god look how much weight I've gained' shock until I was up 40lb. Once I weaned myself off the meds it was relatively easy to lose the weight.

    OP, sorry I haven't been in a situation where I have tried to lose weight while taking medications that have affected it. For me it was coming off the medications that made it much easier for me to lose it, but incredibly difficult during my half-hearted attempts to lose weight while still taking them. 0.6 lb is still a loss though, even though it's slow. Perhaps you will just have to change your expectations of how quickly it's going to happen. Keep at it - you obviously CAN lose weight, even if it is much slower than what you want.
  • AlliSteff
    AlliSteff Posts: 211 Member
    Yes- I think that is what is most likely keeping my weight on now (I am on a lupus medication). My doc and I decided to slowly go off of it and see how I feel. According to my food and activity log, I should weight almost 10 lbs less than I do by now. SO FRUSTRATING!