Losing weight TOO fast?

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rosec005
rosec005 Posts: 67 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I've been on MFP for about a month now and I had been losing at a steady 1-2lbs/week. But on Monday, I started a new ADHD medication (Adderall XR) which is suppressing my appetite a lot, but I've still been at around 1100-1200 calories a day. I haven't been exercising at all due to just having some cortisone injections into my neck. The problem is that I've lost nearly 3 lbs. in 3 days (1 lbs yesterday and 2 this morning!). Now normally I wouldn't be too worried about this, but I know that 3+lbs/wk is not a healthy, maintainable way to lose weight. My current activity level is set to sedentary and MFP cuts off my calorie intake so I should really only be losing 1.2 lbs/wk so I don't understand how I can lose twice that amount in less than half the time. TOM was also last week and ended Sunday, so I thought maybe I was dropping water weight, but I just want to make sure! (I haven't been drinking my normal 8+ glasses of water per day either though, so I thought my body would be holding on to that water?...)

Thanks for the help!

Replies

  • carlfry
    carlfry Posts: 62
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    I would imagine its the new medication, right? If you're going to stay on the medication you may notice quite a big weight loss, but it should stop after a few weeks.
  • dbcja
    dbcja Posts: 54
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    Maybe have a look into the medication. If weightloss is a healthy side effect then Yay!
  • CraigIW
    CraigIW Posts: 176
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    I wouldn't worry too much. You are not doing anything unhealthy like starving yourself. Maybe mention it to your doctor if it is a concern.
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
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    It is probably a fluctuation due to some temporary dehydration as a result of the medication change. Watch the pattern over the next couple of weeks and see if things even out, or you continue to drop weight rapidly. A 3 pound fluctuation over a couple of days is normal even without your body adjusting to new meds.
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
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    its the meds dont worry about it, you can try upping your calorie while on it. My son while not having a problem with it on the adderall, when he first went on concerta he lost almost 15 pounds in less than 3 months, at a time he supposed to grow and he was pretty tiny to begin with. it took almost 3 years, with summers off the meds to get it back on him.
  • t_rog
    t_rog Posts: 363 Member
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    I would give it some time. It's normal to have a several pound difference over the course of a few days...it definitely evens out! If it's still happening in 2-3 weeks, then maybe i'd check with your doctor.
  • TheJillJohnson
    TheJillJohnson Posts: 8 Member
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    I used to take that medicine and went from 235 to 200 pretty fast! I LOVED The side affect since I am so much overweight! BUT this is why people dont like this med for younger kids it can hurt them losing so much! BUT man does it ever work awesomely!!! I wish I could get back on it, but i had alot of other issues with the medication so I had to go off of it!

    Just so you know though I did stop losing at the 200 mark, I didnt keep going down, it was going to take effort on my part after the initial weight loss, so I didnt lose more! I wasnt ready to change anything else at that time!

    Enjoy the steady climb downwards! BUT now that im off, I have gained it ALL back, since I didnt lose weight by making good choices I lost it only due to appetite suppressant....now Im on here and gonna make changes the right way.
  • Tzavush
    Tzavush Posts: 389 Member
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    Because Adderal is a CNS stimulant, it can be entirely related to the effect of the medication on your metabolism internally.
    If you find that you are not happy with the effects I would talk to your doctor about it, otherwise enjoy the unintended benefits.
  • rosec005
    rosec005 Posts: 67 Member
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    I've had a similar result on Vyvanse (similar to Adderall) but I wasn't trying to be healthy about it at that point, and I ended up having a lot of problems because of rapid weight loss that didn't stop until I was off the medicine. That's why I'm so worried at this point because I want to do this the right way still. Do you think I should increase my calorie intake until my body adjusts to the new medicine?
  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
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    I wouldn't worry about it too much right now. You could have been retaining water last week due to TOM and now you are flushing it out of your system. The other thing you might be doing is losing muscle. If you were working out and now haven't been it could be getting smaller.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    Adderall = amphetamines. Same effects of speed. It is a very strong stimulant with secondary effects of weight loss. Assuming your body will adjust over time, expect that your appetite may be suppressed until that adjustment happens...which may or may not happen. Just try to up your caloric intake a bit if you feel you're losing weight too fast.
  • TheBraveryLover
    TheBraveryLover Posts: 1,217 Member
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    The problem is that I've lost nearly 3 lbs. in 3 days (1 lbs yesterday and 2 this morning!)
    I personally wouldn't recommend paying attention to your weight on a daily basis. If you want to weigh yourself daily, go for it, but try not to think something is wrong (loss or gain) unless it's on a weekly basis. The reason is that there are many reasons that weight fluctuates everyday. Who knows, by the end of the week, it might be a total of 1 or 2 pounds loss.
  • marigolds1
    marigolds1 Posts: 25
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    I take Adderall as well. This is a completely normal side effect--both the appetite suppression and the metabolism bump. It does (unfortunately) go away once your body acclimates (can take as long as 2-3 months to totally go away, but the fast losses will probably only last 3 weeks or so.) I theorize that it has something to do with dopamine, since Adderall is a dopamine-active drug, and since dieting drops dopamine levels through the floor (which is linked to a hormone cascade that leads to hunger, metabolism adaptation, etc.)

    Why does the weight loss feel unhealthy to you? I personally would milk it for all it's worth since it will subside. :)
  • rosec005
    rosec005 Posts: 67 Member
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    I take Adderall as well. This is a completely normal side effect--both the appetite suppression and the metabolism bump. It does (unfortunately) go away once your body acclimates (can take as long as 2-3 months to totally go away, but the fast losses will probably only last 3 weeks or so.) I theorize that it has something to do with dopamine, since Adderall is a dopamine-active drug, and since dieting drops dopamine levels through the floor (which is linked to a hormone cascade that leads to hunger, metabolism adaptation, etc.)

    Why does the weight loss feel unhealthy to you? I personally would milk it for all it's worth since it will subside. :)

    It feels unhealthy because I know it's not healthy to lose more than 2 lbs per week normally. I lost nearly 50 lbs on Vyvanse before and gained 70+ back within two years of stopping it, and I really don't want that to happen this time.
  • AFWinter
    AFWinter Posts: 13
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    As long as you're making sure you eat enough (which sounds like you are), that shouldn't be a big problem. You're body will adjust in the next few days to weeks. I won't get into the science of how it works, unless you want to hear about it. What we tell parents of kids on adderall is to take drug holidays on the weekends; that is to not take at all Saturday and Sunday, then start again on Monday. That might work for you, but talk to your doctor or pharmacist if your really worried about it.
  • Superdupermom
    Superdupermom Posts: 149
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    im on bipolar med makes you lose weight and that dont worry your eating..try to get exercise soon your fine
  • rosec005
    rosec005 Posts: 67 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your help! I'm really careful about losing weight because I've had issues with eating disorders before and I NEVER want to go back to that. If I keep losing at this rate when I go back to my doctor in a month I'll ask her what I should do. I'm not even taking my full dose yet so I think I'll stay low until the side effects subside and then increase. I guess I'll just take the weight loss while I can!
  • marigolds1
    marigolds1 Posts: 25
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    I take Adderall as well. This is a completely normal side effect--both the appetite suppression and the metabolism bump. It does (unfortunately) go away once your body acclimates (can take as long as 2-3 months to totally go away, but the fast losses will probably only last 3 weeks or so.) I theorize that it has something to do with dopamine, since Adderall is a dopamine-active drug, and since dieting drops dopamine levels through the floor (which is linked to a hormone cascade that leads to hunger, metabolism adaptation, etc.)

    Why does the weight loss feel unhealthy to you? I personally would milk it for all it's worth since it will subside. :)

    It feels unhealthy because I know it's not healthy to lose more than 2 lbs per week normally. I lost nearly 50 lbs on Vyvanse before and gained 70+ back within two years of stopping it, and I really don't want that to happen this time.

    I would be willing to bet that the reason it came back so quickly is that you lost muscle along with fat last time. If you are lifting weights while you lose, you will retain much more muscle, which is always a good thing!

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