Feeling (Somewhat) Validated

jencnipps
jencnipps Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know there are so many excuses for gaining weight. I thought one of mine was "so many of my medications have weight gain as a side effect." Since none of my doctors ever addressed it, I thought it was just me excuse-hunting or blame shifting.

Then, today I saw a counselor and we were talking about so many things that have been going on in my life the past few years. (Intake stuff.) And she could pull up my records and see what my prescriptions are since she's part of their system. She said she could see when and where I really started gaining weight when they started changing my medications.

Yes, my blood sugar is finally under excellent control, but I've gained about 100 pounds in the past three years or so.

So, yeah, I feel somewhat validated, but I also feel angry that this is something that is known to happen and they pretty much did nothing to address it except to suggest a gastric sleeve when I asked about help losing weight.

I'm just.... Yeah. Annoyed. Aggravated. Frustrated. Angry. Upset. All of the above.

:/

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    In the past my GP would just keep adding medications based on my one-sentence complaints and a 15 minute interview/appointment.

    She went to Harvard and so (stupidly) I trusted her.

    I struggled with weight gain too.

    I got off all my meds (against medical advice, jus' sayin') and I've been at a healthy weight ever since.


    Coincidence? I think not.

    I'm now very wary of any doctor who prescribes a pill.


    They're just doing what they've been taught as MEDICAL doctors. Prescribing meds.

    Quoted for truth.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    foreverslim1111 wrote: »
    cico

    Sometimes there are ways of understanding things that are factually correct, but not helpful. It's a confusing lesson to learn.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    @cmriverside

    You should look into direct primary care. I don't know if you'd like it or not, it probably depends more on the doctor than the financial model. That said, office visits with my doctor are 90 minutes.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,412 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    @cmriverside

    You should look into direct primary care. I don't know if you'd like it or not, it probably depends more on the doctor than the financial model. That said, office visits with my doctor are 90 minutes.

    Thanks, I don't see that doctor any more. I also found my backbone. :)
  • Ann262
    Ann262 Posts: 266 Member
    Iwannabeapunkrockmom wrote: »
    Just wanted to give you hugs, support, and understanding. I've lost 40 pounds since I made adjustments in my meds and my eating. I was counting calories and weighing my food on my meds and NOTHING was happening. My weight still slowly creeped up. I know everyone here says it is impossible or that I must have been counting wrong. Yadda yadda. Nope. I changed three things: I changed my meds and added more whole foods to my lunch, and started fasting breakfast. I eat the same amount of calories every day that I did before the change in meds. I eat a lot of the same dinners (just finished pizza Friday, WOOP!). Those meds REALLY messed me up. I still have to watch what I eat very closely. Like... I can't even miss logging one bite ever. I tend to gain very very easily still. Maintenance is gonna be difficult when I am get there. Anyways. Just wanted to spend l give you more affirmation and validate you. Hugs.

    Hugs and support to you too. Usually, whatever the medication is battling is worse than carrying too much weight but our doctors really need to understand that being overweight is a big deal to many of us, especially women.
  • joryrheanne
    joryrheanne Posts: 49 Member
    I am living proof that meds cause weight gain. I gained 150lbs after being on meds for deppression and anxiety. My new doctor has a good plan in place for getting me off the meds.
  • DeterminedDivaMN
    DeterminedDivaMN Posts: 20 Member
    That is so frustrating!! I had medication complications after a concussion. My depression had gotten worse so my PCP had me take an “add-on” drug. Then I ended up getting tremors in my so bad that it was hard to type. I went back to the clinic and someone on the “care team” and me see a neurologist. This guy essentially looked at my hands and my eyes and told me it was from the meds, not my concussion. He had me stop the one cold turkey and weaned me back on the original. For me, it was Serotonin Syndrome. I did gain about 60 pounds after my concussion, mainly due to my brain no longer controlling impulses. I mean, yes, for ME it was way more calories in and way less burned. If I thought about a food, I went and got it. If I didn’t want to exercise, I didn’t. I used to exercise a total of an hour a day pre-concussion and then.. nothing.

    @jencnipps Is there a plan for you to cut back on meds? Or switch them for something else?
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Good job getting blood sugar under control, OP. That's huge.

    A MD family member often tells me bodies systems are complex and rarely is there a single cause for something. The more medications, the more complex the possible causes and effects. I understand the desire to quit all medications as some commenters (not the OP) have expressed. But medications can be life saving, too, so each merits careful weighing. I see posters from time to time concerned about weight gain from an injury of illness (also not OP), and I'm so much more concerned for their long term healing than their short term water retention.

    OP, I hear you that 100lb is a lot to gain in 3 years. If you gave yourself 3 years to get back down to your prior weight, that works out to a pretty modest daily deficit. I do not disagree that some health conditions can make a small deficit tough to sustain. And I appreciate that finding the right med or combination of meds can take more patience even than weight loss with a small deficit. Just wanted to validate your experience and encourage a long term view towards improving your health. You are off to a really good start. Hang in there.
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    I just watched this happen with my mom. My mom is a natural skinny twig lady. She can eat ENDLESSLEY and seems to never gain weight. She's 5'8" and the MOST she's ever weighed was when she was 9 mos pregnant with me and was 145 lbs.
    She recently had to undergo spinal surgery for a benign tumor removal and they put her on steroids . Steroids can increase your apetite and sure enough, she was hungry all the time . Keep in mind that she's usually a big eater with no consequences, but she was trying to be careful and regulate . Still, in a matter of like 1.5 months she had gained an easy 20 lbs. If this was a long term situation, it would have likely continued.
    Yes CICO is the science behind things but the measures you use to impact that and how successful they are are influenced by many health factors.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    My brother is seriously mentally ill, and when his anti-psychotics stop working, they really stop working. His medical team does pay attention to his reporting of side effects.

    It makes me mad when doctors don't take patient's reporting of side effects from anti depressants seriously. There are so many anti depressants out there. I think I tried six different ones before I found Wellbutrin, which has an association with weight loss, rather than weight gain.

    My brother's mood stabilizers and antipsychotics are known to cause an increase in appetite. When he was in a hospital setting, he gained weight while eating hospital food and not getting much exercise. Now that he is home, eating Mom's cooking, helping her with extensive yard work, and walking several miles per day, he lost all the weight he gained in the hospital and has maintained a healthy weight for going on 7 years.

    He doesn't count calories. He does eat lots of whole foods - fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains, chicken, fish, etc. There's very little junk food in the house. Mom's natural way of eating is basically the Mediterranean diet.
  • Ann262
    Ann262 Posts: 266 Member
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    jelleigh wrote: »

    Yes medication can increase appetite etc - I've experienced that myself, and stopped taking the meds for that and other side effects. But I didn't gain weight on them because I recognised that I had an increase in appetite, not an actual increase in need to eat, so I kept my calories at the same level. And never gained weight.

    The thing is, if you are HUNGRY, that is really really hard. Good for you the tough it out but I, personally, would have a really hard time with that.

    There ARE medications that slow metabolism. Beta blockers do that. There is no way to know precisely how much. If you are using MFP, you CAN be showing more calories out than in but gain weight because MFP (or any calorie tracking app) can't account for the impact of the medication. You could be enjoying a really healthy balanced diet and gain weight because the calories consumed do exceed the calories burned because of the medication. Consuming even less isn't such a simple solution if that leaves you hungry.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    I just watched this happen with my mom. My mom is a natural skinny twig lady. She can eat ENDLESSLEY and seems to never gain weight. She's 5'8" and the MOST she's ever weighed was when she was 9 mos pregnant with me and was 145 lbs.
    She recently had to undergo spinal surgery for a benign tumor removal and they put her on steroids . Steroids can increase your apetite and sure enough, she was hungry all the time . Keep in mind that she's usually a big eater with no consequences, but she was trying to be careful and regulate . Still, in a matter of like 1.5 months she had gained an easy 20 lbs. If this was a long term situation, it would have likely continued.
    Yes CICO is the science behind things but the measures you use to impact that and how successful they are are influenced by many health factors.
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    This is a bit of a false equivalent as well.

    She had spinal surgery. So I'm guessing she went from being someone who was fairly active, even if its just generally walking around etc, to someone who is recovering from spinal surgery, so not doing as much.

    Of course she gained weight if she didn't alter her eating habits.

    Yes medication can increase appetite etc - I've experienced that myself, and stopped taking the meds for that and other side effects. But I didn't gain weight on them because I recognised that I had an increase in appetite, not an actual increase in need to eat, so I kept my calories at the same level. And never gained weight.

    Yes, my mom is a twig but she is super active. She would gain weight post surgery if she ate the same yet moved less.

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