medications that cause weight gain

I know I'm on a few meds that have weight gain as a side effect, but I notice every time my dosages are adjusted for any of them I rapidly gain weight. I'm having my amitriptyline dosage increased at the moment. Somehow I've gained 3 kgs since 2 days ago when I weighed which is weird because I never gain that much weight so quick. The last time I had this problem was with another drug, baclofen. I gained about 5 kgs on that and haven't lost it. I'm not impressed.

The biggest problem I've got at the moment is I seem to have developed a lot of hunger this week... I'm guessing it is to do with what I'm doing with the drug increase as I'm following instructions... I'm alternating dosage every day to try and get my body used to the higher dose. arghhh. Why can't we have drugs that make you thin. The last thing I need is more weight. What's more is my stomach hurts so I feel like a beached whale walking around as I've always got bloating.. plus the extra weight at the moment. I'm thinking I not eating at all but that won't help either. My diet is getting bad too because I've eliminated a lot from it. The latest is I've hardly been eating vegetables because every time I do my IBS goes crazy and triggers spasms right through me. Does anyone else relate to this where the meds they need to be on are causing weight gain?

Galja said:

There's insulin itself, of course and I've noticed that even in the informational brochures on diabetes, the people illustrated are all overweight, or at least heavier than norm. I was taking one drug that made me kind of nauseous, Byetta until November of last year and I think the nausea itself helped mitigate against the munchies but I've noticed that generally when i am feeling ill I want to eat more , i.e. I get the munchies and of course in these modern times, munchies are ever present at too many events. For example, feel a little weak? Eat comes in the head. Up too late, wake up in the middle of the night? maybe wind down with munchies. Have something gastrointestinal? Make up for it with some food. Muscle pain? Maybe rehydrate and have a little something. I've gotten to putting bottles of water in many locations to try and fight the feeling of never being full. I've also tried having something high fat. Just rambling but i know how you feel from understand most of your issues.

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Yes, my endo explained insulin is a fat storing hormone and that by placing me on it he wanted me to be aware it can cause weight gain. I have everything working against me that it's amazing I'm not the size of a whale. I have had weight fluctuations all my life. Now I am obese and mad about that. My father was a very big man and I swore to myself I never want to be his size. His mother was also a very large woman (but I never had much to do with my father and grandmother so that's all I recall about them health wise other than my grandmother apparently being blind and having diabetes... I have no idea what type she had). My mothers side of the family who I grew up with... they are all thin. And my great aunt who I've mentioned on this forum before she is a thin lady and has never had any weight issues in her life. She is diabetic and has been on insulin for years. It would seem insulin hasn't caused her any weight issues at all. She is type 2 as well so she is a classic example of the fact that not all type 2's are overweight. She'd probably be an australian size 8 if that. She sticks to routine and likes to keep active.

I make sure I drink lots of water too... but that has it's own problem for me as I have a bladder condition. I'm supposed to watch the pH level in my water.... hard to do. I just use filters a lot. But yes, water does help you feel full.

Galja said:

Hmm, I occasionally test my own PH, using a parsimonious tiny bit of PH strip and a chart. Do you? Before I waxed diabetic, taking care of the occasional bladder issue like a lot of women have, was easy because I would go on almost a diet of dark grape juice (the real stuff, not the from concentrate stuff) or cranberry juice without added sugar, which I still use today. I'd do a couple days of that kind of juice fast and there ya go, problem gone. Now it is more difficult to do a juice fast depending on level of inflammation frm this or that or infection or stress or ultra high BSugars. Lemon is one of those counterintuitive things that can make you more alkaline, so you can also do the lemon juice in water or lime

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Yes, that is the usual prevention for UTI's you mention there. Unfortunately I can't have any of those. I have had others recommend I take mannose but that is used to treat carb deficiency also and not recommended for diabetics... plus it has nothing to do with my bladder condition treatment. Interstitial cystitis is a chronic inflammatory bladder condition and things like grape, cranberry, and lemon that you mention are on the avoid food list for me. I made the mistake of drinking a drink that had some cranberry in it and I was in a fair amount of pain from it. I can't have any citrus, I can't eat apples, I can't eat most dried fruits, I can't eat most berries, kiwifruit, stone fruits, green capsicum, soy. I can't eat tomatoes other than the very small grape or cherry ones which aren't acidic, I don't test my pH level in the water. I just hope for the best when I use the filters. I don't seem to react to the water I'm drinking. I know though if I shouldn't eat or drink something as I usually react within 2 hours. I'm really disappointed as I can no longer drink most coffees or teas. There's only one coffee I've found I can tolerate and thats because it has green beans... all the others that are roasted I can't. As for fruit if I eat it I stick to pears, blueberries, bananas, and peaches. I can't have any alcohol. I'm struggling with vegetables as every time I eat vegetables my IBS flares up. It seems the only foods that don't cause me pain are carbs and really soft proteins. I eat eggs, fish, and minced meats mostly. As for complex carbs I can't eat whole grains as I get it stuck in my throat. I even now get rice stuck in my throat and almost choke on it so I don't even eat that much anymore either. I pretty much think all food is bad for me really... I can't eat anything that doesn't impact on something by either causing pain or raising my sugar levels.