Drugs that cause weight gain, how does that work? (skin, hormones, doctor)

[pete6032]

Ok if you are prescribed a medication by your doctor and one of the side effects is weight gain, does that mean that the drug is making you hungrier so you eat more, or is it likely messing with one's metabolism and digestive system?

If everything else is constant, and you start taking a drug that causes weight gain, but are ingesting the same diet and same amount of calories that you did beforehand, and have the same level of physical activity, how could you gain weight?

[Hedgehog_Mom]

I've had it happen to me before. In my case, taking hormones or steroids makes me put on weight in the chest and abdomen, even if I don't eat more or decrease my exercise. I'm not sure exactly how it does that to me but I know it takes several months to get over it after I stop taking the meds.

[Ottawa2011]

I had a medication prescription that both (a) increased my appetite and (b) slowed down my metabolism. I gained quite a bit of weight in no time at all. It took a long time to gradually lose it and keep it off.

Medications can slow down your metabolism, so that even if you don't eat any more food, you burn calories much more slowly. That's how the weight piles on. You have to reduce the amount of calories you're taking in, and/or exercise more, just to remain at the same weight and not gain more.

[charolastra00]

It can be all of the above.

I was given a lot of steroids while on chemo and they not only screwed with my metabolism, but made me hungry all the time. I found myself chewing a lot of ice cubes to deal with it.

In the previous 5 years of misdiagnosis, I had been given a different type of steroids every 6 months or so due to symptoms of cancer (that were blamed on a skin condition). They didn't make me hungry at all, but I'd gain no less than 20 pounds on each round not changing my diet or activity at all. Once the treatment was over, I'd immediately drop 10 pounds but the 2nd half would linger.

[Scooby Snacks]

I have had this problem many times. I am always on one mood stabilizer or another, and many of them cause weight gain. I believe the way they cause weight gain is by increasing appetite, but different weight gain causing drugs cause weight gain differently. It's a complicated issue. Many weight gain causing drugs don't cause weight gain in their patients. I was on a certain mood stabilizer (Geodon) successfully for a few years, then all of a sudden, it caused me to gain a lot of weight. I stopped it and I lost the weight. I went on another for a while, then when that stopped working, I gave the Geodon a try again, and once again, my weight went right back up. I have no idea why I was able to take it fine for a few years and then it started making me gain weight. I took another medicine and I ended up heavier than I had ever been in my life. I went off that and lost the weight right away.

Now I am on yet another mood stabilizer (Quetiapine) that can cause weight gain, so I monitor my weight carefully. Fortunately I am on a small dose, and my weight has been stable for the 2 years I've been taking it. One tip for people on drugs that can cause weight gain: Regular exercise is essential. It keeps your metabolism humming, which is a major cay that these drugs can make you pack on the pounds.

[aquamarin]

Weight gain side effect may affect you, but may not. I took variety of meds in the past that has a weight gain as a side effect but never gain weight or noticed any increase in appetite.

[Pikantari]

I have been on a medication that has the side effect of weight gain for about 26 years. I don't think I noticed that it caused me to be more hungry at all but I will say that circumstance caused me to be less active as well at the time.