Weight gain: is it your medication?
There are ways to minimize this side effect
If you’ve had trouble with your weight since you started taking that new prescription drug, there may be a correlation. “Drugs interact with body chemistry in different ways, and the results can include weight gain,” says registered pharmacist Frank Pacana of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “Understanding how your prescription works may help you minimize that side effect.”
When a pill adds pounds, any of several mechanisms may be at work, says Pacana’s colleague, family medicine physician Brian Stello, M.D. “Some prescriptions slow your metabolism, making it harder to burn calories,” he says. “Others make you feel lethargic, so you’re less motivated to exercise. Still others increase your appetite, or cause your body to retain fluid.” Here are some specific examples:
- Diabetes medications work to normalize metabolism and cause calories that were once flushed out in your urine to become metabolically available.
- Psychiatric and neurological drugs affect brain receptors and hormones which in turn affect your appetite or energy level.
- Long-term use of steroid medications may increase your appetite and cause fat to redistribute itself to your face, neck and abdomen. This makes you look heavier even though you may not be.
Finally, you may be among the people who gain weight from drugs that affect hormone levels or blood pressure.
Extra pounds can be discouraging, but the important thing to remember is whether the drug is helping your condition, Stello says. “If it is, then that may be of overriding value. All drugs have risks and benefits, and weight gain—or loss—is a very individual response.”
Before reducing or discontinuing a drug, be sure to talk with your doctor. Other options may be available. Meanwhile, consider reducing your calorie intake and revving up your activity level to boost your metabolism.
Want to Know More about metabolism? Call 610-402-CARE.
Published from Healthy You Magazine, November-December 2008
This page last updated 11/18/08 09:48 AM
