Medication and weight management
After the month of December, we are more often conscious of our health. Some people link resolutions to it; quitting smoking, Dry January and healthy eating or dieting.
Medicine and weight management
After the December month, we are more conscious of our health. Some people link resolutions to it; quitting smoking, Dry January and healthy eating or dieting. After all, weight gain is a common complaint at the beginning of the year. Did you know that if you take medication, it can have an effect on your weight?
Some medications can cause weight changes, such as weight gain or loss. It is important to remember that not all medications have the same effect on everyone. To keep your weight under control while on medication, there are a few steps you can take. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular exercise can help. Talking with your doctor or pharmacist about any concerns or changes in your weight can also be helpful.
Medications That Can Affect Your Weight
Antidepressants
Medications for depression (antidepressants) can cause you to have an increased appetite. Stronger appetite is not always a side effect: a person may also feel more like eating because they feel better. There are also antidepressants that reduce appetite.
Medications for psychosis
Certain medications for psychosis (antipsychotics) can also cause weight gain. These medications slow the metabolism and can cause increased appetite. They include the drugs olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and clozapine.
Lithium
Lithium is a medication for manic-depressive or bipolar disorder; this can have thirst as a side effect. If this causes you to drink a lot of high-calorie beverages, it can lead to weight gain. In addition, you can gain weight with lithium because of a slowed metabolism and because of fluid retention.
Medications for diabetes
Medications for diabetes can cause weight gain because they slow metabolism. An exception is metformin: this diabetes medication speeds up metabolism, so metformin can actually cause people to lose weight. People with type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes) are often overweight, which is why a doctor often prescribes metformin.
Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids are medications for inflammation. They can cause weight gain through slowed metabolism, increased appetite and fluid retention. An example of a well-known corticosteroid is prednisolone.
Cannabis
Cannabis is medicinal marijuana. It can cause increased appetite and therefore weight gain. Sometimes this effect is desirable, such as in patients with cancer or AIDS.
Contraceptive pill
The 'pill' sometimes has the side effect of causing the user to retain fluid.
Medications for epilepsy
Anti-epileptics for epilepsy can cause weight gain or weight loss. We do not know exactly why or how this can happen. Valproic acid, vigabatrin and gabapentin can cause weight gain. Topiramate is often more likely to cause weight loss. Carbamazepine can cause weight gain by increasing adipose tissue and fluid retention.
Beta blockers
Beta blockers can reduce the pumping power of the heart. This allows the body to retain more fluid. This leads to some weight gain. Beta blockers can also slow down metabolism.
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