I hear and see a lot of mention of weight gain as a side effect of some medications. I believe it happens but I’ve never understood how it works. For example, could an athlete who eats perfectly still be struck by weight gain as a side effect? What’s the biological mechanism that would make weight gain happen in a person with a healthy balanced diet?
I’ve taken a medication for years that a doctor just told me they’d rather never raise the dose on because it can cause metabolic syndrome. My A1C, cholesterol, and virtually the rest of my labs were in the healthy range, but I have noticed some weight on me that seemed oddly persistent. My diet ranges from average to healthy nowadays and I’m moderately active. Yet I can think back to a time before the medication when I was eating horribly, never exercised, smoked and drank nonstop, and my labs were looking nasty – yet my extremely consistent max weight was a solid 20lbs under what it is today which a noticeably better lifestyle all around. I’m by no means the athlete in the perfect diet example, I’m more fascinated by how something like that is even possible. Definitely interesting.
In: Biology
Prednisone is a life saving medication that also makes me feel ravenous all the time. It’s impossible for me to fight. I think it messes with blood sugar with long term use. I periodically need it for a few weeks at a time, and all my work to lose weight goes out the door. And even though it energizes me, I’m usually too sick to be active when I’m on it. But it allows me to breathe, so a miracle drug along with being a nasty drug.
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