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Overweight and obesity are not only the result of consuming too many calories in relation to the body's needs. People who have been treated with certain preparations for a long time can also gain weight. Check if you can look for the cause of obesity in the medications you take.

Isthe causes of obesitycan be foundin the medications you take ? In people suffering from obesity, a surplus of calories consumed with food, but not converted into energy, accumulates in fat cells. However, there are certain medications that have weight gain as a side effect. These are mainly glucocorticosteroids, popularly known as steroids. But there are also other preparations, the intake of which can cause weight gain. Learn about drugs that can make you gain weight after taking them.

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Weight gain after steroids

If glucocorticosteroids are administered in replacement doses to a patient with adrenal insufficiency, he or she is gaining weight. But this is the desired effect. Adrenal insufficiency manifests itself as excessive weight loss, which is a consequence of the lack of hunger. Thanks to medication, the patient returns to the correct weight, because the dose of glucocorticoid is the same as that naturally secreted by the adrenal cortex.

It is different with patients suffering from bronchial asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis or lupus. These diseases often require the administration of high doses of anti-inflammatory steroids, and then the side effect of treatment may be weight gain. Characteristic in such cases is the accumulation of fat around the abdomen, neck and face.

By taking small doses of steroids, you don't have to gain weight. But if you feel better after taking the medication, e.g. joint pain passes - then you have a better appetite and eat more. The result is weight gain. It is not a complication of the treatment, but the result of providing the body with too much calories in relation to its needs.

It is also worth remembering that ailments that require treatment with steroids usually reduce physical performance. They make you avoid physical exertion, which additionally contributes to the development of excess weight.

Overweight and medications for allergy sufferers

People who take antihistamines often find it is the treatment that makes them gain weight. But the truth is more prosaic. Reducing drugsThe effects of histamine secretion (this substance is secreted in the body during an allergic reaction) slightly affect the functioning of the central nervous system and hypothalamus as well as the appetite center. You just feel more hungry when you take these medications. If you do not control your hunger, if you start eating more, you will gain weight.

Overweight and hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism

Diseases of the thyroid gland affect body weight. With an overactive thyroid gland you lose weight, and with hypothyroidism - you gain weight. The drug administered in this case is thyroxine - a hormone that accelerates the metabolism. By using it, the patient should lose weight.

It is therefore difficult to explain overweight or obesity by taking thyroxine. Maintaining a he althy body weight is easy with compensated hypothyroidism and proper treatment. If you are overweight, there is only one reason - too much food in relation to the body's needs.

The problem of being overweight looks different in the treatment of hyperthyroidism. In people suffering from it, the metabolism is very fast, which promotes weight loss. After administering a drug that is to control the disease, that is also to restore the metabolism to normal, weight gain begins.

One of the reasons for gaining weight is that the patient (more often the patient) was used to being able to eat more. The excess of food during the illness did not accumulate in the form of adipose tissue.

However, when the drug stabilizes metabolism, which is a blessing for the cardiovascular or osteoarticular system, and meals are still plentiful, weight gain is a natural consequence of our behavior.

Overweight and hormone therapies

In modern contraceptive pills, estrogen doses are so low that their concentration in blood serum is close to the natural one, so it should not affect weight gain.

On the other hand, other hormones contained in the pills - progestogens - may have a slightly hypnotic effect and lower your mood. For some women, the way to improve their mood is to eat, which is why they are overweight. In addition, when using contraceptive pills, especially at the beginning, sometimes there are food cravings that are similar to those during pregnancy.

It is similar with hormone therapy. In the perimenopausal period, the concentration of estrogens in the blood decreases, and hormone therapy replenishes its deficiencies. As a result, the insulin and glucose management improves, and as a consequence weight loss should be expected. On condition, however, that we reduce the caloric content of meals or increase physical activity, as the body agesconsumes less energy.

The mechanism is exactly the same as in the previous cases - it is not the drug that makes you fat, but the excess of food, i.e. the amount of calories is not adjusted to the new energy needs of the body.

Overweight and diabetes medications

For people with type 2 diabetes, maintaining a he althy weight is an important part of treating their underlying disease. The greater the body weight, the greater the body's need for insulin and the risk of losing control over the course of the disease.

In addition, it is worth remembering that insulin itself makes you fat. In the early stages of type 2 diabetes, your body has very high levels of insulin, but insulin is not working properly. Medicines given to the patient may either increase insulin secretion (this is how sulfonylureas work) or improve its action (these are biguanides). The use of drugs that increase insulin secretion promotes weight gain, and therefore they are not beneficial at the beginning of treatment.

A similar reaction of the body occurs when the dose of insulin is increased in a patient treated with insulin. Taking drugs from the biguanide group causes weight loss. Therefore, in modern treatment of diabetes, the therapy begins with the administration of metformin, which has an additional effect on weight loss.

Overweight and anti-depressants

Most drugs currently used to treat depression do not increase your appetite. Some even reduce them. However, there are patients who gain weight during episodes of depression because they have an increased appetite. It is popularly said that they "eat stress". It also happens the other way round. During their depressed mood, they refuse food and lose weight quickly.

If they are given antidepressants that increase their appetite, they will return to their normal weight, which is good for their body. In the case of antidepressant treatment, it is not the drug that affects weight gain, but rather changes the mood and the resulting need to relieve sadness with food.

Important

Poradnikzdrowie.pl supports safe treatment and a dignified life of people suffering from obesity. This article does not contain discriminatory and stigmatizing content of people suffering from obesity.

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Obesity