Are Your Drugs Making You Gain Weight?

Sometimes the drug you take may negate your weight loss efforts. This is because some drugs have the ability of stimulating your appetite, thereby making you eat more than you plan to eat. Some drugs can even slow down your metabolism. Here is the way out.

Some of the drugs being manufactured these days have a lot of side effects. Some side effects may be worse than the symptoms for which the drug is manufactured.

STEROIDS-reduction in weight loss success

·         Steroids can give you up to 7% weight gain. Recent researches have revealed that a long term use of steroids have given some patients between 12.5 to 15 kilograms additional weight.

·         Steroids are used for ailments like allergies, asthma and arthritis. They also imitate the hormones that regulate your metabolic activities. They decrease inflammation and suppress your entire immune system. But when steroids become too much, they will send a lot of fat to the stomach to give the body some energy. They also send some fat to the back of the neck. Medically, this is known as Cushing’s syndrome.  

·         Steroids can raise the quantity of blood sugar being released into your blood. This excess sugar would be stored as fats. These fats make your body retain too much fluid and this would act against your weight loss program.

·         Studies have shown that Corticosteroids would add more to your weight by increasing your appetite and sending some fat to your abdomen and trunk. The only way out is to double your weight loss efforts by doing more workouts and by eating less.

·         Sometimes you may need to change your medication or reduce the quantity you take. But you have to consult your physician first. He would advise you appropriately.

·         Try Other Options- These days natural health products are sometimes more effective than orthodox medicine. They usually have little or no side-effects. That is why herbal drugs are being encouraged worldwide. Herbal products can handle your ailment without adding to your weight. Why not give it a shot?

DIABETES DRUGS-weight loss fluctuates

·         Possible Weight Gains- Studies have shown that Sulfonylureas can give you between 2.5 to 5 kilograms additional weight in the first year of taking it while TZD’s (Thiazolidinediones) could give you an additional weight of between 1 and 2.5 kilograms within a year.

·         Sulfonylureas are prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes because it makes the body secrete more insulin that reduces the blood sugar. This drug occasionally lowers your blood sugar so much that it would make you go hungry every time. When you are always hungry, you are likely to eat more. That puts your weight loss program in jeopardy.

·         Thiazolidinediones (TZD’s), another set of diabetes drugs increases your body’s level of sensitivity to insulin but it also enhances salt retention. Salt retention increases the rate at which your body adds weight.

·         According to the Australian Diabetes council, some diabetes drugs like Biguanides and Dpp-4 Inhibitors do not add to your weight. However, some drugs do.

·         The plain truth is that all medications have one side-effect or the other. If you want to shed your weight, maintain your shape thereafter and make your heart function properly, then a daily thirty-minute workout and a very good weight loss diet should be your best bet.

·         According to the Australian Diabetes council dieticians, it is very difficult for type 2 diabetes patients who are also overweight to go for a proper weight loss program. However, they are advised to stick to a very good diet plan as anything otherwise could lead to further complications.

·         Natural products that do not have side-effects may be a good option as they will make your organs fire from all cylinders and enhance smooth running of your body system.

BLOOD PRESSURE DRUGS-makes weight loss difficult

·       Beta Blockers are good for high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. They reduce the quantity of adrenaline being pumped into the nervous system. This sometimes leads to low blood pressure, slow metabolism and very low heartbeat rate. Beta blockers sometimes tire out the patients. When that happens, the patient won’t be able to do a very good workout if he is able to do it at all. They do not add to your weight but they reduce your heartbeat and that puts a limit to how active you can be. If you are not active you can’t possibly burn enough fat.

·         Some patients are advised to opt for Ace Inhibitors because these drugs put blood vessels in a relaxed state and they also lower high blood pressure without making you go hungry.

As explained above, every orthodox medicine has one side-effect or the other. Some of them could slow down your organs or damage them. Some side-effects are worse than the symptoms for which the drug was taken. Hence, orthodox medicines are not helpful to human health.