Rapid weight gain symptoms and conditions

I have been on prednisone for 5 1/2 months now, I was hospitalized starting in February until like the 25th of March for a bad exacerbation(sp) of my ulcerative colitis. I have taken prednisone for 9 1/2 months out of the last 17 months. I have experienced everything from growing facial hair I don't want to loosing what hair I do in a short period of time. Most of my hair loss started after I weaned off the prednisone about one week ago, or lets say it got much worse. I also while on prednisone got have got to experience the lovely side effect of pysicosis(sp) and am on meds to couter react what it has did to me. This is a evil and horrible drug, I hate it with a passion for all the harm it has did to me. I now have joint pain, restless sleepless nights, night sweats, tremors, not to mention the rapid weight gain. And to top all this off I am still not in remission, so this drug was used all in vain. Please be careful using this awful drug and if you have to use it, only use it for a few weeks at the time and not long term...the side effects can be horrendous and sometimes like in my case permanent to some extent. I do wonder about the hair loss, it has been worse this time than ever...I hope it stops soon.

Increase in POCS and obesity due to young-age use of progesterones?2 March 2006

Ellen C G Grant,
physician and medical gynaecologist
Kingston-upon-Thames, KT2 7JU, UK
Send response to journal:
Re: Increase in POCS and obesity due to young-age use of progesterones?
Professor Balen and colleagues write that PCOS is increasing because more women are becoming obese.1 Progesterone use can cause rapid weight gain and many adolescent girls therefore refuse to continue taking the Pill.
In an attempt to cut the numbers of unplanned teenage pregnancies more longer-acting forms of progesterone are being used. Unfortunately depo medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) caused significantly greater weight gain with longer use in adolescent girls than the Pill. After 18 months obese girls gained 9 kg while non-obese girls gained 4 kg. The authors considered that the potential contribution of DMPA to severe obesity in adolescents is concerning.2 DMPA is reported to have no inherent oestrogenic or androgenic effects, which suggests that weight gain induced by DMPA is a progestogenic effect.
Use of progestogens can also increase the risk of PCOS. In the Walnut Creek Contraceptive Drug Study significantly more oral contraceptive users aged 18-39 had non-functioning ovarian cysts than never users (50/7506 with 4/2556).3 Fewer functioning cysts would be expected in users of progestogens designed to stop ovaries functioning. Use of fertility drugs can also cause ovarian cysts.
Progestogen use also increases the risk of diabetes. In a study of 210 women taking 150 µg levonorgestrel and 30 µg ethinyl oestradiol, 60% had stopped by 15 months and only 8% were current users at 3 years. Glucose tolerance tests deteriorated into the diabetic rangein 6 women but improved when oral contraceptives were stopped for side-effects including weight gain.4
It is reasonable that obese women with PCOS are not given fertility drugs risking more ovarian cyst development and further weight gain. Advice about weight reducing high protein/low allergy diets and life-style changes is preferable.
1 Balen AH, Dresner M, Scott EM, Drife JO. Should obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome receive treatment for infertility? BMJ 2006; 332: 434-435.
2 Bonny AE, Ziegler J, Harvey R, et al. Weight gain in obese and nonobese adolescent girls initiating depot medroxyprogesterone, oral contraceptive pills, or no hormonal contraceptive method. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006; 160: 40-5.
3 Ramcharan S. Pellegrin RR, Hsu J-P, et al. Walnut Creek Contraceptive Drug Study 1981; Center for Population Research Monograph; Vol 111: P 162.
4 Wynn V. Effects of duration of low-dose oral contraceptive administration on carbohydrate metabolism. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1982: 142: 739-43.
Competing interests: None declared

Thanks, Mo! ;)

I have been on Levoxyl for about 9 years and have felt awful. I have had weight loss, dry hair, thinning hair,dry skin, muscle aches, migraines and the list goes on. I just got out of the hospital Monday after 4 days of testing of my heart and lungs. I was admitted for racing heart. The doctor's conclusion was anxiety! They said that Levoxyl has nothing to do with my rapid heart rate. The endocrinologist prescribed taking levoxyl .050 on day and .075 the next also a beta blocker, Xanax and Zoloft. I can not take any of these meds b/c they make it almost worse. I KNOW it is not Anxiety and it from the Levoxyl but what do I do?? I am a mess right now can not be in this condition with four young kids and a husband. None of the doctors would say it was the Levoxyl and instead prescribed more and told me to check up with blood work in 6 weeks. I took the .050 yesterday around noon and by 7:30pm my heart rate picked up again and continued until 4:30 this morning. I can not sleep more then 2 hours at a time and wakeup feeling like I am crawling out of my skin. PLEASE let me know of any solutions.

decomposition of lisinopril in acidic medium so narrow absorption window.

I went on aviane back in December and i mainly just got mood swings and depression, but i wanted to go on it to clear up the pimples i was getting. I went off it a month or two later because of rapid weight gain that i noticed and now in may ive been on it for about a week and im already experiencing horrible mood swings, horrible cysts of pimples that happen to be very painful, and im just never happy. I also experience really bad stomach pains and I am not sure if this is all because of the pill? I don't know if i should keep through with the pack hoping that it will get better? I have prom in a few weeks and i don't want my face to look horrible. I was thinking about going on YAZ because of the commercials saying that it clears acne, controls mood swings, etc....what do you think?

This medicine is horrible for me! I gave it a long while to give it a chance. Rapid weight gain, hair loss (ongoing), terrible aches and pains, hives, dead tired, terribly hot, irritable...the list goes on and on. After getting pro-active with my health care provider, I have now changed to Armour and now I'm remembering what 'normal' feels like again. I've lost all the weight I gained, my hair and skin feel much softer. I can't believe the amount of people that feel bad on this drug. It seems to be bad-mouthed all over the internet. I guess as long as the major drug companies retain it as the 2nd or 3rd best selling drug in the States and continue to fund, wine and dine and court physicians, we're never going to get rid of it. I chose to dispose of every single one of those evil pills. Armour stepped in to change my life for the better as Synthroid was slowly destroying me.

I have been on the Nuva Ring for almost 3 years. I didn't realize that my rapid weight gain, my horrible acne, and my mood swings were the side effects of my BC. I have been telling people (ever since I have been on the ring) that this is the best BC out there. I am wrong! I have been trying for weeks now to loose weight, and by the way...I have gained about 35-40lbs, and only now am I seeing results, and that is because I have it out this week. I have no energy and absolutely no sex drive....like NONE! I always have discharge and after sex I have this burning sensation that I have never experienced before until using the ring. I have been tested so I know that nothing is wrong so I don't know why I didn't think that the ring was the problem till now. After reading some of the complaints and effects it has had on others that explains so much. I wish I would have seen this earlier because I would have gotten off of it years ago...and it would have saved me like 30lbs. I also sometimes have numbing in my right hand and I didn't know that was a side effect until I saw someone else say they had the same problem. So, I thought I loved the ring, and I thought all the problems I have been having was due to my own personal mishaps, but turns out....I hate the ring.

My 15 y.o. daughter has has first hand experience with weight gain on Advair. About 6 years ago at about 9 y.o., she gained 20 lbs in 6 months - and it started happening exactly when she started the drug. She was very active (swim team, gymnastics, etc) and did not overeat. It is very frustrating that both her pediatrician and her asthma/allergy specialist deny that her small dose of Advair is to blame.

For some reason, and I have talked to others that this has happened to, switching to Singulair did not help her with the weight problem. Seems the people who are hypersensitive to inhaled steroids are also sensitive to Singulair. Concerned about her rapid weight gain, and because she was always so thin, I took her to an endocrinologist to rule out any other problems. After a lot of bloodwork, he concluded that he could not rule out that it was a side effect of the Advair and/or Singulair, and that they may have elevated her blood sugar. I have read tons and tons of postings on the internet about children & adults rapidly gaining weight from inhaled corticosteroids (i.e. Flovent, Advair), along with the round face, bloated stomach, stretch marks, thin skin, easy bruising, etc. but nobody ever says what happens after stopping any of these drugs. Do people ever go back to normal? Do kids look like themselves again? Do any of the side effects disappear?

She is now 15 y.o. and cannot reverse her weight gain no matter what (30 lbs overweight). The last 2 years, she has only been on a small dose of Pulmicort (a different class of corticosteroid even safe to take when pregnant) since she has mild persistent asthma, and allergy shots have helped trememdously. My husband and I have been looking for 6 years now on how to avoid our daughter's weight gain with asthma drugs. If you run into any info., please let us know. Any experiences or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I was prescribed Singulair last winter after a severe allergic reaction. I have taken it throughout the winter with no noticeable side effects. For the past several days, however, as the pollen count has risen, I have been experiencing strange symptoms. I feel a bizarre pressure in my head, and a ringing of sorts in my ears. Also, I can't sleep - I feel exhausted, and try to go to sleep, but I wind up feeling agitated and have to get up out of bed.

I started taking Toprol XL after being diagnosed with SVT back in May of 2003. I was only in my late 20's & was very trusting, at the time. I was recently sent to a cardiologist because I was having horrible chest pain & the Toprol XL 50 MG wasn't working at keeping the heart rate down. The GP put me on a double dose as well as Cardizem to help with the chest pain & rapid heart rate. I was already on Lanoxin 0.5MG, the highest dose allowed. The cardiologist took me off of the Cardizem right away because he said that is was too stressful for the heart to be on that much heart medicine. I went though several tests & was told by the cardiologist that I didn't have SVT & that this was actually Postural Tachycardia (POTS) & Neurocardiogenic Syncope. I was taken off of Lanoxin, but kept on Toprol XL 100 MG. He put me on lots of salt & water to increase my blood volume which would help my blood pressure when standing. That was in June of 2007. All went pretty good, I thought, until January 18, 2008 when I was working. My heart rate went up to 136 just standing or walking across a room. I called the doctor & talked to a nurse who suggested that I take another 1/2 of a Toprol. I did that & felt better for awhile, but it was short lived. I had been having chest pain, rapid heart rate, fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, nausea, vomiting, short term memory problems, rapid weight gain, hair loss, cold extremities, & other things I can't think of right now for what seemed like forever. My gynecologist & my cardiologist first thought that I had thyroid problems, but all tests have come back negative. They then thought that maybe it was from the birth control pills that I had been on for the ovarian cysts. I was changed from one medicine to another & at first I thought that was what was wrong. I am now certain that all of the problems that I have been having were & are a result of the Toprol XL. I was even told that all the problems were "psychiatric in nature". I know that that isn't it at all! I have never had anxiety problems & the GP now thinks that's all that is wrong with me & wants me to go on Zoloft. I tried it, but became so ill that after one pill, I quit. I now plan on weaning myself off of the Toprol XL without the GP's knowledge or consent. The cardiologist was planning on weaning me off at some time in the future, but I am starting without him knowing it at the time. I'll just tell him when I see him next month. Thanks everyone for alerting me to the facts about this medicine. If I had known then what I do now, I'd have never consented to starting it in the first place. My only question is, are some of the "side effects" going to be a permanent thing for me or will they eventually go away? Any advice would be welcome! Thanks again!

I have been on Seroquel since July,2007. I gained at least 20lbs or more.I have never been so fat! I am 5ft9 and weigh like 230-235lbs.Please reply. I take Remeron also.

I have been taking Loestrin 24 Fe for a year now and it has really worked well for me until this month. I had a break through bleeding for about 5 days, I never missed a pill and always take them at the same time each morning. Well it came time for me 2 start and I haven't started or spotted any at all. My breast are tender but thats it and I have only missed my period once while taking these pills. Could the break through cause me not to have my period? I am so stressed that I am pregnant!! If anyone has experienced this can you please let me know so I can have a little bit of relief...Thanks.

I was just diagnosed with Crohns 7 days ago. They started me on 125 mg of Prednisone for 2 days over IV and now 60 mg a day. So 20 mg 3 times daily. I'm severely tired but I think that is just from being in the hospital for 2 weeks and not being able to sleep and I am just now getting home. The main problem is after I started the steroid I have all this white stuff in my mouth. Like the plaque you get on your tongue but it is all over my tonsils, cheeks, back of my throat and my mouth feels really raw. I cant eat because everything burns. The GI siad to gargle with mouth wash but nothing is working. Is the thrush from the high dose of steroids? or because now I have no immune system so I have a yeast infection in my mouth??? Any help would be great. Has anyone notice rapid weight gain with in the first couple of days of being on th ehigh dose????

I was on Yasmin for a little over a year and I have just come off Yasmin a month or so ago after suffering so many side effects, such as crazy water retention and swelling as a result, rapid weight gain of 30 pounds (!!) despite no changes in diet, exercise or lifestlye (other than taking Yasmin..), mood swings and general weepiness, literally no libido or interest in sex and vaginal dryness, cramping virtually all the time, severe breast pain, etc. I decided enough was enough and I was going to stop taking it or any other type of pill because I wanted my body back and I wanted it to be normal again. For anyone having problems with Yasmin I'd say come off it asap because the difference for me was almost immediate after coming off it. I felt SO much better in general and all my symptoms went away. The first week after coming off Yasmin I broke out in spots and I had horrible headaches but these all passed after that first week and slowly everything is going back to the way it was - my sex drive came back about two weeks after stopping Yasmin and it is back to how it used to be which has been a welcome miracle, my cramping and breast pain are gone (yay!), my moods are stable and happy, I didn't even miss a period (which is probably unusual) and went straight on to have a normal cycle, and overall I just feel like my self again. The only thing I need to battle now is the weight gain but actually within four couple of days of stopping Yasmin I had already dropped 3 to 4 pounds and I did absolutely nothing to make that happen. Anyway, I wish everyone out there good luck with everything and don't give up hope becuase you will go back to normal once you stop taking this horrible drug. Stay strong! It will all get better and you are not alone with these problems.

Breast discharge and rapid weight gain

I am a 40-year-old female taking 50mg/day of Toprol (for HBP) and have experienced the following side effects:

Fatigue
Lethargy
Pain in legs and arms
Loss of breath (even when walking very short distances)
Odd dreams/nightmares
Rapid weight gain (despite no change in eating/exercising habits)
Unusually heavy menstrual flow
Nosebleeds

The cure is worse than the disease! :-(

Has anyone else had trouble with heavy and/or thick menstrual flow while taking this medication? I am 40 years old and have never had this problem prior to taking Toprol.

I have also experienced the feelings of lethargy, as well as rapid weight gain and bizarre dreams.

I started Singular a month ago and added Advair 250 to it 2 weeks ago, and stopped using the Singular. I noticed slight weight gain with the Singular and rapid weight gain with the Advair, overall 10 lbs in a month. I've maintained the same weight for many years, and am a fitness instructor, nothing else had changed in my lifestyle. I've also noticed muscle heaviness, and muscle soreness, chest heaviness when climbing stairs, extreme nervousness, anxiety, and sore, sore throat. After 13 days I quit the Advair entirely. I will pursue more conservative methods of controlling my asthma. I'm not convinced these steroid concoctions are the way to go.

Thanks you Chrissy, I'm really hoping this is what has been causing me this aggravation. Regardless of what the dr.'s say or not. Like I said I just got this theory yesterday, but m first dr. said I needed a therapist. Nice Dr. huh!. I'm normally a perfectly happy healthy person. It's so weird that all of this would come on after 3 yrs., but I guess anything is possible. I'm still having the chest pains, but I'm hoping that they will dissipate with in time. It hasn't even been 24 hrs. yet. But I'd be curious to see if anyone else has had all or most of my symptoms. Especially the rapid weight gain.
Thanks for the advice.

Been on Advair for 10 months, and have gained 20 lbs since then!! Also experience sharp head pains, foot & leg cramps, short term memory loss, irritability and mood swings, increased menstrual flow, slow healing of wounds, etc. Main concern is rapid weight gain! I went to my dr today to discuss...she claims to be unaware of any of these side effects being related to Advair....she can't imagine weight gain as Advair is a powder that goes into just the lungs. My mid section is where I have gained mostly. After reading all the boards on different websites, I am surprised to see how many are experiencing the same side effects with Advair, & I am convinced that it is the cause. I asked dr to prescribe something else, & she did...asmanex & serevent....haven't tried it yet...but I now read that asmanex is also linked to weight gain. I feel so frustrated that I can't rely on my dr for this, & feel like I have to fiure it all out on my own. I'm scared to continue with these meds but I need something to keep my mild asthma under control....everyday. Can anyone recommend anything to me? Should I switch to non-steroid? Any feedback on Singulaire somethin similar? Any information will be helpful. Thanks!

Mona

lots of hair loss. rapid weight gain, swelling in hands and feet when standing and sitting for long periods ot time.

My wife has been taking this "devil's drug" Lisinopril for about 3 months. It did lower her blood pressure, but at a price.

A cough begun to materialize so badly that she has to sleep sitting up in the bed with a couch cushion for support. She sleeps a little longer while sitting up but still got enormous coughing fits in the middle of the night, landing her at the toilet, violently throwing up which caused severe nose bleeding. She can't sleep more than an hour at a time. Her energy and stamina is no where near what it was before this drug. She cries and begs for the cough to stop. This drug is taking my wife's sanity and I can't believe they would let this crap find it's way into people's medicine cabinets. She's irritable, tired, and doesn't want to do much because she can't sleep at night. She needs to nap all the time and it's affecting her work and our life. They need to pull this crap off the market.

We did go back to the doc and discovered another drug called Losartan that drops blood pressure with minimal side effects (that we've noticed) and NO COUGH!.
She's been on this new drug for about 2 weeks now and her Lisinopril cough is weakening. It's not as powerful as it once was. The Doc said it would take 2 to 4 weeks for the Lisinopril cough to completely go away! My God what madness! God Please give us something to reduce blood pressure with little to no side effects!

Diovan lowered my blood-pressure,but rapid weight gain,can't sleep at night and hair loss forced me to discontinue the medication.

my daughter has been on this medication for about 45 days. She has gained 17 pounds, her nose is always stuffed up. No medication is helping her sinus problem. Does anyone have the name of any other medications that can be used to treat her personality disorder (bi-polar) that does not cause rapid weight gain.

I'M 27YRS OLD AND HAVE SUFFERED FROM OCCATIONAL BOUTS OF ASTHMA ALL OF MY LIFE. THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS HOWEVER HAVE SEEN THE SYMPTOMS BECOME WORSE AND MORE FREQUENT, FEED UP WITH THE ASTHMA I WENT TO THE DR'S OFFICE WITCH I NEVER DO AND HE GAVE ME A SAMPLE OF THE 250/50 ADVAIR. I BEGAN TO TAKE THE SAMPLE ADVAIR THE SAME DAY AND BEGAN TO EXPERINCE SYMPTOM FREE DAYS FROM THEN ON. THE DR WANTED TO SEE ME 2 WEEKS FROM THE DAY I WENT TO VISIT HIM FROM THE ORIGINAL APPOINTMENT. TO MY AMAZEMENT WHEN I WAS WEIGHED BY THE NURSE I HAD WENT FROM 203 TO 211. I NEVER SUSPECTED THAT IT MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY THE ADVAIR. ALARMED BY THE RAPID WEIGHT GAIN I BEGAN A RIGOROUS EXERCISE CAMPAIGN. TWICE A DAY IN THE GYM [ONCE IN THE MORNING 45MINS OF CARDIO AND ABS AND ONCE AT NIGHT 15MINS OF CARDIO FOLLOWED BY 45-60MINS OF WEIGHT TRAINING. I HAVE LITERALLY ATE GRILLED FISH WITH STEAMED VEGGIES TWICE A DAY FOR THREE WEEKS. IHAVE ALSO CUT MY SUGAR INTAKE TO ZERO NO SWEETS, COKES, STRICTLY WATER AND WATER ONLY. BOUND AND DETERMINED TO GET BACK INTO SHAPE AND LOSE THE WEIGHT I STARTED TO EXPERIENCE MUSCLE FATIGE W/SORENESS IN THE LOWER LEG ALONG WITH SEVERE UPPERBACK AND NECK PAIN, BLOODY STOOLS ALONG WITH FREQUENT BLOODY NOSES ACCOMPANIEDTHE OTHER SYMPTOMS. I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT I WAS FALLING APART AT SUCH AN EARLY AGE. I COUNTINUED WITH MY DIET AND WORKOUT, HAVE TOOK IN THE PAST 3 WEEKS EXACTLY 3 DAYS OFF FOR RECOVERY AND WEIGH MYSELF EVERY MORNING BEFORE I HAVE INGESTED ANYFOOD OR WATER. THE WEIGHT HAS INCREASE EVERYDAY NOW UP TO 219LBS!!!! LOOKING FOR ANWSER I HAVE SEARCHED THE INTERNET LOOKING FOR REASONS, AGE, METBOLISM, DIET, MUSCLE GAIN....ETC...ETC. NO ANWSER UNTIL TONIGHT. THIS SITE EXPLAINS ALL OF MY WORRIES. I WILL STOP USING ADVAIR TO GET MY HEALTH BACK IN ORDER I HOPE THAT OTHERS WILL FOLLOW SUIT.