By Emily Josh Health Reporter, Dailymail.Com
Updated: July 9, 2024 19:43, July 9, 2024 20:19
The culprit behind that troublesome weight gain may be hiding in your medicine cabinet.
Prescription drugs often come with a long list of side effects, ranging from infections to rashes to suicidal thoughts.
It’s well-known that some medications, such as steroids, can cause weight gain, but other commonly prescribed drugs, such as painkillers, can also have surprising consequences.
Pharmacists have revealed to DailyMail.com the commonly taken drugs people didn’t know would make them gain weight – including one that can add up to five pounds around your waist in just a few months.
Antidepressants
Antidepressants have been blamed for a range of side effects, from insomnia to headaches and even the destruction of patients’ sex lives.
However, some classes of these medications have also been shown to lead to weight gain.
Dr Havi Ngo Hamilton, clinical consultant BuzzRx The pharmacist at the University of Minnesota Medical Center told DailyMail.com that these were mostly tricyclic antidepressants, an older class of medication than the more common selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
“Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are the type of antidepressant that causes the most weight gain,” she says. “In terms of weight gain, I try to avoid tricyclics as much as possible.”
She noted that TCAs are prescribed less frequently than the newer SSRIs because they have stronger side effects, including insomnia, bedwetting and chronic pain such as fibromyalgia.
The most common examples include amitriptyline and nortriptyline.
Dr. Ngo-Hamilton estimates that patients taking these drugs can gain about two pounds per month.
But she also noted that antidepressants can also lead to weight gain by improving mood.
Patients may have had little appetite, but the drug may increase it by regulating production of the happiness hormone serotonin.
Antipsychotics
Similarly, antipsychotics such as clozapine, risperidone, and olanzapine may be prescribed to patients with serious health conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as some people with dementia.
“Antipsychotics slow down the metabolic rate in the body,” Dr. Ngo-Hamilton said.
This is the amount of energy you expend while at rest. If you have a slower metabolism, your body may burn fewer calories because it converts food into energy more slowly.
Dr. Ngo-Hamilton noted that these drugs can cause sedation and lethargy, making patients less likely to exercise or maintain a proper diet. Some of this weight gain may be due to urinary retention, a known side effect of antipsychotic medications, which prevents the kidneys from properly removing toxins and waste products from the urine.
She noted that the most common culprit in this category is clozapine (Clozaril).
Anticonvulsants
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Medications that reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures and nerve pain can also cause weight gain in some patients.
Dr Ngo-Hamilton specifically cited gabapentin, which suppresses seizures by reducing abnormal signals in the brain, but other drugs prescribed for spinal cord injury patients, such as pregabalin (Lyrica) and carbamazepine (Tegretol), may have a similar effect.
But the mechanism by which anticonvulsants cause weight gain is unclear, Dr Ngo-Hamilton said.
Recent studies point to several theories, including increased appetite, slowed metabolism, water retention, and drugs blocking hunger and fullness hormones.
Dr. Ngo-Hamilton estimates that patients taking these drugs can gain about five pounds in weight within the first few months of starting the medication.
Beta-blockers
Beta-blockers are drugs that lower blood pressure and block the effects of the hormone epinephrine, or adrenaline, which improves blood flow and slows your heart rate.
Dr Ngo-Hamilton noted that some “older” beta-blockers, such as metoprolol, atenolol (Tenormin) and propranolol, have been shown to cause weight gain.
But as with anticonvulsants, the exact mechanism is still unknown. Dr. Ngo-Hamilton noted that one theory is that these drugs slow down the metabolic rate, similar to antipsychotics.
Additionally, there is evidence that beta-blockers reduce blood pressure and the amount of blood the heart pumps, which can make patients fatigued and make it difficult to exercise.
Dr. Ngo-Hamilton estimates that taking one of these older beta-blockers can lead to a weight gain of 2 to 3 pounds in the first six months.
Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids are medicines taken to reduce inflammation in the body.
The most common examples are prednisone and dexamethasone, which work to reduce inflammation by mimicking the effects of cortisol, a hormone the body releases when under stress or injured.
These are different from anabolic steroids, which increase testosterone levels and enhance athletic performance.
Corticosteroids are usually taken for only a few days at a time, but they may be prescribed longer term for certain problems, such as autoimmune disorders.
“I’m not concerned that people who take steroids for just a few days will experience weight gain. It’s people who have to take them chronically who will experience weight gain,” Dr. Ngo-Hamilton said.
A common side effect, she says, is “moon face,” which makes the face look round and puffy, and it can also increase appetite by mimicking cortisol.
Dr. Ngo-Hamilton noted that patients who take steroids for a year can gain up to 10 pounds in weight.
Contraceptive injection
Hormonal contraceptives have long been blamed for causing weight gain, but Dr Ngo-Hamilton warns that most contraceptives don’t cause weight gain.
“When women taking birth control pills experience weight gain, it’s primarily due to water weight gain,” she says, “which is the result of fluctuations in estrogen levels.”
However, a form of birth control called Depo-Provera (Depo-Shot), an injection containing the hormone progestin that is given once every three months, has been shown to cause weight gain.
The drug’s package insert states that about 38 percent of women in clinical trials gained more than 10 pounds after using the contraceptive for two years.
moreover, Old Research The drug was found to cause an average weight gain of 20 pounds over an 18-month period.
Dr. Ngo-Hamilton estimates that most patients gain four to five pounds a year.
Statins
Approximately 47 million Americans take statins, drugs aimed at lowering cholesterol levels, making them one of the most popular medications in the United States.
Statins work by limiting the production of “bad cholesterol” – low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – which can harden and narrow arteries and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
“These can cause some weight gain, but it’s very rare,” Dr Ngo-Hamilton said.
Research published in JAMA Internal MedicineFor example, they found that patients who took statins gained 6 to 11 pounds over a 10-year period compared with those who did not.
But Dr Ngo-Hamilton cautions that much of the evidence is limited, and that cheap drugs that lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and other diseases should not be dismissed because of the possibility of weight gain.
“The benefits definitely outweigh the risk of slight weight gain,” she said.