Yes, there are certain categories of drugs that make you fat or are responsible for a change in the silhouette. Cortisone-based drugs, antibiotics, antidepressants… Let’s see which drugs make you fat, and why!
THE corticosteroids frequently induce weight gain, particularly when taken for several weeks or months. Let’s start with those.
Cortisone medications
During short treatments for a temporary problem rheumatological or a inflammation airways, this weight gain is usually moderate, of the order of 1 to 2 kg. Most of the time, this phenomenon is related to a salt and water retention.
This weight increase is temporary, often regressing on stopping treatment, as suddenly as it happened. It is a subject of stress in people in the process of weight loss, which must be quickly reassured.
The only treatment is to use a salt-free dietand preferably without sugar, to limit the impact of these drugs that make you fat.
On the other hand, in the event of long treatment with large doses, corticosteroids go so far as to modify the physical aspect with a rounding of the face (the “lunar” face), the appearance of a lump in the neck (“buffalo hump”) or an increase in waist circumference.
These abnormalities are due to a redistribution of fat cells in the body (called lipodystrophy) and not to water retention. Here, the dietary instructions must be more precise, and a diet is almost necessary.
Increasing protein, decreasing fat and sugars, and limiting salt are particularly recommended. Appetite increases sharply due to increased irritability and of hyperactivity that results from the drug.
We can lose weight even under cortisone, but we must recognize that it is still more difficult.
Drugs that make you fat: antibiotics and anti-inflammatories
Even with a lesser effect, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories they are also responsible for an increase in salt and water retention. The weight gain does not last and yields as soon as the treatment is stoppedso there is no need to talk about it any longer.
Antidepressants and psychotropic drugs
These drugs are used to relieve psychic suffering. We French people are used to using them in high doses and frequently. They are prescribed in cases of depression and psychiatric disorders from the lightest to the most important.
One of the most common side effects is weight gain, which can reach up to 4 kg after 10 weeks. There are many reasons for this: slowdown or change in metabolism, increased appetitereduced activity and hormonal changes.
This last effect would be a major cause of weight gain, although not often cited. It is the hypothalamusa gland located in our brain, which regulates the feelings of hunger and satiety, according to the signals it receives via hormones.
Psychotropic drugs are also drugs that make you fat. They disrupt these signals and cause a disruption of hunger and satiety mechanisms through an orexigenic effect, i.e. stimulates the appetite and decreases energy expenditure, resulting in weight gain.
Antihypertensives
This class of drugs is intended to treat high blood pressure. Some antihypertensives (calcium channel blockers, central antihypertensives, alpha blockers, etc.) can promote weight gain due to fluid retention. This is how edema can appear, which corresponds to swelling of the tissues due to an accumulation of water (or liquid).
Antihypertensives promote dilation of blood vessels in order to slow down the blood pressure but, at the same time, the vessels also become less “tight” and allow the liquid in which the blood cells are bathed to filter towards the interstitial tissue, that is to say the tissues located between the organs, thus forming an edema.
Beta blockers
THE beta-blockers are used to treat high blood pressure, diabetes or cardiovascular disorders. The weight gain they induce is due to the phenomenon of thermogenesis. This natural phenomenon regulates body temperature by burning calories and body fat.
Beta-blockers halve the effect of thermogenesis after meals, thereby causing the fat storage in the body and therefore weight gain. All these substances are therefore likely to promote weight gain or hinder weight loss.
However the priority is always given to the treatment of diseases and you have to deal with it. Reassuring the person who is gaining weight and giving appropriate dietary advice are part of the daily work. But it is better to be warned, because weight loss often takes place over a period of several months, with a risk of many interferences.
We always want to go from one weight to another in a weight loss, while the path is paved with uncertainties. It generally takes take his troubles patiently and know, in the event of a small incident, put the stagnation of weight or its increase into perspective while waiting to solve the problem, by accepting that it is a temporary situation.
I could also have told you about sex hormones and insulin. But these being originally produced by the human body, I could not classify them among the drugs that make you fat even if they can be injected (in case of deficiency) like a drug but that will be the opportunity for another article on the reasons for weight gain.
