November 10, 2023

Introduction to

Seven Ways to Avoid

WEIGHT GAIN Due to DRUGS

Blog 1A

How many drugs are associated with causing weight gain? How big is the problem? Drugs associated with weight gain represent a significant share of the US market for prescription drugs. 

One-third of leading drug spending is for drugs that can cause weight gain. 

The drugs associated with weight gain negatively impact elite athletic performance. If we need to take one of these drugs, there are nutrition interventions we can use if our doctor approves. 

A large portion of the drug market is linked to drugs that may make us larger. 

We are a prescription-happy nation. 

Americans spend $70 billion on drugs associated with weight gain every year. 

Unfortunately, all drugs have side effects, and weight gain is common to many drugs. 

A sampling of some of the major families of drugs that are associated with weight gain includes common medications like the following: 

 

Common drugs associated with weight gain

USED TO TREAT	FAMILY	BRAND EXAMPLE	GENERIC EXAMPLE
Type 2 diabetes	Sulfonylurea	Glucotrol	glipizide
Type 2 diabetes	Thiazolidinedione	Actos	pioglitazone
Neuropathy – nerve pain	GABA Analog	Neurontin	gabapentin
High blood pressure	Beta-Blocker	Toprol XL	metoprolol succinate
Depression	SSRI	Prozac	fluoxetine
Mood Altering/ Antipsychotic	Atypical  Antipsychotics	Abilify	aripiprazole
Steroids	Corticosteroid	Medrol Dose Pack	methylprednisolone
Type 1 diabetes	Insulins	Lantus Insulin	insulin glargine
Seasonal allergy	Allergy	Zyrtec	cetirizine
Cholesterol	Statin drugs	Lipitor	atorvastatin

 

People frequently take 2 to 5 long-term medications, each of which may cause weight gain additively. A person may be taking one drug that causes 2 pounds of weight gain per year, plus another drug associated with an average of 5 pounds of gain per year, plus another drug that causes 3 pounds of gain per year—equaling potentially 10 pounds of weight gain per year. Over 5 years this may add up to 50 pounds of weight gain and in 10 years can represent 100 extra pounds on the scale. 

Providers often do not address weight gain when prescribing medicines, despite weight gain being very troubling for the person taking the drug. (2178) This can be even more frustrating for patients when other options exist that do not cause this unhealthy and upsetting side effect. (2178) 

How often do our drugs contribute to our weight gain? 

As many as 1 in 3 Americans may take a drug associated with weight gain. 

While millions of people are affected, not everyone who takes a medication associated with weight gain will gain weight. Some people can take a drug that commonly causes people to gain weight and not gain weight. 

The drugs discussed in this book are those that have been scientifically studied and found to be commonly associated with medically significant weight gain in controlled clinical studies. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines significant weight gain associated with drug treatment as a gain exceeding 7% above the original weight following treatment. Many medical references have shown that a gain of 5% in weight impacts overall health outcomes and a person’s quality of life. 

With time, and under the guidance of their doctor, some people are able to reduce their doses of some of these drugs via nutrition programs like those found in BATON Diet which encompasses Eat Right for Your Circadian Type and the True Mediterranean Diet. Other people will be able to improve their health so that they no longer need certain medications. Remember to work with your doctor before you change any of your drugs, exercise, or nutrition. 

This book is illustrated by individual success stories. 

People’s success stories of overcoming weight gain associated with drugs are the focus of this book. 

It is important to remember that weight gain isn’t just a side effect listed on a drug pamphlet; it has real impact on people’s lives. We have chosen to relate true stories of people who have experienced weight gain associated with drugs and describe how they overcame their weight gain. 

The success stories tell about real people whose names have been changed to protect their privacy. 

We can learn much from these people and their success stories. We should all be encouraged by their accomplishments. 

Each person’s story contains graphs of relative weight gain for drugs related to his or her situation, along with alternative medications that may be considered. 

Each person’s story also answers the question: 

What can I do about it? 

Alternatives to some weight gain medications are provided; other medications will need to be taken and athlete nutrition programs may be used, if your medical doctor approves, as a plan to mitigate drug induced weight gain. 

Drugs that cause weight gain change super hormone and hormone production in the body and therefore most are not typically compatible with peak elite athletic performance. 

Weight gain is not frequently listed as a side effect on most of the TV ads for

medications. Many drug manufacturers do discuss weight gain in their professional package inserts of prescribing information made available to health care professionals. 

We have chosen to use individual stories, rather than statistics, to discuss drug-related weight gain.

Although statistics can help us understand the devastating health consequences that can be related to weight gain drugs, they only help us see how big the problem is.

People and their stories, not statistics, make the numbers meaningful. 

People who have succeeded give us hope and practical answers so we can become overcomers, too.

One-third of Leading Therapy Spending is for Drugs Associated with Weight Gain 

Is this book just about adults? 

Our children are taking the same drugs as adults. 

The social pain, depression, anxiety, ostracism, impact on sports performance, and physical suffering related to weight gain cannot be overstated. 

In November of 1998, the US Surgeon General declared an epidemic of childhood obesity. 

Being overweight is now well recognized as an important predictor of death. Arch Intern Med. 1998; 158: 1855–1867 (86); Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1987; 499:14–28 (87); T. Pischon, M.D. et al, N Engl J Med 2008; 359:2105-2120 (1595) 

A combination of genetic, metabolic, behavioral, environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors contributes to a person’s body weight. (89) 

Obesity has become a major cause of illness and death. 

A large study of 114,281 US women who were registered nurses aged 30 to 55 and who did not have heart disease, diabetes, or stroke found that gaining weight increased risk of developing diabetes. Gaining weight was an independent risk factor for developing diabetes. 

Gaining 11 to 17 pounds above a woman’s weight at age 18 doubled risk of developing diabetes. 

Gaining 17.6 to 24 pounds above a woman’s weight at age 18 tripled risk of developing diabetes. 

Women who lost 11 pounds or more reduced their risk of diabetes by half (50% reduction) or more. 

 

The study concluded that even modest typical adult weight gain substantially increased risk of diabetes. 

Colditz G et al, 1995, Annals of Internal Medicine (2194) 

Overweight increases the prevalence, illness, and death rates associated with: 

 

“If you want to make someone diabetic, then make them obese!” 

-Dr. R Leiblel, Head of Molecular Genetics at Columbia University 

68.8% of adults in the US are overweight. 

About 1 in 3 adults is obese. (796) This statistic has recently increased to 42% of US adults having obesity according to the 2019-2023 NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Survey) data. 

Not all our problems with weight are associated with drugs, but as many as 1 in 3 Americans may take a drug associated with weight gain. 

37% of children attending public schools in Salt Lake City, Utah, where both school lunches and breakfasts that meet required federal USDA guidelines are served, are diagnosed with either: 

Type 2 Diabetes (17%) or 

Prediabetes (20%). 

We have pushed the young to experience a disease that used to affect mostly those 50 years old and older. 

The diagnosis of prediabetes is serious; it means damage to kidney, the eye, and other organs related to diabetes has begun already for the child. 

We now have epidemics of both obesity and diabetes in even school age children. 

Type 2 diabetes used to be called “adult onset diabetes” because it usually developed in late adulthood, but the name has been changed because it is now found in our children as young as 3 years of age. 20 21 

10 to 20% of all new pediatric patients at Columbia University Children’s Center are now being diagnosed with “adult” onset type 2 diabetes. 

Ironically, treatment for type 2 diabetes is frequently drugs associated with weight gain. Many doctors prescribe these drugs while telling their patients to lose weight. 

We stated that the amount of money Americans spend on drugs associated with weight gain is $70 billion per year. The total costs, however, are much greater: they include the medical costs and the cost of additional drugs to treat diabetes and other conditions resulting from drug related weight gain. Buying drugs that cause weight gain is expensive. But it is even more expensive to treat the resulting overweight diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and joint replacement that are frequently caused by drug related weight gain. 

We are not here to complain. Instead, we are providing encouragement that much can be done. We hope you find the individual stories and approaches to solving drug related weight gain encouraging and realistic. 

 

Our hope is that every child and adult will get to participate fully in sports and in life. 

BATON Diet is the companion book for this book, and may assist in mitigating medication associated weight gain, but requires your doctor’s input before you start, especially if you are diabetic. The Weight Gain Drug Table is in Appendix A. The table may be searched by drug name, by drug use, and by drug family. The Weight Gain Drug Graphs are in Appendix B. The website WeightGainDrugs provides a free lookup search where you may find the latest information on weight gain associated with a drug. 

And now for the rest of the story—time-dependent drug effects, and the need for more studies 

While there are over 2,000 references to medical publications in the bibliography of this book, including many studies from quality controlled trials and meta-analysis by experts, the truth is that there is still much for us to learn about medications and weight gain. 

Most drug studies are focused on finding out if a drug works or doesn’t work rather than on a side effect or adverse effect like weight gain. 

There are few carefully designed studies in the literature that were conducted with the primary goal of finding out if a drug or family of drugs causes weight gain. Consequently, when a study is looking at a drug’s effectiveness and happens to report that people gained weight, the weight gain effects may be due to the drug or other confounding factors in the group of people. These data are not as clean as if a study is designed to observe weight changes as the primary goal of the study. Three out of every four drug studies are funded by drug companies, and this may lead to bias. 

Funding also limits the length of time that medical studies are conducted for. Many medical studies are short-term, but weight gain with some types of drugs is mostly seen with longer-term use. Some drugs, like the most popular antidepressants in the SSRI family (Prozac and many others), appear to be typified by initial short-term weight loss followed by long-term weight gain with chronic use. 

Measures that people undertake to offset weight gain, along with the over the counter products and supplements, exercise, or extra prescriptions taken to try to control weight, are rarely discussed in studies that report drug related weight gain. But these measures influence the degree to which a person gains weight. The potentially life changing beneficial and adverse effects of these weight loss endeavors are illustrated in the personal success story in the next chapter—Depression. 

 

Get your ebook now at this link:  WeightGainDrugs.com 

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