Medications can cause weight gain that is extremely difficult to remove!
In 2001, I was a healthy and fit size 4 and in the Air Force. I then went through an extremely stressful time in the workplace and I got shingles around my side and back for 3 months. It was on of the most painful things I've ever had! I had to be on prednisone for those 3 months just to be able to come to work. I gained a whopping 50 pounds in 3 months on prednisone without overeating.
I then worked very hard exercising and cutting my calories down to very low levels and the weight came off and I returned down to a small size again. My infertility also disappeared and I was able to get pregnant.
During my pregnancy in 2003, I was on a lot of various medications that the side effect was weight gain. I gained almost 60 pounds during that pregnancy. I again, had to work very hard exercising up to 2 hours a day and eating a low calorie diet to lose the weight but I once again returned to my smaller, former size but this time with more muscle.
In 2005 after losing the weight from my pregnancy, I was very sick with liver disease that was also enlarged. I also had many neurological problems. I was put on a lot of medicaitons and I had reactions to a lot of them. Once again, I gained on the medications and my weight reached the overweight category and stopped once I went off the medications. I then worked to lose the weight again and almost had lost it all when in 2007, I ended up in the hospital for a few weeks and you can guess what happened next........
In 2007 during my hospitalization and their experimentation with many drugs, I had severe allergic reactions but they couldn't find anything I wasn't allergic to, so they sent me home with one that had minimal reactions but made me so sick. I gained 10 pounds in one week and from then on, I went on to balloon up to the obese category. Again, my weight gain STOPPED as soon as I went off the medications but now I was obese.
I tried to lose that weight but it was very difficult to do so, either age or constant illness deterred me. I got pregnant in 2012 and again was on medications but none that caused weight gain, so I didn't gain much during my pregnancy with son and upon having him, lost all of the weight I gained during pregnancy by the 3rd week!
However, I was left with the weight I had before having him - which was caused by the medications in 2007 and here I am today. I've maintained easily and even lost 13 pounds by eating 800 calories when I had to during my gallbladder illness until they removed it. In my life when not on medications, I maintain my weight easily, which I would have always had I not been on medications.
I found out that fat cells that are stored because of medication are actually different in their composition from fat cells from just overeating. It is a lot harder to lose the fat cells from medication than normal fat cells! Also, when you lose fat cells that were caused by medication weight gain, you will get very sick from all the toxins that were stored in those cells! As you burn the fat, you release the toxins, which is why a lot of people can get ill after losing weight. That is why it is so important to lose weight slowly if you gained it from medications. Also take milk thistle daily while losing the fat, to help the liver detoxify all that will be released.
I shared all this with you all so that you will not judge someone who is overweight or obese! You will understand that some didn't get that way but stuffing their face and they aren't gluttons! They also have to work harder to lose the weight and they will get sick along the way. I'm really tired of hearing people pass judgements (even Christians) on others telling them that they must have overeaten to get so fat - well, thanks Job's friend but you are wrong! Rather, we should have compassion on those that are obese and not assume things, we don't honestly know HOW they got that way do we? Think about that the next time you pass assumed judgements in your mind about someone - you may just be entertaining lies in your mind.
*Just a note, I'm only 189 pounds and size 14, but I do still classify as being obese according to my doctor for my height. I don't "look" obese because I have a lot of muscle which makes me look smaller, but still called obese because I'm not at an ideal weight for my height. I said this lest you all think I was like 400 pounds - I'm not, but even if someone was, maybe they have been on medications for years and they really couldn't help it. Think about that a while.
