What’s Making You Fat? 2 Popular Drugs could be Packing on Pounds (or Worse)

July 29th, 2012. By AbiK

You’re wondering what’s going on, right? It’s not like you’re doing a solo flight with a pint of Häagen-Daz every night before bed or blowing through the Taco Bell drive-thru each day rattling off an order for a couple dozen 99¢ Beefy Nacho Burritos (in a large shopping bag, thanks). But something’s making you gain weight or keep it on…

Indeed, obesity has become what some would call an epidemic. Heck, all you need to do is turn to the media to find words like “diabesity” being used to realize how much obesity—or discussion about it—has infiltrated our lives. But could there must be something else going on?—something other than a big food orgy that most of us didn’t even know we were attending?

Perhaps. That something could be a vicious cycle you’re in—where, by treating a condition that’s potentially related to weight gain, the treatment you’re on can actually lead to more pounds. Unfortunately for some, the treatment can also lead to harmful drug side effects—which in turn can lead to a drug-related personal injury lawsuit. A vicious cycle, indeed. The following two conditions and treatments are examples of vicious cycles that could be causing weight gain and putting you at risk for some unwanted side effects:

1. Antidepressants are Making You Gain Weight

Somehow it’s easy to link depression to weight gain—it’s that “emotional eating” theory. But treating depression with antidepressants can also lead to weight gain. That’s right—the very drug you might be taking to help you avoid emotional eating might also be causing your weight gain. Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft each have possible weight gain as a side effect (in addition to other serious potential side effects like SSRI birth defects or suicidal thoughts). And it’s estimated that about 25% of those taking an antidepressant will experience some weight gain.

Additionally, atypical antipsychotic medications Zyprexa, Abilify, Risperdal and Seroquel have been linked to rapid (and dangerous) weight gain in children.

2.  Diabetes Medication is Making You Gain Weight

Remember that 70’s Billy Preston song, “Will It Go Round In Circles”? Well, diabetes and treating diabetes have that ‘going around in circles’ thing going on. Unfortunately, being overweight or obese can be a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Once diagnosed, some diabetes patients are put on a thiazolidinedione drug such as Actos. One of the more common side effects of Actos can be weight gain—the very thing that may have contributed to onset of type 2 diabetes in the first place (see it coming full circle?) The Actos labelling info also includes “rapid weight gain” as a possible serious side effect which requires immediate medical attention.

Weight gain may be the least of the worries for Actos side effects, though. Actos has also been associated with bladder cancer, heart failure and liver problems.

As always, before stopping any medication, or when noticing any concerning side effects, talk to your doctor.

Tags: Abilify, Actos, Antidepressant, Diabetes drug, Drug Side Effects, Effexor, Obesity, paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Zyprexa

This was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2012 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, lawsuits . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.