Sudden Weight Gain -- A Second Time -- Meds? Stress? Vacation?

[Courtney Jenkins]

I'll try to keep this brief, but I truly need some advice. I would ordinarily be worried with the medications I take, the fact that I gained 13 pounds semi-suddenly over the past month. But...I was going through an amazing career opportunity change and was so nervous if I was making a mistake. I was eating and drinking and hiding it all behind "celebrating" because I was so "excited." But really I was freaking out and stuffing my face like crazy.

So I've gained 13 pounds!! This is from a girl that when I'm in the mood to watch what I eat I stay well under my BMI, or if I'm being lazy, eating Chinese food and drinking wine 24/7 with no effort at all can still stay naturally about 5-7 pounds under by BMI. I'm wondering if this has ever happened to anyone? If this is some 30's metabolism change... if I should worry about my medication? Because I seriously never have been able to just mysteriously gain weight. Even being 33 and having twins almost 6 years ago this is above my after pregnancy weight?

This did happen one either time this year and that was during a cruise which was really odd too because I gained 6 pounds in a week (!!!) and I was camping from the mid-west to California for the cruise. So we're talking super active on the way to and fro. Between that weight gain and this one I had my labs pulled and everything was perfect.

I exercised and ate right a couple days last week. Lost 3.5 pounds in 4 days then over the next two exercising and eating whatever gained 2 pounds back in two days. Then on the last day when I was watching what I eat I woke up with another 1.5 pounds on me. All that weight back!? I should have been minus the 1.5 from Sunday. I never gain food weight or any weight on a completely controlled day. And yes I know I probably did that to myself but it's odd for me to wake up heavier any day I've watched what I eat.

I have a bad feeling that with 2 stints of sudden weight gain over the year I've been taking these new meds that it might be because of them? Or is it just random? Stress and vacation? I know I should talk to my doctors but I wanted to see if between now and then someone might have a helpful comforting story they can tell me so I don't have a panic attack and pass out at work from looking online and seeing "tumor" "gland issues" "black box sudden death from your medication." I'd like to hold it together today

Thank you so much in advance for anyone that has some helpful, kind advice.

P.S. I know how to clean eat and do Revolution to lose about 15-20 pounds in a month. I know how to get rid of it. The weight itself is just very, very odd.

 

[Courtney Jenkins]

Thank you so much for your reply. I'm aware for sure that I've been bad, bad, bad. It's so not like my body to be able to put on weight like this. It's just all of the sudden this past year. And now I actually have to diet because I'm getting to my "what is going on... no way" weight. Usually I just do it for summer to look fit in my shorts and what not. I clean eat and do Revolution every year. I'll tell you... I'm watching the diet and exercise like a hawk now. If I gain 2 more pounds I'm running to my doctor, doing the cabbage soup diet... going to quit eating. Whatever I have to do to get back down to my normal weight.

 

[ChefChiTown]

I'll try to keep this brief, but I truly need some advice. I would ordinarily be worried with the medications I take, the fact that I gained 13 pounds semi-suddenly over the past month. But...I was going through an amazing career opportunity change and was so nervous if I was making a mistake. I was eating and drinking and hiding it all behind "celebrating" because I was so "excited." But really I was freaking out and stuffing my face like crazy.

You kind of answered your own question here. You were eating and drinking too much. That's why you gained weight so fast. I don't think it has anything to do with medication or hormones or pregnancy or metabolism - in your own words, you simply stuffed your face like crazy.

I've gained a good ten or so pounds in a month before and it was solely due to my poor choice of diet. Eating a ton of garbage and drinking a lot is easily going to pack on the pounds. I don't think you need to look much farther than that - you just had a bad couple of weeks, that's all. Just get back on track and work off the weight you gained while you were "celebrating."

 

[Courtney Jenkins]

I guess that's the thing... I normally go through spurts where I eat a lot and I never gain any weight. But I guess it's for maybe a week... never a month or so. But the week on the cruise was crazy! 6 pounds in 9 days... how does that even happen!? I've been really lucky not to gain weight from things like that (until now). That's why I was worried about the 30's metabolism flip, my meds... stress from the last job I was at, job change, etc... also contributing to sudden weight gain along with the "celebrating." It's happened twice over the last year and the last year I've had new meds and a horrid job, job change and just plain laziness.

I'm starting to think since I've lost about 7 pounds just somewhat watching what I eat and doing some strength training to build muscle to increase my metabolism, that it is most likely due to stress, a little bit my meds (they are notorious for causing weight gain) and then my normal eating habits just happening to get me into trouble.

I haven't really needed to work out since 2013 so I know I have a lack of muscle. That decreases metabolism. I take meds that slow your body down so that can have an effect on metabolism. And extreme stress causes massive releases of cortisol. Then I just happen to have the luck of thinking I was still able to eat bad, but it's the last straw that is biting me in the butt.

I'll keep to the meds, watch my stress levels and keep building muscle for now... I don't have too much more to lose. I just kind of proved to myself for the first time that anyone can gain weight if there lifestyle choices are bad enough for long enough. Which is not cool.

Thank you again so much everyone for the input. It kept me from freaking out about my medications. I hate taking stuff long term... and I'll lay off the "celebrating." Haha... now that I'm in my position and comfortable that I can actually do the job and not get fired... I can chill out. That was my biggest problem. It's not like when I was in my 20's and could have a job or not. A lot rides on my salary. I hate that it's scary...

 

[Courtney Jenkins]

I just wanted to give an update here because it turns out my medication WAS the cause of my sudden weight gain. I knew something just wasn't right. I tried to work out and eat right for a couple months after this post and weight was barely going anywhere. I was taking 1.5mg of Xanax a day for a panic disorder the past year. As soon as I had weaned down to half that the weight started falling off. By the time I was on .13mg, just a tiny dose to keep from a massive detox, I couldn't keep weight on anymore. I lost even more than before.

What I found out from my doctor is that weight gain like this is completely common for several reasons when using Xanax. The most common being that it's a tranquilizer. It slows everything down. So if anyone else is having an issue like this, yes... check with your doctor and see what the best route is for you. I couldn't bare that kind of sudden weight gain. I've always been able to eat whatever I want whenever I want and not gain an ounce. I feel better being back to that.