Managed by health

*Peasblossom
But the biological equation is always energy in vs energy out.*

this is now known to not be true.

I don't have the energy now to write out a list of links

When I first began to put on weight I was also vomitting my food up almost every single day.
I ate rice and verg and tofu the days I wasn't sick but oh my it was a tedious way to live.

I eventually worked out that i have developed allergies and had to stop eating foods that I had enjoyed.
So my intake of food was so small I did not understand what was going on. I was almost 40 years of age and for the first time in my life gaining weight.
Sadly no medics back then understood either and eiither ignored me or called me a liar.

So now I trust myself as I have to live in this body and I am constantly trying to find a way to eat thatI am happy with but might also help me lose weight.

My age does not help but I won't give.

Maybe, when you've lived long enough to experience the mistakes, misdiagnoses - and apologies of the medical profession - you begin to question and check everything (or you should).

Not me personally (yet, luckily) but my late father, late husband - and dear late friend all got the wrong treatment, which hardly inspires confidence!

i too have had experiences where medical professionals have been less than helpful; i have been witness to more than one near fatal event due to inaction and totally ignoring the vital information from the patient and supporter, me.
it is actually quite traumatising to be pleading with those who have the power to do something, yet walk away unheeding.
obviously this is not what happens on every occasion, but beware of dismissing others' reported experience simply because you have not been unfortunate enough to share it.

JenniferEccles

What a very strange thread.
How can you possibly be angry with medics who, presumably, are doing their best to help you with your various illnesses.

I wish you would take the recommendation to lose weight seriously as being overweight will undoubtedly impact negatively on your health generally.

The medical professionals you complain so bitterly about are the very ones with the potential to restore you to good health.

This is NOT a strange thread and although in a different situation I know exactly how the OP feels.

Maybe you have to have experienced something of it to "get" it.

USER7777

I agree pinkquartz that there are all sorts of issues surrounding weight gain.

But the biological equation is always energy in vs energy out.

the author, hilary mantel, has said that a medical condition and associated medication has increased her weight greatly.

I just don’t know how to explain this.

Weight gain happens when excess calories are stored as fat.
(You can have some weight gain by developing muscle but usually the calories consumed in exercise needed to develop the muscle equalises the weight of the extra muscle)

Medication has little or no calories so cannot be turned into fat and stored.

Medication can and does alter the working of the body, the resting metabolism often slows, so that the body burns fewer calories than before. A side effect.

Somewhere there is a point in every body where calorie intake equals calorie output and weight remains stable. There is no excess to store.

Medication can make this point very low. So low that people cannot always consume sufficient nutrients in the calories they take and have to take supplements. A healthy diet can still contain more calories than are being used.

Some medication, ,such as steroids, can make maintaining or losing weight very difficult.

But the medication itself cannot be turned into fat and stored.

When people talk about calorific values I would point out thsi is an old fashioned concept now.
It is more about hormones and interactions between people, mental health and even back to metabolism.

Medication can and does add weight. It all depends on the type plus the individual but I know it happens.

Befoer being very ill I was not just slim but skinny.
Now I am very overweight despite a very healthy diet and I do not overeat. I have too many health issues to want to eat or drink anything that can make me feel any worse than I do.

`I can't exercise because I can't and I have to use a wheelchair. So my preferred exercise of lots of walking and dancing has gone too.

I have experienced certain meds piling on weight in the most bizarre and scary way. Once I put on 3.5 stone in just 6 months while taking pain meds recommended by the Pain Management people. I later found out through searches online that this is a common side effect and the medics mostly take no notice except once while in A&E I talked with a Doctor who had a lot of knowledge of theis particular drug and he did know that his med causes in a lot of perople a LOT of weight gain.

Yes it’s a side effective. It’s not the steroids. They have no measurable calories. It’s what they do to your body in regard to burning of calories and where the excess fat is deposited. And, tryingly, appetite.

But only substances with a calorific value can increase your weight.

Peasblossom

There is no calorific value in medication. It can’t add weight.

Only your calorie intake can do that.

Not true. Steroids have the side effect of weight gain, and usually rather rapid.

Some people blindly adhere to medical professionals (who certainly do make mistakes and don't necessarily listen) while others question and want some choice in their treatment and explanations about medical decisions.
I once had a herpes infection which spread to my eyes, the GP said it was a virus and there was nothing he could do. I was recommended by a friend to go to the A&E department of the local eye hospital and the doctor there virtually went white and said that without treatment I might have gone blind.
I've heard numerous stories of misdiagnosis and frankly, now, the NHS has become a postcode lottery in terms of care, and GP, availability.
I'd say read everything you can, OP, about the condition/s you have, arm yourself with information and keep at it asking for proper care.
If you can afford it, a good acupuncturist can sometimes work wonders. Chinese medicine has been around for 2000 years.
And just to fend off the anti complementary medicine sharks, I'd recommend The Spark in the Machine, written by a professional A&E doctor who is also an acupuncturist. Fascinating validated stuff.

Yes, you do look bulkier on steroids. But you don’t have to be heavier. You don’t have to be overweight.

You do have to make a big effort?

Weight gain is a side effect of some medications.
It’s a big problem because the medication alters the metabolism so that the body no longer consumes calories in the way it did.

But it has no calorific value in itself.

Weight gain is always caused by the deficit between calories consumed and calories used.

Some medications, cortico steroids notably, do cause weight gain. According to one study, weight gain was the most commonly reported adverse effect of steroid use, affecting 70% of those prescribed the drugs.

Steroids cause weight gain by altering the body’s electrolyte and water balances, as well as metabolism — the way it uses and stores protein, carbohydrates, and glucose, among other things.

Many people on steroids notice increased fat in the abdomen, face, and neck. Even if you successfully control steroid-induced weight gain, you’re apt to look heavier while on these drugs because of this fat redistribution.

How much weight gain there is depends factors such as dose and duration.

Side effects of medication does balloon quite a lot of us. It defo is not caused by food.

There is no calorific value in medication. It can’t add weight.

Only your calorie intake can do that.

Hetty58 . Thank you. My weight was caused by medication, not over eating. I was stick thin then ballooned after the medication started. The medical profession thinks, just suck it up, we know best for you. I know best for me, I am not dead yet...lol

?

Peasblossom, point taken - but it's the endless repetition of the blindingly obvious e.g. no sugar, lose weight, more exercise etc. that makes patients feel that they're being treated like naughty children. Best to laugh it off - especially when the advisor is obese!

The OP does want medical intervention but only the things she chooses. With multiple health problems, the medical professionals have to maintain a balance for the patients own good. It’s particularly difficult with the children and older patients and needs a high level of skill.

I have a relative who could control his diabetes, blood pressure and surgical hernia needs by losing weight and taking exercise. But he just says “I’ve got tablets for all of that.”
And then moans about side effects that he expects the doctor to treat with more tablets.

Why shouldn’t a medical professional tell a patient that changing their life style would benefit them medically. Isn’t that an important part of medicine?

User7777, remember, your life is always your own - and you do have choices (you can listen, or not, take notice/action - or not).

I do know exactly what you mean. I'm always infuriated at the dentist (the annual check up) by the compulsory silly questions. These days, I choose to give silly answers:

Do I take sugar in my tea? No, I take tea in my sugar!
Still smoking? Yes, I really do enjoy it!

I tell them I'm not interested. I brush them, full stop. I don't like them - and can't wait to lose them and get better ones!

Same at the doctors. Weight, height, blood pressure (bit high) - the same as last year.

I'm unconcerned with self improvement, not worrying about health. (After all, health anxiety is very bad for you.)

So, thank you and goodbye, I'm off to enjoy myself and live my life. Their boring, wise words fall on deaf ears. I make sure that they know it - and joke my way through the MOTs!

Umm, medication in itself doesn’t cause weight gain. Apart from some syrupy medicines, it has little or no calorific value.

What medication can do is change your metabolism so that maintaining past eating habits leads to weight gain. As Caslon says, this needs to be managed medically.

With some conditions it does mean a restricted diet and this is why supplements then have to be prescribed to ensure adequate nutrition.

I think it’s important to be factually correct about medication and weight gain.

user777 my comment about weight loss was in response to your sentence about being ‘constantly harassed about weight loss by those who know best’ I assumed this was Medical staff. Surely if it was a medication problem they would be told not to mention it?

Why do you think you're being unreasonable, OP?