Are Your Medications Safe?

[Grammy23]

16. And the glossing over of side effects like weight gain

Which has happened to me. I take three medications for my blood pressure. One of them has a side effect of making you tend to gain weight or make it difficult to lose weight. I didn't realize how pervasive this problem is until I mentioned my frustration trying to lose weight to a cousin. She urged me to check out how many others face the same issue while taking this drug (Toprol XL). After I started looking on line I found many others who have this problem. My cousin also has the problem and informed me that no matter what she did to lose weight, nothing worked. Se said she had tried a variety of diets, increased her exercise, you name it. All to no avail.

My experience has had similar results. In addition to that, I saw my mother-in-law, a woman who never weighed more than 118-125 lbs for decades start to gain weight once she started taking this drug for her BP. Nothing else has changed for her. She pretty much eats the way she has for the 45+ years I've known her. She is baffled by the increase in weight and especially the stomach area getting larger.

I've talked to my doctor about this problem but she pretty much dismissed it as a major factor in my weight issues. I think because my blood pressure is in more normal range she is reluctant to tinker with the drugs. She ended up recommending a standard Low calorie diet and discussed serving size. Since I've already done that with minimal success, it was hard for me to follow that advice and in fact, I did not.

So I've basically given up on losing weight as long as I take this drug. I just wish doctors were more willing to admit that the drug CAN do this so patients can stop blaming themselves for not losing weight no matter what they do.