Night Elf Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 Dd gained a lot of weight in a short time while on one pill that does have rapid weight gain as a side effect. She's away at school so I wasn't aware of this until she mentioned it to me. I don't know how long she had been on that med but she's off it now. She never changed her eating habits so I'm thinking it affected her metabolism. So if it did, would her metabolism get back to what it was before she was on that medication? Is it possible she can lose some of that weight just by not being on that medication anymore? She didn't change her eating habits and doesn't want to do so now. Dieting scares her. She knows to choose healthy foods but she's in college where they grab pizza and other high calorie food easily. She has access to healthier food options. She's just not willing to change right now. I told her she didn't have to count calories or weigh herself or anything, but just go into the dining hall and choose things like grilled chicken and veggies over fried chicken tenders and fries. Anyway, she's not willing to do it. I'm just curious if any of this weight will come off on its own. She's extremely unhappy about it and cries about it. I have no idea how to help her, and I don't think she trusts me because she knows I have been suffering with disordered eating and over dieting. I've learned balance now but she watched me be that way for years so it's hard to let that go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 27, 2017 Author Share Posted December 27, 2017 I don't know how long she's been on that medication. I don't know what prescriptions she's taking unless I look at her online account and I promised her I wouldn't go into her private medical account. She doesn't want to share that with me and just doles out small amounts as she thinks I need to know them. She had to tell me about the weight gain because all of a sudden she needed bigger clothing. I do know when she was home last summer, she gained 11 lbs. in 7 weeks and I didn't notice her eating lots of junk food. Her appetite didn't appear to be any different from what I remembered. But she had been away at school so I don't know if anything did change and I just wasn't aware of it. She is very overweight now and wasn't this big when she started school last August. I wish I knew how long she had been on that medication and if the doctor even warned her that weight gain was a possibility. I don't have access to her doctor as she's an adult and he's not in a Kaiser facility in her college town. He's affiliated with Kaiser so he accepts our co-pays but I can't talk to him without her permission and she's not going to give me that. So I just encourage her and try not to overstep my bounds. I don't berate her for her food choices. I take her to McDonald's when she wants nuggets but when she's just in the kitchen looking for something to eat, I do point out healthy things that I eat. Sometimes she'll take them but sometimes she asks me to drive her to the store so she can get her own food. She's 19 and is making her own choices. It's just hard to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solascriptura Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 Honestly, it could be two different problems coming to a head. It may be the meds and also a natural slowing of her metabolism due to age. I recall my metabolism slowing down during my first year of college. Coming of the meds may or may not make a difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solascriptura Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 I don't know how long she's been on that medication. I don't know what prescriptions she's taking unless I look at her online account and I promised her I wouldn't go into her private medical account. She doesn't want to share that with me and just doles out small amounts as she thinks I need to know them. She had to tell me about the weight gain because all of a sudden she needed bigger clothing. I do know when she was home last summer, she gained 11 lbs. in 7 weeks and I didn't notice her eating lots of junk food. Her appetite didn't appear to be any different from what I remembered. But she had been away at school so I don't know if anything did change and I just wasn't aware of it. She is very overweight now and wasn't this big when she started school last August. I wish I knew how long she had been on that medication and if the doctor even warned her that weight gain was a possibility. I don't have access to her doctor as she's an adult and he's not in a Kaiser facility in her college town. He's affiliated with Kaiser so he accepts our co-pays but I can't talk to him without her permission and she's not going to give me that. So I just encourage her and try not to overstep my bounds. I don't berate her for her food choices. I take her to McDonald's when she wants nuggets but when she's just in the kitchen looking for something to eat, I do point out healthy things that I eat. Sometimes she'll take them but sometimes she asks me to drive her to the store so she can get her own food. She's 19 and is making her own choices. It's just hard to watch. You’re doing the right things. We can’t control what our kids eat after a certain age. But you’re da*ned if you do and da*ned if you don’t. If you try to control what your older kids eat, people will criticize you and if you don’t they still criticize you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) It depends very much on the medication. I gained 20 lbs on a certain medication; switching prescription eliminated the further weight gain, and three months of dieting (the only time in my life that I did so) let me lose the extra weight, which I never gained back. DD had a similar experience; she gained weight on a med, switched medication, and has no further problems with weight. I would encouraged your DD to talk to her doctor about the weight gain and inquire whether she could be switched to a different prescription. Edited December 27, 2017 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted December 27, 2017 Share Posted December 27, 2017 Could it be combination of freshman weight gain combined with medication weight gain? If she's not willing to make any changes I doubt the weight will magically disappear. My son gained a fast 20 pounds due to medication. He changed his diet/exercised and lost 30'pounds that he has kept off. He is still on the same medicine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 27, 2017 Author Share Posted December 27, 2017 Oh she's off the medication that caused weight gain. And yes, she did gain weight her first year at college, really in the first semester but it wasn't anywhere near what she is now. She can't even fit in the jacket she wore last winter. Last summer she donated 5 trash bags of clothing that didn't fit anymore due to her weight gain her freshman year. She was okay with it and it wasn't over board. This year she's having to replace her wardrobe just from this last semester. The major weight gain happened between August and November. She did tell me what meds she's on now due to several mental health diagnoses and none of them show a side effect of weight gain. I was just hoping that now she's off the offending medication she'd lose weight by the end of this coming semester. I don't expect all of it to drop off but I'd sure like to see some of it come off. I'm worried about her health. Unfortunately, she's like me and we hate exercising. She did a weekly therapy yoga class last school year as part of her counseling. But that's the only form of exercise she liked and she wasn't willing to try to find a class on campus this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 She's just not willing to change right now... She's extremely unhappy about it and cries about it. .. IMHO, you need to step back on any/all advice regarding her weight/diet. Listen and sympathize only. She needs to decide for herself if/when to take steps to reduce her weight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 28, 2017 Author Share Posted December 28, 2017 IMHO, you need to step back on any/all advice regarding her weight/diet. Listen and sympathize only. She needs to decide for herself if/when to take steps to reduce her weight. That's exactly what I do. We talked about it once when she first got home because she needed new clothes and was in tears. She said she wished she could lose the weight and I suggested she just make different food choices such as grilled chicken instead of fried. No counting calories, no weighing, no eating foods that are yucky just because they are healthy. I do wish she'd stop drinking soda. She wasn't a soda drinker until she started college. But no, I don't talk to her about this a lot. That's why I started this thread about losing weight when one comes off the medication naturally. I'm getting the impression that it won't happen naturally. She'll have to work on it but she's not going to do that so I'll just continue to support her. She suffers from depression and anxiety. If a pizza on Friday nights is the highlight of her week, I'm willing to pay for it. She's on a meal plan but hates going to the dining hall so we asked her to please eat at least one meal a day in the dining hall and we buy her groceries to prepare foods in her kitchen in her dorm. It's really unfortunate we're spending so much on a meal plan and she's not using it. And since we got it Fall semester, we're obligated to get it Spring semester. Next year she won't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 My 20 y.o got the depo shot just once about a year and a half ago and is just now starting to drop a few of the 40 pounds she gained. She's vegan and eats a lot of carbs but, wow. She actually didn't start losing weight until her period came back (more than a year after the meds were supposed to wear off). She takes a few other meds (anxiety, depression, fibro) that cause IMO fatigue so she's not as active. It's all about what you eat and lifestyle, so no I don't think stopping meds is going to help her lose weight... but it might keep her from gaining more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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