Complaints & connections · borters.ch
First water, then medication, then thyroid — before blaming yourself.
Also known as: weight gain · putting on weight · the scale is rising
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Anyone gaining weight without eating more usually looks for the fault in themselves — and overlooks three very common explanations. The first is water: a few kilos within days are almost never fat but fluid, for example with salty food, before a period, in warm weather, with a weak heart or kidney, or under certain medicines. The second is medication itself: cortisone, several drugs for depression and psychosis, some blood pressure and diabetes medicines and hormonal contraception are known for it, and the timing usually shows it clearly. The third is a sluggish thyroid, often together with tiredness, feeling cold and dry skin. Then come less everyday movement, less sleep, more stress and — over the years — less muscle mass, which burns less at rest. In women the distribution shifts towards the belly in the transition years, even without a gain on the scale. Rapid gain with swollen legs, breathlessness or increasing waist size should be looked at medically.
Same scale, in the morning, fasting. Daily weighing mostly measures water.
It shows changes the scale does not see.
If the start coincides with the gain, that is a talking point, not an accusation.
Twice a week strength work: muscle burns at rest too and keeps turnover up.
A kilogram of body fat equals about 7000 kilocalories — so a gain of five kilos a year means on average about a hundred kilocalories too many a day, the equivalent of a handful of nuts. Water rather than fat shows in a fast gain: more than two kilos in a few days is almost always water. Medicines are a common and easily overlooked reason: some antidepressants, cortisone, insulin, certain blood pressure and migraine drugs.
GLP-1 drugs damp hunger and slow stomach emptying — they work for as long as they are taken; after stopping, a large part of the weight returns over a year, because appetite comes back. In an underactive thyroid the hormone usually brings back only a few kilos, because rarely more than that is due to it. What is most often overlooked is the medicine list: some antidepressants, cortisone, insulin, certain blood pressure and migraine drugs.
That is water, not fat — fat takes weeks.
Cortisone, some psychiatric drugs, a few blood pressure and diabetes drugs, hormonal contraception.
The sluggish thyroid picture — a single value largely clarifies it.
A shift in distribution, typical of the transition years.
Low values are common with raised body weight because the vitamin is bound in fat tissue. Correcting it makes sense; as a means of losing weight there are no studies.
Involved in the action of insulin inside the cell. With poorly controlled sugar it is lost through the urine — a circle that can be closed.
Metformin lowers the uptake measurably over years. With tingling in the feet under this treatment B12 belongs checked before it is put down to nerve damage from the sugar.
They slow the uptake of sugar from the meal and satisfy for longer. Pulses, oats, vegetables and wholegrain work differently from a powder out of a tin.
With iodine deficiency the thyroid works more slowly and weight rises with it. In Switzerland iodised salt usually covers the need — and with Hashimoto’s, extra iodine can stoke the inflammation. Measure first, then decide.
Advertised for a while now as a plant alternative. In studies at 500 mg two to three times a day fasting sugar and blood fats fall; for weight the differences are small. It acts on the same liver enzymes as many medicines.
Clearly worthwhile and well studied when deficient; fewer data for the wider uses. Fat-soluble — check blood levels at high doses.
Effective when deficient; effects on sleep and stress plausible but moderate. Too much causes loose stool.
Clearly worthwhile and well supported when deficient — vegan, older adults, certain drugs. No energy boost without a deficiency.
An underactive thyroid rarely explains more than two to four kilos, mostly water. It belongs checked nonetheless, because it is simple to treat — and tiredness and feeling cold fit with it.
A reduced action of insulin makes losing weight harder and precedes diabetes by years. Waist size and blood fats show it earlier than the scales.
With a rare but important cause the gain is distributed typically: trunk and face with thin arms and legs, together with bruises, broad reddish stripes and weak muscles. That belongs looked for specifically.
With more fatty tissue there is more of it, but it acts less well. That explains why the sense of fullness comes later, and why sleep and movement do more here than any new rule.
An underactive thyroid, cortisol and certain medicines — steroids, some antidepressants and antipsychotics — explain part of the gain without eating more. That belongs checked before anyone blames themselves.
Two kilos in a few days is water, not fat — fat needs weeks for that. Salt, heat and the cycle shift weight by 1–3 kg without anything changing in the body.
After nights under 6 hours energy intake rises by 200–400 kcal in studies without being noticed. The most overlooked factor in gaining weight without eating more.