Let me tell you a story about how weight gain and allergy pills have affected me so far in regards to body composition.
As a seasonal allergy sufferer, I naturally take allergy pills (as one does, as most of us likely have). My daily gym regimen hadn’t changed too much, but I did start adding additional cardio just to trim some fat a little more to allow room for me to prepare for some football treats and holiday get-togethers (it’s the best season ever, you can fight me on that one later).
Until recently, I discovered that despite my gym efforts, the weight was piling on. Ever. So. Slowwwwly. And boy, does it seriously creep up on you. I didn’t really notice it at first, thinking that it might be because I had an increase in salt intake. I reduced it, and my weight was still climbing. I’m panicking.
Okay- I’m thinking, I’m not drinking enough water, I’m eating more calories than I should be, I need to reduce sugar intake, you name it. With some trial and error, I found that it wasn’t my consumption. To my luck, I like to track most things (which can be a blessing and a curse as a habit). I found that the changes started happening when I started taking allergy pills. I thought, cool, let’s change the type of pills. I’m sure you’re familiar with cetirizine, fexofenadine, and loratadine. There’s a long list of more of them but I’ve tried each of these, giving them a month minimum, or at least the whole bottle a chance. What happened? Well you guessed it – weight gain. I gained about 5-6 pounds. This may not seem like a lot, but on my 5’1” frame, I definitely felt it and so did my clothes.
After going to the doctor’s about it, I got on a few different other pills and was given a nasal spray and eye drops on top of it. With the body fat slowly creeping on, I decided to stop the pill and stick with the nasal spray and eye drops. It’s only been 3 weeks since I’ve stopped the pill, but without much change in my daily routine and gym regimen, weight has thankfully started to peel off. so far I’m 2 pounds down, and not only has it helped me realize that I wasn’t going crazy wondering why I’m eating appropriately with proper exercise, but it has also opened my eyes to how many other people out there have wondered why they’re doing everything they can yet the weight isn’t coming off. Better yet, unexplained weight gain. I understand stress is a factor as well on top of weight gain, but this is your reminder to NOT underestimate these factors:
- consider your environment
- manage your stress
- monitor your size portions
- which medications you may be taking that can affect your weight gain
- sleeping enough
- hidden calories (cooking oil, sugar free syrups or sugar free anything)
- working out too much (which causes stress, which can lead to weight gain)
- working out too little (make sure you’re moving)!
- habits that enable weight gain (make healthy substitutions where you can)!
After finding this conclusion for myself, I found out that according to the Obesity Medicine Association [1], “Histamine decreases our hunger by in part affecting the appetite control center in our brains[2], and it makes sense an anti-histamine would have the opposite effect. These drugs can interfere with the “I’m full” signal coming from the rest of our bodies and lead to overeating.” The article is referenced at the bottom for more details. Also see Association of prescription H1 antihistamine use with obesity: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [2].
These are both great to read and educate yourself on if you assume weight gain may be the cause for your weight gain. I’ve been using allergy pills for years, so can you imagine! Hope this helps guys. Happy Friday!
References
[1]Gupta, V. (4 Jun 2020). Antihistamines and Weight Gain | Obesity Medicine Association. From https://obesitymedicine.org/antihistamines-and-weight-gain-obesity-medicine-association/
[2]National Library of Medicine. Barber, J., Palmese, L., Ratliff, J., Reutenauer. E., & Tek, C.(12 Aug 2010). Association of prescription H1 antihistamine use with obesity: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. From https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221329/
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