How about the pollen this year? If you suffer with allergies, you already know that the level is one of the highest – ever. But although those pills may be taking away your sneezing and sniffling, they may also be helping you put on extra pounds.
When they gain weight, most people immediately look to their eating and exercise habits. And they’re not wrong to do that. But there may be another cause.
In fact, there are about 50 medications that cause people to gain weight. Medications that slow down your metabolism or boost your appetite include certain antidepressants (Paxil and Zoloft), anti-migraine medications (Depakote), diabetes drugs (including insulin), steroids, certain blood pressure agents, as well as tamoxifen, which is used to battle breast cancer, and even over-the-counter sleep aids.
Many of these medicines are prescribed for chronic conditions like diabetes and depression, which means their effects will be long-lasting. And these days, with more people taking more medicine, the chances of weight gain among the general population are even higher.
Antihistamines have long been known to be part of this group, but the latest findings, from Yale University, reveal that people who take the substances on a regular basis are noticeably heavier than people who don’t. The research was based on numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It compared the weight of 867 adults and their antihistamine use. The two drugs most common in the study were cetirizine, now sold over-the-counter as Zyrtec, and fexofenadine, also now sold over-the-counter as Allegra. The study was published in the journal, Obesity.
