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Archive for the ‘Gain Weight’ Category

There are many types of anxiety disorders and determining which one is causing you to behave that way will take time so the proper treatment can be administered. Medication such as lorazepam may be given since it is a mild tranquilizer and sedative once it is prescribed by the doctor.

Lorazepam is in a group of drugs called benzodiazepines. The common side effects for anyone that is prescribed to take Lorazepam include clumsiness or unsteadiness, dizziness or lightheadedness, drowsiness and slurred speech. In rare cases, you may also experience abdominal or stomach cramps, blurred vision, changes in your sex drive, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, headaches, muscle spasms, nausea, difficulty urinating and vomiting.

Because of the side effects mentioned, patients are advised not to drive, operate heavy machinery or engage in hazardous activities especially while at work. They should also not drink and take other medications because it may cause the person to have a seizure. THIs can be prevented of course by telling the doctor what other medications you are currently taking.

What they don’t tell you is that you will also gain weight as a result of using this drug. The reason is that you simply feel hungrier and since we eat when we feel the urge, you consume more than you used to thus adding those extra pounds.

But Lorazepam is not the only drug that causes weight gain for those suffering from anxiety disorders. Similar drugs that are better known as SSRI’s or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have had the same effect. Examples of these include Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Seroril.

The only way to gain control of your weight again is to stop taking the drug. This is easier said than done as this medication may become habit forming. Some have become so dependent on it that they use it when it is no longer needed while others who experience difficulty sleeping, irritability and nervousness will increase the dosage thinking that this will make them feel better. The ideal dosage of Lorazepam is between .5 to 2.0 mg two to four times a day.

Sometimes, you may also suffer from confusion, burning or prickly sensations, increased sense of hearing, increased sensitivity to touch and pain, loss of sense of reality, mental depression,  muscle cramps, profuse sweating, rapid heartbeat, sensitivity to light and vomiting.

Because lorazepam is addictive, this is only given for a short period of time and when your condition improves, your doctor will reduce the dosage gradually to prevent withdrawal. Things only get worse if the patient is suffering from a severe anxiety disorder which means the length of time that this will be used is much longer than someone who is experienced a mild anxiety disorder.

The doctor may of course reduce the dosage given if the side effects are severe and you can only take so much when this is the only way to get better.

There was a time that lorazepam and other drugs that are designed to help patients with anxiety disorders could make them lose weight. Unfortunately, the long term effects disprove it as people do gain weight. You can shed off those excess pounds later on by asking the doctor to prescribe something else but since these also have the same effects, exercise and a good diet are the only solutions.

The family is all abuzz. Jun will be home this summer, his first summer as a college man. My parents were so excited that they have already forgotten the visit they made to Jun’s dorm a month ago. Well, that’s the way parents are. Anyways, when Jun opened our front door and stepped into the house, everyone was on him almost immediately.

But amidst all those chatter, the smiles, the welcome home remarks, there was one comment that rang through the whole house. It was my niece saying “boy, have you gotten fat.” Jun, fortunately, just brushed it off. However, to some people, college weight gain cannot be brushed off quite easily.

Studies have been undertaken which on the issue of gaining weight during college. Although, the truth of the matter has been confirmed quite a number of times, the actual reason behind the phenomena is not as conclusive as other people might like.

It is said that the first year of one’s stay in college can easily result to a 10 or even a 20-pound increase in body weight. A number of reasons have been cited as the causes of getting a bigger butt while you’re in college. Actually, some of the clues that explain this phenomenon are really quite obvious, when you look at them closely.

One of the possible reasons is that they might over do this concept of being free. Some students or most students see their first year in college as their chance to be free from their parents. Although, some might handle this quite well adapting to the school and his/her peers. They loose control and eat and drink whatever they want and whenever they want.

They don’t concern themselves with their diet. Compared to when their mom’s were in control of what they eat, these first year college folks drown themselves with sodas and fill their bellies with junk foods. The school cafeteria is also an easy place to stuff more fat since the food there is often times “complete.” With appetizers, main course, and most especially desserts, college folks are more likely to overeat there than in any other place in campus.

One interesting thing is that according to recent studies, college males are more likely to gain considerable weight after the first year of their stay in college than their female counterparts. So guys, beware. If you continue on your current lifestyle, you might end up four times or even six times your body weight before you leave college.

Another reason that kept getting the blame for this college fat phenomenon is the fact that most college folks live a more or less sedentary life. If eating the right food is the least of their concern, believe me, exercising is further off their grid. They have homework, study groups, library work, experiments, and not to mention parties to go to, events to crash, and so on.

Speaking of parties, the various gathering you go to in college serve mostly fat laden finger foods, sodas and the like. Imagine the fat you will gain the next day. In the attempt to socialize with their peers, college freshmen are eating more than enough fills of fats, salt, and other junk.

Stopping college weight gain is a conscious effort. College folks need to get their diet in order and need to get their butt off their bunks. This is an action that they themselves need to initiate. Complaining won’t do them any good. They need to fight this with sheer will power and utter determination.

Women between the ages of 35 and 55 will soon experience menopause. It is not a disease but rather a phase in life where the female will no longer be able to conceive a child. One of the symptoms associated with this phase is weight gain. In fact, 90% of women will gain a few extra pounds which are not a direct result of overeating but rather a shift in your hormones.

Those who are already going through with menopause will probably notice a change in their physical body shape. Majority will gain between 10 to 15 pounds but this will not happen overnight. It will happen gradually like one or two pounds per year during premenopause and a little faster for those who are in early and surgical menopause.

The areas where you will see a physical change will be in the abdomen thus making you look fat when you look at yourself in the mirror. Again, this is not your fault but a fact of life because there are also already fluctuations in your hormones.

To explain this further, you have to understand that hormones do not only affect our behavior but also have a direct impact on our appetite, fat storage and metabolism.

Females have four hormones namely androgen, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. The first one namely androgen is the one that puts that excess weight around your abdomen. This happens because when you reach androgen, your body produces more of this hormone causing you to gain weight here rather than your hips, thigh or rear.

Estrogen is the hormone responsible for your monthly ovulation. When you reach menopausal age, the level of estrogen that is produced by the body decreases. Because of this, your ovaries need a source of estrogen so it taps your fat cells that have the ability to make this happen. This forces the body to convert calories into fat but since your fat cells are unable to burn calories like your muscles do when you work out, this also causes you pack a few extra pounds.

Another hormone that will also decrease during menopause is your progesterone levels. This causes water retention and bloating. The only good news is that this usually disappears after a few months.

Testosterone is the one that converts lean muscle mass out of the calories you take in from eating. During menopause, this level also drops thus resulting in the loss of this muscle. This will slow down your metabolism thus making it difficult to burn the food you ingested and it too causes weight gain.

Other factors that may cause weight gain during menopause could be attributed to insulin resistance and stress. Insulin resistance occurs when the body converts every calorie into fat. Stress can also make this happen as the body stores calories instead of burning as its way of saving on energy.

So how will you be able to reduce menopausal weight gain? A lot of experts believe that this will be difficult but not impossible. The most obvious is eating a balanced diet. You will have to give up food products that contain refined sugars and switch it to fruits and vegetables. You should also cut back on alcohol, caffeine and nicotine.

As much as possible try to stay active by exercising regularly. Examples of these could be aerobics, cycling, jogging, running and walking that will increase muscle mass and prevent osteoporosis.