Coumadin linked to weight gain

idoj3389 · Newbie Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

i have been on coumadin for 15 year... since I was 30 years old after I had a VERY extentive DVT. I too have asked several of my doctors over the years about weight gain and they too say it is not related. I know some of the gain is because I am less active then I was then due to the selling and pain in my right leg where I had the DVT (from my toes to my kidneys). I can't seem to loose the weight and it seems I still keep gaining. At times I had a 10 - 20 lb weight problem but for the most part I was in my with in the right range for my height. I would give anything for some qualified medical professional to really look into this and find something to counter act the weight gain with blood thinners. I sometimes thing that maybe it would be better if I just stop taking them since being this overweight is not excatly adding years to my life. Confused

LMW1216 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

I have been on coumadin (warfarin) for just over a year now and I KNOW I have put on A LOT of weight! I feel puffy too. My face is puffy, ankles, legs and especially around my middle. I have talked to my doctor a number of times about it and thought I might have a thyroid problem. Every time I did a blood test to check for a thyroid problem, the results come back normal. I have been very frustrated. I was a weight loss counselor for two major weight loss clinics and I know how to eat right!! Still I continued to gain weight even when I decreased my calorie intake to under the amount you need to take in when trying to lose! Fortunately, my DVT has finally dissolved and I was just told by my doctor yesterday that I can stop taking the coumadin. I am going to see if the weight starts to come off. I'll check back in a month or two and let you all know if there is any change! I am purposely going to continue eat the same amounts and types of foods I have been eating while on coumadin to prove that it was nothing I was or wasn't doing.

Guest · Guest

I agree with all here. There's a link to weight gain and coumadin.
I've always been fit & healthy, never had to watch what I ate, into health foods before it was trendy, althlete for 30-years. After blood clots following a leg break, 8-months of coumadin (plus lovonox on and off for the first two months), my weight piled on.
I put it down to being less active (cos training was banned until the bloods stabilised) but three years following the leg break I'm still fighting a weight battle. Back to running regularly and still eating healthily, still do weights & pilates - but the "fat envelopes" wait to be filled. I fluctuate & know this is dangerous as I near 40-years, in terms of diabetes. But if I don't fight it then I'll fill those envelopes. Currently 15lbs above where I was and although this doesn't sound too bad, I'm running 4-miles 5 times per week as well as doing an hour of stretching/pilates/balance-ball/dance most days. The basic rule of "calories-in have to be fewer than calories burned" seems to have been re-written by whatever coumadin has introduced to my body.

Guest · Guest

I am not a doctor, actualy I am a 22 year old male, stroke victom. My first stroke happened when I was 20, and my second stroke happened last May, 2008 at age 22. I have had over a dozen TIAs since I was 16, including 2 more after being hospitalized this past May.

All my life I have been thin. I don't want to get deep into my story but I can say I work out regularly, eat a lot of food but still unable to gain weight.

Long story short, after my second stroke we found out that I have a Protein C deficiency. After being put on Lovenox and 81mg aspirin taken daily, I started to look healthier, especialy my finger nails.

You can research on google that you can diagnose different symptoms, diseases just by the looks of your finger nails (the last place your blood travels and may deposit little clues).

After a month of blood work my Protein C levels are still low and now I am my two meds, plus Warfarin. I just started Warfarin today and I wanted to find out the side effects and came across this website.

Yes, I would hope this medication will put some weight on me and it looks like it will. Why?

If you have a Protein deficiency and are put on Warfarin, it may not be the medication making you gain weight, it may be you getting healthy again or healthy for the first time in your life. Protein deficiencys most likely will make you lose weight, or unable to keep muscle.

If you gain unwanted weight, go to the gym or walk it off, it's not that difficult.

The doctors may be right, Warfarin is not making you gain weight, it is your own body being what it never was.

With defiencys, you are most likely born with them. If it's something else, sorry, your on your own.

LMW1216 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

The majority of us that have posted here, are on coumadin (warfarin) NOT because of vitamin deficiencies. We are taking coumadin mostly because of having a blood clot and other than the blood clot, we are all completely healthy (from what I've read here). Because you have a vitamin deficiency problem, your results will be different and your body will react differently I'm sure.

Just as an update for everybody... it's been almost a whole month since I've stopped taking the coumadin and I am definitely noticing a major difference. My energy level has gotten a lot better, I don't feel down or depressed anymore and the puffiness is going away! My middle section is beginning to deflate! Surprised

) So ... there IS a connection!! Don't blame yourselves, it's the coumadin. Hopefully there will be a way for you to get off of it soon... you'll feel much better. For those of you who will still be on it for a long time, I really feel for you. At least you know that it's nothing you are doing, it's completely drug related.
I will check in again in another month with another update on my "after coumadin results".

Guest · Guest

I've been on this drug for almost a year and have packed on 30 pounds. I know there hasn't been any research to disprove that this drug causes weight gain.

It's frustrating, as I work 16 hours a day and I am more active than I ever was before taking this drug.

Guest · Guest

I have been on Warfarin (coumadin) for six months like many others. I have experienced unprecedented weight gain, and was so pleased to see that I am not alone. I am a horse trainer and a 4-H horsemanship leader (certainly not a sedentary life-style). In addition to a very active life-style, I am a nutritionist, so my food intake is whole and natural (right out of our own garden). I know what overeating looks and feels like and how to avoid it. For the life of me, I could not think what was causing my weight gain but began to suspect the Warfarin. I can't tell you how happy I was to read that I was not alone and that, unfortunately, so many others have experienced the same thing. Unlike most of those I read about, I do have the option of getting off Warfarin now. I will see how being off the drug affects my weight. I hope to remember to come back and let you know in about a month or so.

All the best to everyone in finding an alternative to coumadin that might not have the same side effects and still be effective in preserving life.[/code]

nived · Newbie Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 1

I started coumadin back in 2001 10mg a day, I have gained over 40 pounds, I do not lead a seditary life style, I eat fruits, veggies, lean meats, drink 170 OZ of water a day, 2 protein shakes, walk 2-3 miles, work out with weights, and on and on.
I too was told "no" this will not cause your weight gain, BULL!!!!

Someone or a group of people need to figure this out.

What ca be done about this!?

Dave

Guest · Guest

thank you ,thank you ..I knew this weight gain was from coumadin you don't know how much better i feel i am very tired also. when i asked my dr. he made me feel foolish and fat. how can the medical assocation get this information

Guest · Guest

I have been on 10 mg of coumadin/warfarin for almost 2 years now and within the first 6 months of taking it I gained 65 pounds! I'm sure some of it was due to excercise restraints, but that is a lot of weight in a short period of time. I have sloooooowly been able to burn some of it now that I'm allowed to be active, but I am still roughly 30-40 pounds overweight. I am glad (in a way) to hear that I'm not the only one.

Coumadin linked to weight gain

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