Humira weight gain
Juicy and Tanya, I feel your pain. My Crohn's went undiagnosed for quite some time, and I lost over 40 pounds during that period. Prednisone seemed to help, but I gained weight and was very puffy, sweat like a maniac in my sleep, and had to pee nonstop. I knew it was only a band-aid and not my maintenance medicine. I was put on Asacol, but since I have extreme difficulty swallowing pills (I even hired a hypnotist to help), I quit that medication and was unable to determine if it worked. Point is, it didn't work for me. Then my rhumatologist suggested Humira, and the results were astounding. My health had a complete turnaround. I finally could eat and live my life again, and without pills! The shots hurt like holy hell, but once every two weeks is doable.
I started Humira in April of 2010. Since then, I have gained 40 pounds. I'm not back to where I was by any means, because at my heaviest during my steroid use, I knew I was retaining water weight that didn't reflect my true number or size. Now, I'm bigger than ever. I work out 4 or more days a week and eat much healthier than ever, but I can't seem to drop it. Even during flares, when everything runs through me and I expect to see shrinkage, I stay the same. When I see pictures of myself, I think I look puffy or bloated again--I know that's not what I'm supposed to look like. All I can think of is the Humira, and I'm equally frustrated since all of the literature suggests it does not contribute to weight gain (if anything, they say to look out for weight loss). I'm nervous that this trend will continue to build my weight up even more over time as I continue with Humira. If you find any answers, I hope you will share.