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Avatar universal

Rapid Weight gain/menapause?

I am a 43 yr old. women who has always exercised and has always had to watch my weight.  Over the years I've successfully stayed at a healthy weight by following a low-calorie (sometimes low carb) way of eating and have always exercised.  In the last year and 1/2, I have gained 25 lbs. (15 in the last 6 months) while continuing to diet and exercise the entire time (I have changed nothing and in fact have increased my exercise).  This rapid unexplained weight gain has me going crazy.  My thyroid has been tested and is well within normal range---my Dr thinks it's all just due to menapause--but this seems SO excessive especially for someone like me who is SO disciplined with my diet and also with exercise.  WHat else could this be???? WHat tests should I have done and/or what kindof dr. should I see? an endrocrinologist???
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Avatar universal
PS: I do echo everything I have read on this string of posts.  Unbelievable how dedicated or hard every one tries and the end result is gain weight.  I am 46 and have been negative regarding my ability to discipline - reading these posts makes me realize that I don't need to be at fault, but if I want to even attempt at not continuing to gain weight, I will certainly need to incorporate healthy eating and exercise every day. Then be prepared for that to not yield the kind of results I used to get.  I joined a challenge for 12 weeks, ate the way they wanted me to (for the most part) and worked out hard 6 days a week. Only to lose 4 pounds!!  Oh man - this is not cool.
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Avatar universal
I would be interested in your link to healthy foods.  I am 46 and 100% struggling with holding my weight.  Reading all of the posts about menopause without reading any solutions has me a bit shocked.  You offer some positive suggestions, thank you.  
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Avatar universal
I am with you - starvation. Only way-but at 48 I wonder will that work anymore?? So frustrating!
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Avatar universal
Did you ever find a resolution for your weight gain?  I just noticed these posts are so old.  from 2005
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Avatar universal
Add one more to that list.  I am 48 yrs old. 5'3" always weight 120lbs.  I exercise 6 days a week now.  I'm at the gym 15hours and my body can't take it anymore.  I am on a strict diet.  No sugars, no carbs and the weight just keeps on coming.  I do have Hashimoto thyroid but my Endocrinologist says everything checkout normal.  I have a very bad back and so all this exercise is just killing me.  My last period was 3 months ago and the weight gain pretty much started around then.  What can I do?  How big will I get?  When will it stop or does it?  I am currently 135lbs.  I  have gained 15lbs in just 3 months and I noticed it is coming on faster.  I gained 4 lbs from yesterday and I barley ate and was at gym for 3hrs.  I have been in tears all day.  I really cannot take it anymore!
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1 Comments
Me too!!!  47 and have been going very similar situation 25 lbs in 3 months what the heck is going on I am so depressed!! Healthy eater with a bad knee that causes some mobility issues but I still exercise!!!
Avatar universal
Wow, that last comment has brightened my life! Thank you!
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Avatar universal
Beautifully said.  This has been SO hard for me, like all of you.  Once a vibrant and beautiful woman, I now feel fat and invisible.  I have been on the road to the acceptance that saadi65 suggests... it's the only way to deal with this without driving yourself even more crazy than the hormones are.  Nobody's looking at me anymore anyway... sigh.  So instead of torturing myself trying to lose the 45 pounds I've gained, I am going to be "good" with 25ish.  I've lost 15 doing low carb, but have hit a plateau.  Not sure what it will take to drop 10 more, but I do know that if I can't, I am NOT going to live the rest of my life dwelling on and yearning for my previous thin self.  If I can get 10 more off, fantastic, but if not, I'm done.  I'll accept my 175# self and focus on the rest of my life and what is truly important.  NO wasting 2 hours a day at the gym, either.  Just healthy eating and moderate exercise, loving my job, my dogs, my family, and the fact that I am so lucky to be as healthy as I am, just "fluffier" than I'd like.  xoxoxo to all of you who are going through this *really unfair* part of our lives!  We're still beautiful!
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1093351 tn?1317810854
45 pounds in 27 months.  My nieghbor, same thing - 45 lbs in 2 years.  Where the heck are these women that gain 10-15 lbs???  

Hi. I'm 49 and just realized a few months ago that all this nonsense must be Perimenopause.  Summer 2013 I had anxiety. Summer 2014 the not sweats and insomnia and severe fatigue set in.  Now, Fall of 2015, I'm so tired that I focus on getting through the day with a minimal list of todos.  Last week, I bought Black Cohosh.  It has given me some energy and sleep.

I am assuming my estrogen is really low.  Steady weight gain for 27 months no matter how much I watch what I eat.  Fatigue has been horrible the past 12 months.  I am just too tired to do much of anything. Had some edema issues over the summer, but they seem to have gone away.  My insides feel like I ate hot coals most of the time. Digestive system cannot make up it's mind what it wants to do.  My facial skin is going crazy.  I was lathering on lotions from dry skin, now it oily & breaking out like I was 13.  But not exactly pimples, more like crepe paper with oil pockets trapped underneath.  Very sensitive and very difficult to calm down.

Any ideas?  I can't keep gaining weight, 45 pounds is ridiculous now.

As for history and symptoms:  I used to be a 5-7 days/35-42 day cycle.
Now I'm exactly 28 days and maybe 3 day cycle.
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Avatar universal
I forgot to add that I am always hungry,I do not get much exercize, anymore.I started walking,but I know that isn't helping much I know I need to walk more.I was doing situps for a while and they didn't do anything.I would like to join a gym.I think that would give me more motivation,but finances are not good.I also have sleeping problems and depression.
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Avatar universal
I am somewhat relieved that there are others that are suffering and confused.I have gained at least 25 pounds, and counting.My pants size has gone up 5 sizes.I literally have no pants.I keep buying them a size bigger and in a few weeks,they don't fit.Not only is it depressing,it's expensive.I am in peri-menopuase.I haven't had night sweats,or hot flashes yet.I have had irregular periods for over a year.I am missing entire months, and out of the blue I will start again.I am hoping that the last one I had will be it.
I have really bad eating habits,and drink a lot of soda.I was able to do that for years and weighed 112 at 5'4".Now I was told my cholesterol is getting high, so I may have to start medication for that..The times that I have mentioned my concerns to the doctor it was always the diet and exercize.I find that to be even more depressing that I can't eat and live the way I used to.My mother never gained a pound, when she went through hers.I am afraid to go to the  doctor and get that lecture.Is there any way that it can be something else other than menopause? I am 52 years old, and am now 141 pounds.I have also been having digestive problems, stomach aches and diarrhea frequently, and was wondering if there is a connection.The doctor wanted me to do a colonoscopy,but I am scared to get that done.I don't know if it is what I am eating or something else
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Avatar universal
Hi there everyone, I am a little bit releived that I am not alone suffering from unexplained weight gained...I am 45 years old. I had a partial hysterectomy 5 years ago, they left one Ovary that has many cyst that don`t seem to go away but they r
emoved everything else. I went through depression the following year and started feeling exausted all thetime about 2 years ago. I have also gained 30 pounds in the last year and a half mostly in the stomach area I actually look and feel like a pregnant woman. My doctor claims all my blood work is normal, Thyroid,Diabeties,Hormones...I train 5 days a week and eat a healthy diet and I am still unable to loose a pound. Iam getting very discourage and feeling very anxious and depressed mainly because of my appearance and feeling aches and pains all over mybody from carying that extra weight. I am really discourage, not quite sure what to do differently.
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Avatar universal
I know this post is a few years old, but I am glad to see that people are still posting on it and glad I am not alone. I just turned 45 and in the past year I have put on about 20 pounds. I too have always struggled with my weight, but this is ridiculous!! I am a night shift nurse and that adds to the struggle, but I did not change my eating habits, I do not eat junk food and rarely eat bread and carbs, but suddenly I am weight loss resistant. I power walk 4 miles 3-4 days a week and I am always on my feet at work.I am also more tired and lethargic a lot of the time where I never was before I just had all my labs done (CBC, TSH, T3,T4, lipid panel, etc.) and it was all normal. TSH is just creeping towards the "danger zone" for hypothyroid, but it is not there, so I can't blame that!! Never in my life would I have thought I would "hope" that I had a problem with my thyroid, but at least I could blame it!! I am going back to weight watchers at the end of this week, It's expensive, but I guess I am not doing something right. It brings me to tears at times.I am at my wits end, but the comments here show me I am not alone in my struggle!! Thank you!!
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Avatar universal
Palpitations. And yes I have them every 3/4 weeks, sometimes last up to 48hours which worries me. Only had them in last few years which seems to be how long my menopause has taken, started with missed periods 4 years ago, then occasional periods, night sweats galore!!!!! All seems to have gone on for years and years and lots of broken nights sleep to now, I just have the odd hot flush that lasts a minute or so instead of hours.  So very glad to be at the end of it all although libido disappeared right from the start.  Not sure how to solve that one, and don't have the "libido" to want to :-[
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973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
Ha, our new hormone package. Yes, it is hard.  I was in that same weight boat.  I agree that finding the right combination of things that works for you is the key.  Someone else's habits may not work for you.  I'm an emotional eater.  I had to curtail that!  I get my cheat day.  THAT I love.  And then watch like crazy during the week.  I'm going to fight to keep this weight off.  But feeling so much better really does help.  That is very motivating!!

We have a healthy cooking forum and a diet/exercise forum and a weight loss forum here at med help.  They are all great--- check them out!
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13883931 tn?1431912423
Wow this has been really helpful, finally getting a clue what is going on with my body.  My mother never talked about menopause other than us kids noticed she was pretty much crazy from her mid 40's to late 50's.  She is pretty mellow now in her early 70's.  I will be informing my daughter !!  Like so many stories here, up until a few years ago my weight stayed at 130 lbs give or take a few pounds, 5'7" I loved wearing clothes, bathing suits, shopping was fun.  I had a hysterectomy when I was 42 never gave menopause much thought.  They left the ovaries not sure if that matters with menopause.  I've had the sweats and hot flashes but this rapid weight gain thing is blowing my mind.  I am 53 now,  Last Fall I weighed in at 157, last week at the doctor 166.  I feel my joints giving out, need bifocals now, my heart flops around at times, depression and crazy mood swings, not as bad as my mother I hope.  So okay time to stop whatever it is I am doing and follow a weight loss program or loss my mind.  I plan to check out the link above.  Its comforting to know I am not alone in this.  Thanks Ladies and good luck to us all in finding a healthy life style that fits our new Hormone package.  
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12320179 tn?1427836347
Me too!!  
20 plus lbs over the past 5 years. I will turn 53 this coming July and it's been 76 days without a period. Over the past year its been all over the place and pretty nasty at times also. I have ever so many symptoms from night sweats and all the classics, but my question to all you ladies is do any one suffer from ringing, or swishing sounds in your ears and my biggest scary symptom is heart flutters and that awful flop flop feeling as if you skip a beat....???
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Avatar universal
Omg !!!!!!! Same overhere
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Avatar universal
Wow, I looked up "gaining weight and nothing looks good" You all are definitely not alone! I also have always watched my weight, I am only 5' so gaining 5lbs is a pant size for me. I am now 51, and I'd say for the last 5 years I have been gaining weight, yes, since menapause started. Sex drive, 0, hate to go anywhere because...I would have to get dressed. Work from home so I really get no outside stimulation. Gaining weight, no sex drive, and alone all the time.....its no wonder I am so depressed!! anyway, thanks everyone for sharing, hope things get better for you all!
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973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
I am really sorry that this happened as things are hard enough as you get to this age, weight gain just makes it worse!  So, I personally had to make a change.  I am not on any specific diet but did a combination of things that has helped and I've lost weight.  I looked at my own diet and where it needed to change.  Examples for me---  I drank pop.  I put sugar and cream in my coffee.  If we had sweets in the house, I ate them.  I ate too much in terms of portions.  I ate a lot of fatty foods.  Etc.  

So, I gave up all pop.  I gave up coffee.  I drink a lot of water now.  For my drink that is tastier than water---  I do drink some orange juice and some apple juice and I drink a cup of tea or two every day.  Earl grey tea doesn't need sugar.  I don't buy any sweets that I'd be tempted to eat.  I don't eat anything processed but I do eat tortilla chips.  I watch portions.  Here is a typical day's food for me.

Wake up.  Eat something small--  hard boiled egg OR a bread thin half with a little peanut butter on it or Oatmeal that is 100 cal a serving.  I pick one of those three and eat that in the morning.  

I may have a banana mid morning or an apple.

Lunch---  I eat either a salad (lettuce w/ some spinach thrown in there, usually seeds such as pumpkin or sesame, maybe some hard boiled egg, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, a few croutons and some lite dressing), OR tortilla chips and they make these 100 cal packs of guacamole--  I'd eat two of those packs with the chips and it fills me up, OR the bread thins with 2 pieces of lunch turkey and lettuce.  or Occasionally a heart healthy can of soup but you have to watch sodium.  That's maybe once a month.  

Then I may have another piece of fruit or some tortilla chips and salsa.

Then dinner, I either eat lean protein, vegetable, and a grain or just a small portion of whatever I make for my family.  

Then I have a piece of fruit before bed or my special treat, a 40 cal fudge pop.  

Sometimes I have a Kashi trail mix bar---  those are pretty tasty.  I might have a low fat yogurt.  I might drink some milk.

I take a good multi vitamin too.  

But then I also exercise.  I started going to classes.  I do classes at my OWN pace with no worry that I can't do everything---  I just do what I can and keep moving.  I have gotten stronger and can do more and more.  I do go 5 times a week.  Classes you may like are zumba but I really like boot camp classes because they are done in small segments so the time flies by for me.  I take a step class, there is kick boxing classes, spinning (bike) classes, I do strength classes but prefer them to have cardio mixed in.  It's important to have 30 minutes at least a day of where your heart is pumping.  So, I do a class 5 times a week or 'something'.  If I can't do a class---  I do the treadmill.  If I do that for an hour, I burn 400 calories!  I know that I also have on demand channels with my cable system in which I can turn on various exercise classes to do at home.  I don't do that as much but it is an option.  Or you can go to the library and get exercise class dvd's to do at home.  Or walk briskly for 30 minutes outside.  But the key is at least 30 minutes a day.  To really kick start my weight loss and keep it going----  I do about 50 minutes in a class and then walk on the treadmill at a fast pace for 20 minutes after about 3 times per week.  Do what you can.

Weight loss is 80 percent diet though.  The exercise definitely helps tremendously and helps with the ability to eat a bit more as you burn calories and lose a bit more burning those calories!  

Now, when I started, I didn't have a cheat day really.  Now I do.  One day a week I eat what I want.  I have a sweet or whatever sounds good.  So, I never feel deprived.

I've lost almost 20 pounds since mid January.  And I'm in the premenopausal time frame of life----  but this formula is something that my body responded to and the weight did come off. good luck to you and here to help if you need encouragement or ideas!
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2 Comments
THANK YOU!!!!
Hi ANG4704.  Are you in a similar situation?  Tell us what is going on with you.  It helps to talk to people and we want to hear!
Avatar universal
Hello,
I just turned 40 in December and since 39.5 I have put on 15 pounds.  I know it is hormone related. I have tried everything to lose the weight.  What diet are you following?  I am so desperate.

Thank you.
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973741 tn?1342342773
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi there. Okay, so, I recently had a weight loss when all my hormones were working against me.  The things I did were to cut down on sugar, eliminate all sugary snacks/sweets, pop, cream/sugar in coffee, processed foods, chips, all the c rap.  No fast food, ate lots of  lean protein, whole grains, super grains (like quinoa), lots of vegetables, fruits,  Eat nuts, low fat dairy, avocado, wraps with black beans and vegi's in them, lots of salads.  Basically overhauled my whole diet.  After the first month, I started having one cheat day a week.  This is where I have what I want.


I started an exercise routine.  Five days a week, I do a cardio/weight mix for an hour.  If I can't do an hour, I do at least 30 minutes.  

I've lost 15 pounds over 3.5 months.  Nice and slow and I am never hungry.  I don't crave sugar as I used to and don't have that cycling of wanting bad food.  If I can maintain this ----  then menopause will NOT kick my butt.  :>)  

I'm happy to help in any way I can.  I also am the community leader of the healthy cooking forum.  Let me know if you need the link---  it is a med help forum to share healthy cooking ideas.  :>)  Come join us!  

good luck all
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Avatar universal
Im a 52 year old female I consider myself a tive on the go .. 5 dogs plus a 5 yearold granddaughter that we are currtly raising and I swear if I walk by the cookies I gain 6 pounds im hating life not sure what to do .. can someone help or suggest soemthing to us....***@****. let me know please open to just about anything at this point and time..
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Avatar universal
BUT....now that I'm "happy" as misery does love company, 134 POSTS stating the SAME EXACT THING!
I KNOW it feels good to express but is there no answer?
We just keep getting heavier?
This can't be a new phenomenon so why hasn't anyone posted a solution of some sort?
I am grateful I was somewhat under weight prior to this weight gain so I can accept this new normal body and get new pants.

MY question is.....When do I buy them?
Do I gain 10 pounds every month?
If so, how MANY months?
I refuse to revert to jogging pants and be slumpy on top of fat but I hate to have to buy a few pairs of pants each and every month.
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Avatar universal
Thank you, there IS a God cause I thought I died and went to Hell!
I have gained 20 pounds in the last 6 months.
Granted, we've had a harsh winter but I always hibernate and do NOTHING in winter and this has NEVER happened.
My inner thighs are rubbing and my fat pants don't fit.
It has made me incredibly depressed (which I have been my whole life) but this is over the TOP depressed.

I say thank God there's a God because I thought I was all alone and with this many posts, that's all it took to make me feel so much lighter!
Maybe I WILL look like a pregnant Grandma like I swore I'd never do, but at least I know, I'm not alone!!

Thanks to all the top button un-buttoners previous to my rant!!
:)
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