1. < Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19

Anyone else experience Weight Gain with long COVID?

Posted by RMS @rinadbq, Oct 8, 2021

I have had ~30 pound weight gain since November 2020 when I initially had COVID. It seems disproportionate to my calorie intake. Any one else with this?

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Jess | @longhaulerjess | Feb 11 6:36pm
In reply to @kagome "My husband has been going through the samething regarding the sudden weight issue. It's been 2..." + (show)
@kagome

My husband has been going through the samething regarding the sudden weight issue. It's been 2 yrs for him as well. His doctor was worried because his stomach just couldn't extend any further. That went on for several months of gaining. Then suddenly about 2 months ago he started losing it rapidly. They have no real explanation. At first they thought it was water and it did seem to be but the meds weren't causing any changes in the stomach. He would expel more fluid than we thought humanly possible but nothing. Now they are worried about the weight loss as he suddenly dropped roughly 90 lbs in less than 2 months. He will be seeing an internal doctor soon so will update if we get any answers. You're not alone though.

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Hello,
What was the name of the probiotic he was taking? I am thinking I need a good one b/c I do not have a gallbladder and have had so many GI issues. And the weight gain is terrible, im too short for this.

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1 reply
cologrl77 | @cologrl77 | Apr 18 9:29pm

I had Covid in March 2020 but never went to the hospital. It was more coughing, dizziness and just plain not feeling well. Now, four years later, I can’t seem to lose weight, I just gain,even though I exercise 5 days a week. I feel like my metabolism is junk. I also have mucus in my throat after meals. That has been going on for four years. Ive tried everything. No one seems to believe me or help me. I feel kind of like my Dr really doesnt believe me

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cologrl77 | @cologrl77 | Apr 18 9:34pm
In reply to @rmfe "I had sever covid in 3/2020, was not hospitalised and recovered at home over a 4..." + (show)
@rmfe

I had sever covid in 3/2020, was not hospitalised and recovered at home over a 4 week period with my PCP calling 2x daily. in June and December 2020 , I still had very high covid IGM and IGG although I have tested negative for covid. I continued to have memory fog and tiredness which partially subsuded post getting my Pfizer covid shots in 4/2021 - both shots did bring on 2/3 days of flu like symptoms. Got the booster covid shot 10/2021 - which also brought on 2 days of flu like symptoms. In 2/2022 - noticed unexplained weight gain , primarily in the stomach area which was " hard": to the touch. There were no changes in my diet and or lifestyle and I am a very fit 61 year old man who exercises daily. Post seeing my PCP, my immunologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, neurologist and a kidney specialist it was determined that all of my major organs and my blood work looked fine ( perfect was the word used) and my weight gain was associated to / connected with my unique covid history and it was suggested that I look into the Mayo clinic and MGH ( my primary hospital) long haul covid studies / clinics.

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I too had Covid in March 2020. Ive been fighting weight gain,and throat mucus after meals ever since. No one wants to hear this, and talk about it. Its as if nobody in my family wants to believe it could be long haulers. So much denial out there

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1 reply
carlosmayo | @carlosmayo | Apr 19 10:54am
In reply to @cologrl77 "I too had Covid in March 2020. Ive been fighting weight gain,and throat mucus after meals..." + (show)
@cologrl77

I too had Covid in March 2020. Ive been fighting weight gain,and throat mucus after meals ever since. No one wants to hear this, and talk about it. Its as if nobody in my family wants to believe it could be long haulers. So much denial out there

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My long covid started April 2021. I too have had weight gain but not mucus in the throat. I attribute my weight gain to the Abilify medicine that I take for LC. But dont really know.

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1 reply
cologrl77 | @cologrl77 | Apr 19 11:10am
In reply to @carlosmayo "My long covid started April 2021. I too have had weight gain but not mucus in..." + (show)
@carlosmayo

My long covid started April 2021. I too have had weight gain but not mucus in the throat. I attribute my weight gain to the Abilify medicine that I take for LC. But dont really know.

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Maybe Covid messes up our hormones. I am going to walk and garden more. Im either going to be sore or lose weight. Good luck to you

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j77 | @j77 | Apr 20 1:37am
In reply to @vawaid "You have no idea how happy I am to have finally come across this discussion after..." + (show)
@vawaid

You have no idea how happy I am to have finally come across this discussion after months of searching! March 2020 infection as well. Long Hauler. Rapid weight gain 100lbs! It came on in 6 weeks!

I was a triathlete when I got sick. I was in the best shape of my life. Age 42 female. Hyperactive, always on the go, always happy seeing the positive in everything.

I’m now destroyed. Please help.

My PCP and other doctors within USFHealthCare are focusing on my diet and exercise.

First off I can’t exercise due to fatigue and secondly I’m barely eating at this point. I’m on mainly none solid foods. Juicing and things like that. I’m 5ft 1in and now 245lbs which is crazy.

I was also prescribed a diuretic which was supposed to help me shed “water weight”, but it only made the leg and feet swelling worse. My mouth tasted like the ocean. They even doubled the dose thinking it wasn’t quite working. It just made it worse.

I took myself off of it and the swelling of my legs, feet, and ankles drastically improved if not gone completely.

When the rapid weight gain started it was so scary. I could even see the fibrous outlines in my legs like the adipose tissue was swelling uncontrollably pressing through, it was like a grid on my legs.

My stomach hard which made its way higher and higher working it’s way to my chest and my neck. I developed a fat hump on my upper back at the base of my neck. Testing negative for Cushings. Couldn’t have been caused by high cortisol I don’t think.

I did end up in adrenal failure. That part I don’t quite understand.

I do have hypothyroidism but it wouldn’t have caused this VERY rapid weight gain. My TSH levels went sky high only during a short period of time. It was around initial infection.

However, they still don’t have my hypothyroidism under control and keep trying to treat me with T4 even though my previous doctors had always treated me with T3 because my body just doesn’t convert T4 to T3 effectively. My previous doctor told me I had Hashimotos but these doctors are telling me I don’t have Hashimotos. I think this is a secondary issue.

Rapid weight gain was after initial infection. 100lbs in 6 weeks. It’s when I feel my long COVID started.

It’s like they think I’m eating a ton of junk food sitting on my butt all day. They aren’t listening to me. They can’t get this weight fixed.

Any advise please.

I use a walker now. I’m walking about 3 miles on average a day just with steps taking my dog outside.

There has to be some link with the adipose tissue and COVID. I wasn’t obese or overweight when I got sick. Like did COVID somehow cause my fat cells to replicate like crazy while COVID cells replicated within it? Is there still COVID infection in there now? Is there a medication that gets rid of this potential viral debris?

Please share any and all doctors that you’re having success with.

I’m desperate here. My body is Completely destroyed.

I cannot continue to be ignored any longer, I need help. I need a doctor to figure this out.

I am single and live alone. No support system. Work-a-holic.

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I am so sorry that you are going through this.I am going through the same thing right now.I did not test for long covid,but I know it got me.The problem is I got an Iron infusion around the same time and thought that was causing all my issues.I was in really good shape like you and my life has been stolen from me.I had a reaction which I believe now was covid attacking my whole body.I went from walking on the bike trail 8 miles a day to basically being disabled.I just got tested for Cushings as well because of my massive weight gain of over 100 pounds.The test came back negative though.I also have thyroid disease.I have been on 50 mg of synthroid,but they raised it to 75 mg because my TSH was a little elevated.At the beginning of this I was only a little over 100 pounds and I am 5'11.I could not swallow so I could not eat.I thought I was going to die,but luckily my primary put me on steroids which gave me the ability to eat again.I believe Covid does change the cells or DNA.I don't even look like the same person.I use have really nice long hair and now I have what looks like chemo hair.It is like nothing I have ever seen before.I have lost all the strength in the trunk of my body,arms and legs.My upper arms and legs are huge though.I feel like Marshmallow State puffman when I walk.I have had every test you could possibly imagine and they can't find much of anything.One neurologist thinks I haveva metabolic muscular disease,but the Endricinologist does not think so.It could be Metabolic.Nothing in my body is working properly.I have even lost strength in my face for talking,chewing,swallowing and facial expressions.Addisons and some other diseases are low blood pressure and weight loss.I am the opposite.My cortisol is fine too.The only thing they have found is low DEHA Sulfate,low carbon dioxide in the blood and low testosterone.I am in my mid 40s so I am in perimenopause.I am sure that did not help matters.The Doctors just don't have a clue though.It is hard because unless you are going through this yourself people don't understand.

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3 replies
katey122 | @katey122 | Apr 20 6:37am
In reply to @longhaulerjess "Hello, What was the name of the probiotic he was taking? I am thinking I need..." + (show)
@longhaulerjess

Hello,
What was the name of the probiotic he was taking? I am thinking I need a good one b/c I do not have a gallbladder and have had so many GI issues. And the weight gain is terrible, im too short for this.

Jump to this post

I am also too short for this. I am 5 ft. tall. At the start of my Covid I was 100 pounds, that was 1/23. Within 6 months I was up to 130 pounds. I continued to gain approximately pound a month. I am now 140. I have tried dieting, it doesn't give me any weight loss results.
I look like a Puffer fish. No clothes fit, because I have an ostomy pouch.

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pat814 | @pat814 | Apr 20 7:21am

Yes, I am very frustrated because I tried my usually effective Weight Watchers diet after Long Covid caused a 60 pound weight gain in 6 months with no change in diet. I’ve been told not to worry about the weight. I had to buy new tops since most of my weight gain was upper body, with belly fat. These were areas I had never gained in before. I eat a healthy diet, but am tired of carrying around this extra weight for a year and a half unaffected by exercise. I am currently in a Pulmonary Rehab program twice a week which is helping my shortness of breath. I’m thankful to have the lymphedema under control, but I do wear knee high open toe compression stockings every day. I also use a compression pump each night after dinner. Forgot to mention that I developed severe sleep apnea, so my CPAp machine has helped me to get better sleep at night, eliminating daytime sleepiness.

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anyab | @anyab | Apr 20 7:45am

I think we gain weight because we are no longer able to be as active as we once were so we sit and use our phones and have snacks. This is what we were told to do during lockdown. Stay home, make your own food (everything closed down), and stay away from people. People need social connections for good health and phones are fake connections. Then we turn the TV on and watch doom filled news and doom scroll on our phones and have a little snack to feel better. Over three years of this we all have new lifestyles which are less healthy than before this happened

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lkirnbauer | @lkirnbauer | Apr 20 8:51am
In reply to @j77 "I am so sorry that you are going through this.I am going through the same thing..." + (show)
@j77

I am so sorry that you are going through this.I am going through the same thing right now.I did not test for long covid,but I know it got me.The problem is I got an Iron infusion around the same time and thought that was causing all my issues.I was in really good shape like you and my life has been stolen from me.I had a reaction which I believe now was covid attacking my whole body.I went from walking on the bike trail 8 miles a day to basically being disabled.I just got tested for Cushings as well because of my massive weight gain of over 100 pounds.The test came back negative though.I also have thyroid disease.I have been on 50 mg of synthroid,but they raised it to 75 mg because my TSH was a little elevated.At the beginning of this I was only a little over 100 pounds and I am 5'11.I could not swallow so I could not eat.I thought I was going to die,but luckily my primary put me on steroids which gave me the ability to eat again.I believe Covid does change the cells or DNA.I don't even look like the same person.I use have really nice long hair and now I have what looks like chemo hair.It is like nothing I have ever seen before.I have lost all the strength in the trunk of my body,arms and legs.My upper arms and legs are huge though.I feel like Marshmallow State puffman when I walk.I have had every test you could possibly imagine and they can't find much of anything.One neurologist thinks I haveva metabolic muscular disease,but the Endricinologist does not think so.It could be Metabolic.Nothing in my body is working properly.I have even lost strength in my face for talking,chewing,swallowing and facial expressions.Addisons and some other diseases are low blood pressure and weight loss.I am the opposite.My cortisol is fine too.The only thing they have found is low DEHA Sulfate,low carbon dioxide in the blood and low testosterone.I am in my mid 40s so I am in perimenopause.I am sure that did not help matters.The Doctors just don't have a clue though.It is hard because unless you are going through this yourself people don't understand.

Jump to this post

I read your story and am sorry for what you’re suffering with. I contracted Covid in December of 2020 and lost my taste and smell. I’ve had 3 Stellate Ganglion Block injections to try to regain it, but so far only slightly improved. I also began gaining weight before Covid and was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s/Hypothyroidism. My doctor put me on Synthroid 100 mcg and then added Cytomel later on, as I still wasn’t loosing any weight and my Thyroid numbers were high. I began loosing weight and came off the Cytomel, but he put me on a higher dose of Synthroid (112). I am now off Cytomel and he also lowered my dose of Synthroid to 100 mcg again. My weight is staying down and I am able to exercise 3 x’s per week walking 4 miles on the treadmill and doing light weight training. I know that you can begin to add weight to your body when you’re in Perimenopause, but it sounds like something else. You may have Hashimoto’s disease which would explain your weight gain. I began putting weight on in certain areas of my body, like where the flab is under your arms, my back end, legs, belly, but the fat was different, it came fast and furious! If you can, I would as your primary doctor or your Endocrinologist to do a TSH test and test your T3-Free, T4-Free, and your TPO Antibodies. If any of these are high, you need medication. Good luck!

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