Anyone else experience Weight Gain with long COVID?

I am so sorry - you are not crazy. I have went up 2 sizes, was very active and always on the go. I am in my mid thirties and tell the doctor not to tell me my weight. It is depressing, especially as a woman. Online shopping is depressing as well- I do not even know what size to order anymore. I first got Covid March 2020 and again in December 2020.

I do yoga, walk and stay as active as possible- some days my fatigue and joint pain prevent me from exercising and sometimes depression. I do not recognize myself anymore. Thank you for sharing.

I have hope that this will pass eventually- the waiting is unbearable.

After I was forced to take the vaccine (I work in Healthcare), less than 2 months later. I got COVID 19, but never tested positive. I was very sick and stayed in bed or on my couch for 10 days solid. I had terrible chest pains on night 10, which turns out, was a heart attack. Before getting vaced and the virus, I had almost perfect health at age 46, no acute or chronic issues, no prescription medications for anything. I was prescribed Lasix after coming home from work with elephant legs, only then was an EKG done and I discovered the heart attack or attacks as they told me. Cardiologist was a useless visit, never going back to that idiot. My echo and labs are good, nothing remarkable. A1C is 5.7, Blood sugar 102....but my body acts like it has diabetes and I have gained 70 lbs since May 2020, just after experiencing this horrible virus. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's a daily struggle. Any advice is welcomed, medical appointments are not producing any positive results, except for 50 bathroom visits each day since beginning Lasix, which has been increased to 40 MG BID. I am thinking of a starvation diet at this point. I can't bare to gain anymore weight. My NP prescribed Ozempa injection, but the supply is short on demand and no pharmacy in my town has this medication available. Also, I have been diagnosed with neuropathy, which has progressively gotten worse over the last 3 months, I just started Neurotin today. If you can feel the exhaustive sarcasm in my post, it's real too! Suggestions are welcomed.

Typo: I was sick in May 2022, not in 2020.

@tiredofthis, welcome. There are several members like @baci @terrielynnav @lmk71, who have experienced weight gain after a Covid infection. I moved your message to this existing discussion so you can read the previous posts and connect with them easily. See here:
- Anyone else experience Weight Gain with long COVID? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/weight-gain-3/

I posted earlier about my son's rapid weight gain. Almost 50 lbs in roughly 4 months. All abdominal water weight. Dr. Put him on a combination of diuretics and in a month he lost 35 lbs. with at least 10 more to go. Bloodwork came back normal. While we are happy with the turn-around, we're still concerned about the cause and if it will happen again once he completes the course of diuretics. Why is this not coming up as a symptom of long Covid?

That's pretty serious to lose that much weight that quickly, I hope he's been seen by now. Hope all is well.

Yes.

But if he's on diuretic you may expect that loss. My frustration is that with the number of posts I've seen in various sites about the water weight, doctors aren't pursuing this as a long Covid symptom.

I have had the same problem. I put on 40+ pounds in about two months after I got Covid back in early March 2020. I was not eating much, as I was feeling so bad, so I was very confused by the extreme amount of weight I gained.

I have a lot of Long Covid issues but this is the one that is the most depressing. I have worked with a nutritionist for over a year as well as with two different doctors. Nothing is helping.

I did some mitochondrial testing and got some “extremely low” results in a few areas. We’re not sure if it’s related or not.

I’m in a support group for Long Covid people who got sick in March - April 2020 - well before Long Covid was being discussed. There are many, many threads/posts about this very issue. Sadly, no one seems to have a solution or been able to take off the weight that I’ve heard of. It’s interesting that in the same group there is also a group of people with the opposite problem- they lost a tremendous amount of weight and can’t seem to put it back on. They are also alarmed and frustrated.

I can’t even bring myself to get back on the scale, as it’s too depressing. I had to get all new clothes and give away most of my old clothes since nothing fit. It’s been almost three years since this happened. I fear I will never be able to rid myself of these extra pounds.
-Hopeless in Seattle

This weekend I read an AP article that talked about the covid virus in fat cells.

The article is titled “ Long COVID: Could mono virus or fat cells be playing roles?” Dec 26,2022

The part that caught my eye said,
“ Stanford University researchers are among those who have found evidence that the coronavirus can infect fat cells. In a recent study, they found the virus and signs of inflammation in fat tissue taken from people who had died from COVID.

Lab tests showed that the virus can reproduce in fat tissue. That raises the possibility that fat tissue could serve as a “reservoir,” potentially fueling long COVID.

Could removing fat tissue treat or prevent some cases of long COVID? It’s a tantalizing question, but the research is preliminary, said Dr. Catherine Blish, a Stanford infectious diseases professor and a senior author of the study.

Scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are studying leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells that can influence the body’s immune response and promote inflammation.

They plan to study whether injections of a manufactured antibody could reduce leptin levels — and in turn inflammation from coronavirus infections or long COVID.

“We have a good scientific basis together with some preliminary data to argue that we might be on the right track,” said Dr. Philipp Scherer.“