# Medical question: sudden weight gain **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335 "2013-01-25T17:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/1 "2013-01-25T17:25:10Z")
Can inflammation by itself cause sudden weight gain? What about prednisone eye drops? Three weeks ago I underwent the operation called vitrectomy with scleral buckle for a detached retina. I came out of the surgery with a great big inflamed eye and was getting 6 drops per day of prednisone (along with antibiotic and other drops). I weigh myself every morning on waking, after peeing. With no change of diet, I gained, over the next few days, five pounds and kept them until last week when I just as quickly lost them and am back to my original weight. I keep to a low salt diet and that didn’t change either. I might mention that a meal in a Chinese restaurant will add a couple pounds that go away in a couple days and that is clearly a case of water balance. But I am curious as to what caused my gain (and subsequent loss). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/2 "2013-01-25T17:39:20Z")
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/3 "2013-01-25T17:45:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Medical advice is best suited to IMHO. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator And where did I ask for advice? I asked for an answer to a question. Had you bothered to read it you would have seen that it is all over and I wanted to know the cause. I call foul. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/4 "2013-01-25T17:56:58Z")
Not too get too personal, but what percentage of your weight is 5 pounds? It’s only 2% of my body weight, I’m sure short term water retention could do that to me. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/5 "2013-01-25T19:46:01Z")
Every time I readjust my inhaled corticosteroid dose upwards my weight soars up and I feel fluid swishing about in my saggy ex-fat thighs. My record was 4kg in 3 days. It is annoying. Let us not speak of what they do to my sinuses. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/6 "2013-01-25T19:57:07Z")
I had open heart surgery and thus am aware that sudden weight gain can be caused by water retention caused by a poorly functioning heart valve. I have to monitor myself for swelling and sudden weight gain. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/7 "2013-01-25T20:40:19Z")
The amount of steroid in eyedrops relative to body mass is infinitesimal. The stress of surgery and illness OTOH can result in significant increases in your own endogenous glucocorticoids and is the less unlikely likely proximate cause. They may have also given you a few liters of fluids IV during and after surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-question-sudden-weight-gain/648335/8 "2013-01-25T22:38:39Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The amount of steroid in eyedrops relative to body mass is infinitesimal. > > The stress of surgery and illness OTOH can result in significant increases in your own endogenous glucocorticoids and is the less unlikely likely proximate cause. They may have also given you a few liters of fluids IV during and after surgery. Ah that is the kind of answer I was looking for. They gave me no IV during surgery. They inserted an IV in my hand just in case something was needed but never used it. It was done under local anesthetic and I was awake the whole time (about 2 1/2 hours). To answer another question, the gain was from 198 to 203, so about 2 1/2% of my weight.