Is it possible to gain 20 pounds in a month?

[letsgethealthy]

Well this is going to be a very touchy subject for a few people out there I can already tell...but...I had an abortion a few days ago ( reasons are personal ) and for the whole month I just ate. I couldn't drink water or I'd throw up and my nausea was just terrible, but I still managed to pack on 20 pounds! I have no clue if its even possible...could it just be water weight? I mean I drank soda all the time ( ginger ale and sprite because the bubbles made my stomach calm down ) and just shoved whatever I wouldn't throw up in my mouth. Ugh....I guess I am rambling, but my question is if it is possible to gain 20 pounds in a month.

[josey]

I think it is definitely possible depending on how much you ate or what you ate. Maybe it is sodium? If you don't drink enough water it might be a reason too. How about medication? You probably had to take something that might make you gain and/or retain water big time.

[Michelle2008]

It's a turbulent time for you - both emotionally and physically. Give yourself time to recover - things things might balance out. If you are particularly worried might be better to talk to your doctor.

[Jonsgurl0531]

My friend gained 10 fake pounds drinking beer and eating nachos one weekend. It took her a week for it to come off but it did. Alot of that weight might just be water gain.

[Beck]

It's most likely a combination of eating and water weight. Keep in mind that there have been hormonal changes going on in your body, and that might be contributing to water weight gain. Your body might also be retaining water to heal itself after the procedure, also.

[DezziePS]

I think you should go see a doctor. It is probably nothing- hormones, fluid retention, stress eating, but 20 lbs in a month is A LOT all of a sudden. Maybe the doc can do something to get you more regulated. Unless you were having psychosomatic symptoms (which are no less real), the procedure shouldn't have left you nauseous for a whole month. I would get checked out just to be on the safe side. Take care of yourself!

[tigerchild]

A little confused here: did you have it last month, or have you been eating all month and then just had the abortion a few days ago? By your post it seems like you're saying it's the latter.

If you've been eating like crazy all month, I think it is totally possible to gain 20 lbs in a month, especially if you are pregnant. So gaining the weight might have absolutely nothing to do with having an abortion--and with the hormone disruption you're likely to be retaining water and having weird cravings even though you're not pregnant. Hormones do weird things. If you're an emotional/stress eater, you're probably in a huge danger zone right now and have been for awhile!

If you mistyped and you had the abortion a month ago and since gained 20 lbs, it's probably a good idea to get a follow up appt. with your OB/GYN. Hopefully you have already had one (so they can be sure you are healing, no complications, ect) but if not it's worth getting one now. I'd also look at what else has changed. Many times people start on the pill or other hormonal birth control after an abortion, and if it's your first time on hormonal birth control, maybe your body is reacting to that with weight gain (it happens to some people). In addition, being in the danger zone in regards to stress and emotional eating equally applies.

Do you track your eating? Sometimes our rememberances of what we've eaten are very different than what we find when we literally write down every single thing that goes into our mouth right before or after it does.

But anyway, yes...I think it is entirely plausible to gain 20 lbs in one month just from overeating, even people who have not had an abortion or any other medical procedure. Even if you only gained 10 lbs from an uptick in soda consumption, any kind of surgery or medical procedure that restricts your activity or is painful or stressful or sometimes even just getting since can cause a temporary uptick in weight for a variety or reasons. If you have a combo of those two things, I think it's relatively normal to go up significantly!

Don't beat yourself up over this--any of it. Start tracking what you eat, try to get some more nutritious food into you, talk to your doctor, do you have some good friends or a partner who can love on you and give you some support and comfort if it's the case that you're stress eating, so you don't do it as much?

[EmilyLarnder]

Yes. It could be water weight... There's sodium in soda, which can make you retain water... It could also be leftover hormones from being pregnant.

Get well soon!

[cherrypie]

some of it is probably weight, but I'd guess some of it was water weight too.