Extreme Weight Gain due to Short-term Use of Low-dose Propranolol Print

Several cases have been reported to gain weight due to long-term treatment with propranolol. According to FDA, no case has been previously reported of sharp increase in gaining weight due to short-term treatment with low-dose propranolol. A 34-year-old woman with a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder was treated with sertraline (100 mg) which was taken twice daily (morning and evening). She was also given trazodone (50 mg) and haloperidol (0.5 mg) once daily. Four months after starting the treatment, she was also treated with propranolol (20 mg) twice daily due to akathisia and tremor. After a short period (two weeks), she was not willing to continue taking propranolol anymore and stopped using it because of uncontrollable overeating and weight gain (3kg). Restarting the drug again led to increased appetite. Despite the drug's effect on reducing total energy consumption and body's thermogenic response to food, it is believed that individual and unique properties may also affect the metabolism.