FUROSEMIDE AND WEIGHT LOSS
By Dr. Mujajati
Furosemide or lasix is a medicine that we prescribe for patients that have fluid overload due to fluid retention. You will find fluid retention in people that suffer from heart disease and or kidney disease. The signs of fluid retention are swelling of legs, abdomen, face and hands. In severe cases they present with difficult breathing because the lungs are full of water. We prescribe furosemide to relieve the symptoms we have just listed.
What has furosemide got to do with weight loss?
So, when a patient is put on furosemide we check their weight every day to see if the drug is working well. The target is for the patient to lose weight by 500g to 1 Kg per day depending on the cause of the fluid retention. So furosemide does reduce ones weight by reducing the amount of water. That is why people that are on this drug pass urine frequently.
Furosemide in sport
The drug has been used mainly in combat sports to cut weight. As you may be aware in combat sports like boxing, MMA competitors are classified according to weight. If a competitor is above or below the accepted weight for the given class the fight does not proceed and there are penalties for that. In some cases when an athlete notices that they may be above the recommended weight they take furosemide for a few days and urinate the excess weight. The problem is that they gain it all back after taking water as a result they end having a much higher weight than their opponent on fight day. That is why the drug is banned.
Should you use Furosemide for weight loss?
The simple answer is NO. All you will be losing is water and if you are not careful you may lose more water than you ought thereby putting your life in actual danger. You have heard.
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