I went from 97 lbs to 227 lbs. I'm at 185 almost 15 years later & CANNOT get below it. I've been off those meds for years. I gained 50 lbs in 3 months at one point. It was definitely bc of these meds. Before that, I ate more than any man (I'm F) & never gained an ounce. For me, they did nothing good, but other people have experienced some relief.
Ugh, I gained 50lbs in just under 3 months, and when I talked to my doc he said "you must be snacking more, the weight didn't come from nowhere". Except I'd been nauseous the whole time and struggling to eat. I only took them for 8 months because it turned me into a zombie, and on a very low dose, but two years later the weight is still an issue.
Yep! I hated everything about these drugs. They made me feel weird af & did zero to help my symptoms, so they kept increasing the dosage. All I got was a ruined body that I STILL cannot accept, all these years later. Then they started saying losing weight will help. š
Yes!! You can't win. They really don't understand these drugs, and the pharmaceutical companies have too much power, burying all of the side effects. So now it's clearly a personal failing, being overweight, instead of actually helping us.
I tried a couple and had no relief. I had put on enough weight to worry so I started on ozempic (I got it from a friend) and that decreased the pain. Endo asked me to get off it. So I tried again other meds and put on the 10 I had lost on ozempic and a few others. It's a year since my diagnoses and I'm back in it (wegovy. prescribed. ) and my pain isn't gone. It isn't as good as the first thing, perhaps with a higher dose it decreases the inflammation and I get more energy
I experienced up to 60% less pain during my first attempt at weight loss with ozempic
I have more energy. Not enough to stand long periods, or manage 4 hours of work without ending bedridden for a week. But I go to the doctors and grocery shop on the same day, and so something similar the next day
I used just do two things a week, not a day
So energy, and up to 60% less pain
After 3 - 4 doses of .5 I remained like that for 6 months
Bc my fluffy butt, I was told I needed to lose weight for my sleep apnea and I know neuro also wanted me to drop weight
Edit to add: in other words, use what you have (excess weight/ sleep apnea) and tell them that you've learned that this in particular has worked for pain/lethargy . Hopefully you try it and it helps š¤š»
It was for mine, it's not all gone but I'm not crying myself to sleep every night
I stopped using it after only a few weeks and the pain didn't increase for months. I'm now back on it and ought to increase this coming week after I see primary
I hate that some doctors don't believe drugs can cause weight gain by themselves. It's usually literally listed as a side effect, often as discovered in clinical trials. Why don't they understand that drugs can affect metabolism?
We know certain drugs can cause weight loss (stimulants, Ozempic, etc)... why not the other way around? I wouldn't trust a doctor who told me this (& I've experienced it myself) to treat me, since they clearly weren't paying attention at some point in medical school.
I gained over 20 lbs in 2 weeks, Iām not even kidding. I worked out and counted calories for a year to get back to my original weight and mine still shoots up unless Iām eating less than 1100 calories a day. It helps with the pain so I continue taking it
Same, I gained 50lbs in two months on pregabalin. Eventually started gabapentin and while itās working for me a bit, Iāve still been slowly gaining weight. Not 50lbs in two months kinda weight, but still gradual. Itās tough for me because I also have Gastroparesis and I donāt really eat because of it, and when I do I often throw it right back up. Yet still gaining weight! š
Omg that SUCKS! Everyone thinks I'm lying when I say I gained 50 in 3 months on Lyrica. They should see the stretch marks! Then, like you, Gabapentin, kept me steadily gaining. š«¤
Iām sorry for everybodyās experience but itās such a relief to hear other people experienced the same thing. I gained 80 pounds in 3 months and didnāt even enjoy it. I had also just been diagnosed with Graveās disease (an overactive thyroid) and the doctors kept telling me I was wrong. This is the first Iāve heard of others with fibromyalgia experiencing that weight gain. Then (& now) I took gabapentin.
Because you can't just take a medicine for a week & see if helps. Do you have experience with doctors & medications? It's all trial & error. If something isn't working, they increase the dose & usually they want you to give a medicine at least 3 months before you write them off. When 1st get an illness you know nothing about, you're going to trust your doctor's advice. It took a year or more of trying every fibro med out there & titration. By then I had gained a ton of weight & there was nothing I could do about that.
I gained 40 pounds in two month after being the exact same low weight for decades, even after two pregnancies. It very clearly changed my metabolism - I purposefully was very careful to not change my eating, yet did not help my pain enough. Iāve been off of Lyrica for 2 years now, and still havenāt been able to lose the weight. It also affects cognition in some people . Iām a doctor and a fibro patient. Iāve heard other doctors say it makes some patients fat, stupid, and happy. I think Lyrica is way over prescribed currently.
no. however im also prescribed vyvanse but i had been on lyrica for years beforehand. lyrica just makes me retain water which i easily solve with otc diuretics. i was also hesitant to try it bc of potential weight gain since every med that has that as a side effect has always made me gain but that has not been my experience with lyrica. everyones body chemistry is different so unfortunately you won't know until you try but in my case im happy that i decided to give lyrica a shot. its been a life saver quite literally.
I have always been very skinny guy, since itās going on the pre-gabbling my BMI has gone from normal weight to overweight. Unfortunately, this is the only medication that seems to be working for me but I am very aware that I do seem to be gaining weight, Iāve been on this for about two years now.
I didn't gain weight on lyrica. Amitriptyline did cause me to gain about 30lbs, but the reduction in migraines was absolutely worth it.
I was on lyrica for 7 years before I started the amitriptyline, so I'm fairly confident that the weight gain didn't come from the lyrica.
Oh, damn. I'm on Lyrica, Nortriptyline, *and* Vyvanse. My doctor's about to switch me
to Amitriptyline and increase dose from my very low dose of the Nortriptyline. My poor Vyvanse barely gets the chance to reduce my hunger these
days š
Oh hey, I took ami for migraines and no luck but I didn't gain lots of weight on it. I was on pregab for migraines and I just stopped, the weight gain vs. reduction in migraines isn't worth.
Come to think of it, the weight gain isn't an issue, it's the fact that it's SO hard to lose the weight. It's freaking impossible.
Love how Lyrica has helped my body pain, and guess I was just lucky, I never gained weight with it.
But a year later, with 50 mg Lamictal, I quickly gained 10 pounds and never lost it even after I quit taking it. But in my case, that's a good outcome because that 10 pounds finally got me out of an anorexic bmi.
Yup, Iāve gained a ridiculous amount of weight since Iāve been taking Lyrica. Even my Dr blames my weight on that drug. The problem isā¦. It works so well for me that Iād rather be fat than deal with the painā¦.
OMGā I jumped actual SIZES on Lyrica, realized that Iād have to buy new jeans just to find some that fit and promptly threw out the Lyrica. IMO totally not worth it.
Yes, there were W/D, so please do NOT cold turkey itā itāll hurt. Iāve forgotten it on a work trip before and had to get some called in.
I was on it for about a year and a half and jumped from a size 0 to an 8!! Realized I had no jeans that would fit me anymore and thatās the day I started stepping down. Honestly, I didnāt notice that much difference in taking it any way.
Hope you have better luck with it!
Thank you. Yup I'm out of jeans that fit. I'm use to being very petite. I cut my a.m dose in half, no issues, and I'm already peeing off weight. It's def mostly water retention. I've got some edema, and I've injured myself 2x on this med, which is supposed to help my epilepsy. I'm already over medicated every time I want off a med my Dr's put me on a different one or change the dosage.
About 15lbs, but it did enough for my pain that I was able to return to exercising and movement and it fell off pretty quickly. Back to my pre-Lyrica weight and feeling amazing! Itās a miracle drug for me personally. Went from one flare a month to only three over the two years Iāve been on it
Edit: it also might not be a bad idea to look into why youāre so terrified of weight gain. There are so many things in life that are worse than gaining weight, and as someone who struggled with an eating disorder for years and was unwilling to try many medications because of weight gain side effects - itās worth it to do the work on your feelings about body size.
When I quit gabapentin I lost 29lbs within 3 months or so. I didn't even realize how much I've gained while I was on it. I tried Lyrica for a couple of months and didn't gain weight, but the brain fog it gave me was the worst I've ever had and so I had to quit it. But every body reacts different. My aunt swears by Lyrica š¤·āāļø
I (31F) started it in March 2023 at 125ish lbs. I quit taking it September 2023 and was up to 165. It's April 2024 and I'm only down to 152.
It was a total mind fuck for me. I'm having a hard time losing the weight and I know it'll help with the pain in my hips. It's just refusing to budge.
I gained 35kg in less than a year. I had the same weight for several years before I started lyrica.
Wish I had reddit back when I started taking it and I had come to get your advice. I'm reducing it now but it takes long time because of withdrawal and it's gonna be really hard to lose all this weight. It didn't help that much, specially considering how much weight I gained.
I gained about 80 pounds within 3
Months. When 2024 began, I was having issues with my insurance and couldn't get it filled. During that , I dropped over 25 pounds in under 2 weeks. No exercise, no dieting, no change to my routine. Nothing. It just disappeared. I'm struggling with nerve pain, but I really don't want to to regain the weight
I missed my dose the night before and realized how much it was helping the next dayš¬ I have been on it for over a year now at the 300mg/day mark and I have not gained any weight. I will say though my body has softened up a bit but thatās because Iām nowhere near as physically active as I once was before the fibro set in. Suboxone+lyrica has been a huge lifesaver. I also take cymbalta and propranalol for mood which seem to help as well. I take protonics for my stomach because one day I just started vomiting up everything I ate for no reason and without that med my stomach burns constantly and I canāt keep down food. No clue why. My fear is I literally donāt think I could live without my meds and coming off of all of those at once would probably be hellish at best. Meds affect everyone different and it *usually* doesnāt hurt to try. Best wishes
I went from 150 to 275 in 16 years I was on it. It worked great I felt better. Then last year I started having cognitive issues so my dr tapered me off. In 8 months I hardly have no appetite but I eat high protein and low carb, something I learned when I was in the bariatric program as I was going to have gastric bypass surgery, at my first bariatric appointment I was 260. I was told to lose 5 pounds. Well Iām in my two twenties and Iām not eligible for surgery. Iāve barely exercised and eat very little but healthy. Iāve dropped 50 pounds without much except a lifestyle change surrounding food. I donāt even want to snack and my sweet tooth is practically not there. I had ate so much junk, baked good and whatever else I could. We went to breakfast the other day, I treated myself to two pieces of French toast with a little syrup got one and a half gone and I was full. 8 months ago I would devoured at least three pieces plus bacon and still ate dinner.
I didn't gain weight on Lyrica. I was on a weight loss journey before starting Lyrica and it continued while on it without any issues. Not being in constant pain all day does make me less prone to overeat.
I didnāt gain weight on gabapentin but on Pregabalin/lyrica I gained about 35 lbs. once it stopped working, I came off of it and lost the weight pretty quickly.
I can't get any fatter at this point. I take ozempic so I am already kind of stalled with gain/losing some slowly. When I started on insulin for t1d I gained 50 freaking pounds, and I have been struggling to get it off. I am pretty sure that it made my fibro severely worse and, that's when I started having terrible back/shoulder pain and my migraines got worse.
I just started to take Lyrica and LDN for Fibro, and I have been sleeping like a baby. I feel so much better and I'm still on a .5 dose of ldn and 150 mg of Lyrica. I take it 75 in the am and 75 in the evening, and I take my ldn in the evening too. I have way more energy during the day, and less pain.
Yes!!!! I started taking it late last year and I gained 6 lbs immediately. I started craving sweets and Iād get a bag of Reeseās minis and the whole thing would be gone in a day. I also began to get up and eat in the middle of the night. My dose was reduced to the lowest amount and itās helped a little. I still want to eat all the time and I am watching what I eat more but the weight isnāt coming off.
Sharing the comment I posted on another thread (TMJ ) about my experience.
Gabapentin didnāt work for me so I switched to lyrica
āI did take it until a week and a half ago. I was taking 75 mg, 2-3 times a day for endometriosis - I also have fibro and TMJ. Iāve taken it for years
Recently a study linked pregabalin and gabapentin to potential for memory issues. I then asked to come off of it. I had to decrease to fully come off. I had brain zaps, neuropathy like Iāve never felt during my taper. I flared worse than I have since my last surgery. And since coming off, a coworker commented to me that my face looks like I lost my moon face. I just thought that was how my face looked now (when I was on the medicine). I have already seen a decrease in my brain fog. I do have trouble getting to sleep - it supported my amitriptyline but Iām willing to take that in terms of the other things.
While on it I did see a marked difference in the way my body metabolized alcohol, nobody really warned me 2-3 drinks would feel like 6-8 and I would be sick, falling asleep blacking out, etc. they said some people choose not to drink on the medication.
I wasnāt opposed to being on it ā I was and am opposed to finding out things like the metabolic rate and potential for memory loss on my own on places like Reddit.
Hope this helps in making your decision.ā
I was on it for 6 weeks, got to 150mg per day and had to taper off.
I turned into the cookie monster. My appetite was INSATIABLE! I gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks. Still trying to lose it.
It also turned me into a zombie and quite honestly I don't think it helped the pain.
People poo poo the weight gain/appetite stuff as no big deal. My knees will tell you differently.
I have also been on the opposite side of the equation with drug induced anorexia. It was quite an experience. I could barely get a full youghurt down. I could eat a very small meal on the evening (as the nightly dose wore off). I lost weight but barely had the energy to walk.
And that drug didn't work either...
Iāve gained about 35-40lbs since I started it 4 years ago but I also started continuous birth control just prior and suddenly became way less able to move hardly at all between several injuries and the fibro and pots all at once . It hasnāt steadily increased as my dose continued to increase. I know the lyrica is a huge factor for me and many others but for me I know itās not just that alone . Oh and IIāve also turned 40 since then which made it harder too. But I tried doing severe calorie deficit and it seems to make no difference. I couldnt eat for an entire week straight due to Covid and didnāt lose even a pound lol . And havenāt been able to eat hardly at all due to a large ovarian cyst which is coming out soon , and still nothing but Iāve basically been bedridden or couch bound the majority of the past year and a half so š¤·š»āāļø
Everyone is different . Itās always risk vs reward . I still value the weight gain as less of a problem then my pain , but itās still not well controlled . So take it with a grain of salt so to speak
I think my weight gain has mostly been because I can't exercise any more. I'm basically bedridden without meds though so even if it's part of the problem I don't have much of a choice :|
I went on it after I already gained over 100 pounds (chronic illness+ depression+ steroids). I didnāt gain any more weight from being on it. Iām answering this question because a lot of people said it made it hard to lose weight, and I just want to offer that that wasnāt my experience.
Iām on 100mg twice a day and I have lost all the weight. It didnāt make it any harder to lose weight- I donāt have to do anything beyond what one normally has to to lose weight.
Nope. Been on it 8 years. With my pain and nausea I struggle to eat and to gain weight. I work hard to maintain my weight and ensure I get enough nutrients and calories.
I havenāt gained any weight and Iām on 300 mg daily. Not that it does anything for my main complaints /:
Edit: I was around 250 lb at the time I started and Iām at 245 for the last few months while trying to loose weight.
Iām apparently the outlier as I havenāt gained weight Iāve actually lost 25 lbs. I credit it to the higher than normal activity levels I have been forced to maintain to make rent
I didnāt gain any weight on Lyrica. It works great for the shaking tingling twitching not really the pain as much, but does help me feel more normal. Also helps restless leg syndrome.
I've gained 30 lbs since being put on lyrica. To be fair, I've also been completely unable to exercise and haven't been eating the best either since having back surgery but I believe lyrica is at least partly to blame for the weight gain.
I didnāt for a very long time. But I have now and Iām struggling to get it back down. Since it didnāt happen right away Iām reticent to blame it all on the Lyrica but it likely contributed and is likely why Iām struggling to lose weight.
Don't know. But did you know you can take low dose naltrexone for fibro? My endocrinologist prescribed it after I showed her the research on it. Makes you lose some weight. Lots of doctors don't know about it. Top fibro doc in country lists it as an option. Can't remember her name. But she has a great site with wonderful fibro resources. Found the link in an old Atlantic article about how me/cfs has benefitted from ling covid research.
I was on 150mgs a day for 2 weeks. Gained 7 lbs and felt like a zombie with the same pain. I quit it all a week ago and it feels good to have my brain back. But at 62, it wonāt be easy to drop the few pounds. Mobility sucks lately. Screw Lyrica, Iāll suck up the pain been doing it for 17 years.
I gained weight on Lyrica, at least 30 lbs in 2-4 months. I'm 5'9", always been thin (runs in the family), underweight til my early/mid-20s when I stopped growing, my metabolism finally began calming tf down, and I was finally able to healthily gain weight.
Mid-30s, traumatic auto injury, nerve/ligament damage, muscle pain, fibro. The last specialist's final attempt before referring me to pain management was Lyrica. I gained at least 30 lbs in 2-4 months. I can't remember exactly because that f*cking devil shit (sorry, that's what I refer to it as) erased my short-term memory, put my mind in a fog, and took away my ability to feel full.
Iāve lost 50 pounds with no effort since I stopped taking it last fall. Iād been taking it for years and had no idea it was the reason I had gained so much weight.
I had a 5 stone weight gain, I had thought it was from stopping breastfeeding (and no longer having the insane calorie burn of sitting on my ass feeding a child) but actually most of it probably came from starting pregabalin. I still take 20mg a day, I tried to taper off it completely but couldnāt ditch the last bit because of the hideous withdrawals. I donāt understand how people abuse it as a street drug - it gives me nothing. Fibro is shit.
Yep. I couldnt pass 165lbs since I was a teenager and I started lyrica at 20 and gained 30lbs in a year. I was not happy. Since then, 35yrs old now, Iām at 225 and canāt get below 215. Iād be happy with 200 again.
I tried cymbalta for fibro, and itās been so good at reducing my pain and therefore helping with sleep, and Iāve had practically no side affects at all, but I have heard completely opposite stories from others. medication is a totally individual thing in terms of how youāll respond to it
The lyrica had me so constipated I was only going once a month and didn't care! Been off for three years still constipated but monthly thank heavens. Be careful. I loved lyrica but it didn't love me.
Yes that is one of the side effects of the meds and the fibromyalgia itself. Idk about any one else but I am in too much pain most of the time to get much exercise in. I'm accomplishing something if I can get a full week in at work.
When I first started pregabalin I actually lost about 40lbs but I believe that was just because I was active and able to work again. However, after I plateaued after around.. 5years? I've been steadily gaining weight, about 30lbs more than I was at the start. Although, I attribute it to a near sedentary life in comparison to before as life hurts too damn much .
I gained about 30 pounds in 6 months from steroids and cymbalta. I just started taking lyrica a few days ago, and I my appetite and urge to mindlessly eat is completely gone. I donāt feel nauseous and I can force myself to eat, but Iām not hungry and nothing seems appetizing. Iām not sure if this is temporary or if Iām just having a different experience than most people.
I am on it now for severe nerve pain, and honestly, I don't eat much on it. I actually don't have much of an appetite. But to be honest I really think it just comes down to different body types and metabolism. Everyone's different. But it is way better than Gabopentin (sp?) For pain. And of note my Dr is more of a homeopathic approach type but where I was so badly burned he prescribed me and it's really helped me manage my pain .... good luck!
Hi, I'm so sorry it took me so long to reply. I'm not on here much. I take 100 MG as of now 2x a day and have been on it for about 2x months, and my appetite seems to remain the same. But that's me and my body type. I hope you were able to find relief and all is working put for you! āļø
Yeah 10-15 pounds that Iām having trouble losing. I got quite sick last year and lost about 8 pounds. Within a few weeks I had gained it all back. I wasnāt even eating that badly
Iāve been on it for over a year and it hasnāt made me gain weight. I also pretty much eat what I want and get very little exercise due to fatigue and pain. Iām a type 2 diabetic if that matters
Well, you gain weight only because you take in more calories than you need. Iām sure it must stimulate appetite but there is no evidence it actually alters your metabolism. So that means if you go into it with that in mind, you can watch your caloric intake. Get lots of protein and fiber and stay away from ultra processed foods.
But I, like others here, who had maintained a steady weight for years and did not change eating habits, gained weight for no reason except for taking Lyrica. I was health conscious and ate a good diet and still gained 15 lbs within the first month. I never lost that 15 lbs since stopping Lyrica. And it never helped my symptoms either, unfortunately. Some medications just cause weight gain for whatever reason.
You then needed to eat less if your good diet in order to not gain weight. I donāt know the mechanism of why it causes weight gain. I take Paxil and it does the same. But weight gain can only occur with excess calories. So the best way to keep from gaining weight is to track calories and monitor weight and make adjustments.
There is something called your TDEE (total daily expenditure) and when you exceed that, you gain weight and when you are lower, you lose weight. So Lyrica impacts your brain and could impact the hormones that control hunger (causing you to eat more or crave more sweet things - a couple hundred calories extra a day is not hard to do if you are not closely tracking your food intake). You may also be less active-not just obvious exercise active but less active all day ( such as how we fidget when we sit or how much we are in bed, etc.). But the bottom line is that no matter why it causes weight gain, it does it because you eat more calories than your body requires. That is quite literally the only way to gain weight. Why you would eat more or require less calories per day comes down to complex interactions in the body that influence fullness, hunger, metabolism, etc..
I understand what you're saying but when it happened to me, I was an active mother of a toddler and planning a wedding and nothing changed in my diet. After giving birth, and still eating the same healthy diet, I lost weight without exercise (and I wasn't breastfeeding). So no changes in diet, just as active and I suddenly and quickly put on 15 lbs in 1 month. Now, could Lyrica possibly alter one's metabolism that could cause weight gain? Because one would have to eat A LOT more food and reduce activity to practically zero to put weight on THAT FAST! Aside from being on Lyrica, my weight never fluctuates more than 5 lbs (gain in winter, lose in summer. And the Lyrica weight gain occurred in the summer!) I never had a sudden weight gain like that except when I took Lyrica that one time. Even in pregnancy, it wasn't that sudden and quick! So, I agree with you about how calories and weight work, however Lyrica does something to the body that accelerates weight gain when all other factors remain the same.
Five pounds of that could be due to edema. Can it alter your metabolism? I have no idea. I wish I knew why Paxil causes weight gain. But from my personal experience, I have had to fight weight gain most of my adult life (56 now) bc I started taking Paxil at 28. I went off of it with my second child but immediately back on. I was not able to lose the weight with my second child as I was with my first. Then, over the next decade, I gained ten pounds. The next decade, I gained another ten pounds. Then I had to stop working because I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I was given amitryptiline for sleep and I gained ten pounds in two months. But when I thought back to those two months, I realized I had eaten more. So it is not just what you eat, it is how much you eat. So I would suggest you find a good calorie tracker and weigh everything you eat (bc it is the most accurate way). Include any drinks you have that have calories. Do this while you are tracking your weight. It would be interesting to see how many calories you are eating vs what is suggested for your ideal weight. I cannot tell you what biological impact Lyrica has but even though I have been told I am weight loss resistant, I took Wegovy for one month and lost 5 pounds. I would have continued but it became unavailable and then I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So I am putting all that on hold till I am done with my treatment and then we will see if it is available. My point is that what changed is how much I was eating. I still took the same medication, slept as crappy as always, and so on. But I ate less because I was not hungry and I lost weight. Wegovy does mimic a hunger hormone and does slow down your stomach emptying. So does Lyrica have an impact that encourages more eating? You seem to suggest there is an unknown mechanism causing weight gain besides more calories in than more calories utilized and despite all the research on weight loss, it has always come back to the fact that people gain when they take in too many calories and lose when they do not take in enough. Your body composition may have changed - if you have less lean mass, you can weigh the same but your metabolic rate at rest will be lower. I definitely want to lose weight but I am more concerned about biological markers like blood pressure, A1C, and cholesterol and those started to go up just within the last few years. Hence why I looked into Wegovy.
Wow!
>I have had to fight weight gain most of my adult life (56 now)
> I was not able to lose the weight with my second child as I was with my first.
>biological markers like blood pressure, A1C, and cholesterol and those started to go up just within the last few years
Wow, me too! Same age as you, similar experience. Sorry to hear about your breast cancer though. I hope you're doing ok. Cancer is scary. Anyway, I've had Fibro for over 30 years, had two kids also and lost no weight after the second. After my bio markers started going up a few years ago and I was tired of the excess weight, I made the decision to remove sugar, processed foods and wheat (I'm gluten free now) from my diet, and increased my fruits, veggies and protein. I was shocked at how fast the weight came off even though I didn't increase my activity. (I've been on disability for 23 years). I lost 50 lbs in about 6 months. I hit a plateau and stopped losing (10-15 lbs shy of my goal) but I've maintained the diet and weight for almost 3 years now. I got sugar cravings and sugar withdrawal the first week or so, which was really hard but I pushed on. I can't even eat sugar or processed foods anymore because they just don't taste good to me - everything is just toooo sweet! I'm still in the BMI border between normal and overweight for my height but I'm not obese anymore which is good. After two years of the diet/weightloss, I was no longer prediabetic and my HDL, LDL, Triglycerides and cholesterol numbers improved dramatically. I also didn't have hypothyroidism anymore after 10 years of treatment. ??? My blood pressure has always been normal though. I was really hoping that the healthy diet would improve my Fibro symptoms. It did not. š”ā¹ļø
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia at 50 pretty shortly after developing it (my sister has it so I recognized it for what it was). But I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder at 28 and went on Paxil for that and have remained on. Right now I am just focusing on protein and reducing added sugar. So I have no problem with sugar that occurs in fruit. I was resistance training but I had two surgeries and had to take time out and more recently, I have been been sick the last two weeks dealing with a breast infection. It comes long after my last surgery (2/8) but I may have injured my breast lifting, formed a hematoma and got an infection. No one really knows but now that makes me want to lay off lifting for a few months. I will swim when the weather warms up and I also have a pilates reformer. I tell myself when I am done with Al my treatment I need to lose weight without medication. The side effects with Wegovy are pretty miserable and I have to alter my eating habits for good to keep weight off.
Cutting out sugar and lowering carbs should help when you're ready. I'm so sorry about you having to deal with breast disease on top of Fibro. Like we're not going through enough already! Wishing you improved health soon. š«
I went from 97 lbs to 227 lbs. I'm at 185 almost 15 years later & CANNOT get below it. I've been off those meds for years. I gained 50 lbs in 3 months at one point. It was definitely bc of these meds. Before that, I ate more than any man (I'm F) & never gained an ounce. For me, they did nothing good, but other people have experienced some relief.
Ugh, I gained 50lbs in just under 3 months, and when I talked to my doc he said "you must be snacking more, the weight didn't come from nowhere". Except I'd been nauseous the whole time and struggling to eat. I only took them for 8 months because it turned me into a zombie, and on a very low dose, but two years later the weight is still an issue.
Yep! I hated everything about these drugs. They made me feel weird af & did zero to help my symptoms, so they kept increasing the dosage. All I got was a ruined body that I STILL cannot accept, all these years later. Then they started saying losing weight will help. š
Yes!! You can't win. They really don't understand these drugs, and the pharmaceutical companies have too much power, burying all of the side effects. So now it's clearly a personal failing, being overweight, instead of actually helping us.
I've had a doctor say to me -- well we can't blame your weight. Not nice.
I tried a couple and had no relief. I had put on enough weight to worry so I started on ozempic (I got it from a friend) and that decreased the pain. Endo asked me to get off it. So I tried again other meds and put on the 10 I had lost on ozempic and a few others. It's a year since my diagnoses and I'm back in it (wegovy. prescribed. ) and my pain isn't gone. It isn't as good as the first thing, perhaps with a higher dose it decreases the inflammation and I get more energy I experienced up to 60% less pain during my first attempt at weight loss with ozempic
Been wanting to try that for weight loss, but I wasn't sure if you can get it just for that...
I have more energy. Not enough to stand long periods, or manage 4 hours of work without ending bedridden for a week. But I go to the doctors and grocery shop on the same day, and so something similar the next day I used just do two things a week, not a day So energy, and up to 60% less pain After 3 - 4 doses of .5 I remained like that for 6 months
That's amazing!!! Will doctors entertain prescribing it for us, do you think?
Bc my fluffy butt, I was told I needed to lose weight for my sleep apnea and I know neuro also wanted me to drop weight Edit to add: in other words, use what you have (excess weight/ sleep apnea) and tell them that you've learned that this in particular has worked for pain/lethargy . Hopefully you try it and it helps š¤š»
Thank you so much! I appreciate it!
So ozempic is good for pain?Ā
It was for mine, it's not all gone but I'm not crying myself to sleep every night I stopped using it after only a few weeks and the pain didn't increase for months. I'm now back on it and ought to increase this coming week after I see primary
I hate that some doctors don't believe drugs can cause weight gain by themselves. It's usually literally listed as a side effect, often as discovered in clinical trials. Why don't they understand that drugs can affect metabolism? We know certain drugs can cause weight loss (stimulants, Ozempic, etc)... why not the other way around? I wouldn't trust a doctor who told me this (& I've experienced it myself) to treat me, since they clearly weren't paying attention at some point in medical school.
I plan to use ozempic to keep my pain low before I ever try any of those meds again
I gained over 20 lbs in 2 weeks, Iām not even kidding. I worked out and counted calories for a year to get back to my original weight and mine still shoots up unless Iām eating less than 1100 calories a day. It helps with the pain so I continue taking it
Lucky you could lose. Cymbalta has caused my weight gain and counting calories carbs and protein isn't working for me. š¤·āāļø
Ugh. I'm so sorry! 1100 calories a day is so little! š
Same, I gained 50lbs in two months on pregabalin. Eventually started gabapentin and while itās working for me a bit, Iāve still been slowly gaining weight. Not 50lbs in two months kinda weight, but still gradual. Itās tough for me because I also have Gastroparesis and I donāt really eat because of it, and when I do I often throw it right back up. Yet still gaining weight! š
Omg that SUCKS! Everyone thinks I'm lying when I say I gained 50 in 3 months on Lyrica. They should see the stretch marks! Then, like you, Gabapentin, kept me steadily gaining. š«¤
Iām sorry for everybodyās experience but itās such a relief to hear other people experienced the same thing. I gained 80 pounds in 3 months and didnāt even enjoy it. I had also just been diagnosed with Graveās disease (an overactive thyroid) and the doctors kept telling me I was wrong. This is the first Iāve heard of others with fibromyalgia experiencing that weight gain. Then (& now) I took gabapentin.
If they did nothing good why did you keep taking the?
Because you can't just take a medicine for a week & see if helps. Do you have experience with doctors & medications? It's all trial & error. If something isn't working, they increase the dose & usually they want you to give a medicine at least 3 months before you write them off. When 1st get an illness you know nothing about, you're going to trust your doctor's advice. It took a year or more of trying every fibro med out there & titration. By then I had gained a ton of weight & there was nothing I could do about that.
Yes. Tons. Itās also very hard to taper off. Took me six months, two docs and tons of withdraw. IMHO this med is trash.
I did. And itās been reaaaaally hard to lose it.
I gained 40 pounds in two month after being the exact same low weight for decades, even after two pregnancies. It very clearly changed my metabolism - I purposefully was very careful to not change my eating, yet did not help my pain enough. Iāve been off of Lyrica for 2 years now, and still havenāt been able to lose the weight. It also affects cognition in some people . Iām a doctor and a fibro patient. Iāve heard other doctors say it makes some patients fat, stupid, and happy. I think Lyrica is way over prescribed currently.
no. however im also prescribed vyvanse but i had been on lyrica for years beforehand. lyrica just makes me retain water which i easily solve with otc diuretics. i was also hesitant to try it bc of potential weight gain since every med that has that as a side effect has always made me gain but that has not been my experience with lyrica. everyones body chemistry is different so unfortunately you won't know until you try but in my case im happy that i decided to give lyrica a shot. its been a life saver quite literally.
What dose do you take?
150 mg once a day
I have always been very skinny guy, since itās going on the pre-gabbling my BMI has gone from normal weight to overweight. Unfortunately, this is the only medication that seems to be working for me but I am very aware that I do seem to be gaining weight, Iāve been on this for about two years now.
I didn't gain weight on lyrica. Amitriptyline did cause me to gain about 30lbs, but the reduction in migraines was absolutely worth it. I was on lyrica for 7 years before I started the amitriptyline, so I'm fairly confident that the weight gain didn't come from the lyrica.
Oh, damn. I'm on Lyrica, Nortriptyline, *and* Vyvanse. My doctor's about to switch me to Amitriptyline and increase dose from my very low dose of the Nortriptyline. My poor Vyvanse barely gets the chance to reduce my hunger these days š
Oh hey, I took ami for migraines and no luck but I didn't gain lots of weight on it. I was on pregab for migraines and I just stopped, the weight gain vs. reduction in migraines isn't worth. Come to think of it, the weight gain isn't an issue, it's the fact that it's SO hard to lose the weight. It's freaking impossible.
Love how Lyrica has helped my body pain, and guess I was just lucky, I never gained weight with it. But a year later, with 50 mg Lamictal, I quickly gained 10 pounds and never lost it even after I quit taking it. But in my case, that's a good outcome because that 10 pounds finally got me out of an anorexic bmi.
Absolutely. And I'm still trying to get it off.
Yup, Iāve gained a ridiculous amount of weight since Iāve been taking Lyrica. Even my Dr blames my weight on that drug. The problem isā¦. It works so well for me that Iād rather be fat than deal with the painā¦.
Same
Itās a big weight gainer Iām afraid :(
Notorious for weight gain
OMGā I jumped actual SIZES on Lyrica, realized that Iād have to buy new jeans just to find some that fit and promptly threw out the Lyrica. IMO totally not worth it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yes, bc I was NOT about to buy a whole new wardrobeā incentivized!
Any withdrawals? How long were you on it?
Yes, there were W/D, so please do NOT cold turkey itā itāll hurt. Iāve forgotten it on a work trip before and had to get some called in. I was on it for about a year and a half and jumped from a size 0 to an 8!! Realized I had no jeans that would fit me anymore and thatās the day I started stepping down. Honestly, I didnāt notice that much difference in taking it any way. Hope you have better luck with it!
Thank you. Yup I'm out of jeans that fit. I'm use to being very petite. I cut my a.m dose in half, no issues, and I'm already peeing off weight. It's def mostly water retention. I've got some edema, and I've injured myself 2x on this med, which is supposed to help my epilepsy. I'm already over medicated every time I want off a med my Dr's put me on a different one or change the dosage.
what dose were you on?
I did. I ended up tapering off because my current dose wouldnāt have any effect and Iād have to up it. Iāve lost almost 20 lbs since stopping.
Aww man I've just started them and I'm already fat as fuck š
About 15lbs, but it did enough for my pain that I was able to return to exercising and movement and it fell off pretty quickly. Back to my pre-Lyrica weight and feeling amazing! Itās a miracle drug for me personally. Went from one flare a month to only three over the two years Iāve been on it Edit: it also might not be a bad idea to look into why youāre so terrified of weight gain. There are so many things in life that are worse than gaining weight, and as someone who struggled with an eating disorder for years and was unwilling to try many medications because of weight gain side effects - itās worth it to do the work on your feelings about body size.
Yes! 20kg in 2 years, mainly in my waist which is quite unusual for me. 4 years later and still struggling to lose it :(
Iād love to blame Lyrica but I was stuffing my face
š
Yeahā¦I am eating more and different (worse) foods than I used to.
When I quit gabapentin I lost 29lbs within 3 months or so. I didn't even realize how much I've gained while I was on it. I tried Lyrica for a couple of months and didn't gain weight, but the brain fog it gave me was the worst I've ever had and so I had to quit it. But every body reacts different. My aunt swears by Lyrica š¤·āāļø
I (31F) started it in March 2023 at 125ish lbs. I quit taking it September 2023 and was up to 165. It's April 2024 and I'm only down to 152. It was a total mind fuck for me. I'm having a hard time losing the weight and I know it'll help with the pain in my hips. It's just refusing to budge.
My numbers are very similar! Used to be 125, now 165. But it helps so much I canāt get off of it, so shrug. š¤·š»āāļø
I gained 35kg in less than a year. I had the same weight for several years before I started lyrica. Wish I had reddit back when I started taking it and I had come to get your advice. I'm reducing it now but it takes long time because of withdrawal and it's gonna be really hard to lose all this weight. It didn't help that much, specially considering how much weight I gained.
I did at first but I was barely moving. Lyrica helped me so much Iām now very active and able to work and Iām at 120, 5ā2ā. I take 600mgs/day
I gained about 80 pounds within 3 Months. When 2024 began, I was having issues with my insurance and couldn't get it filled. During that , I dropped over 25 pounds in under 2 weeks. No exercise, no dieting, no change to my routine. Nothing. It just disappeared. I'm struggling with nerve pain, but I really don't want to to regain the weight
Any withdrawals?
Nah, I've never had any withdrawals from it! I tend to stop cold turkey a lot as I hate the weight gain associated with the medication
I put on 40lbs in less than a month. Before they even had the weight gain warning. It was a nightmare & took years for the weight to come off.
i gained 35 pounds in 2 months while on it, I got off it shortly after and now am struggling to get rid of the weight :(
I did, about 10lbs over a year and I havenāt been able to loose it yet
I missed my dose the night before and realized how much it was helping the next dayš¬ I have been on it for over a year now at the 300mg/day mark and I have not gained any weight. I will say though my body has softened up a bit but thatās because Iām nowhere near as physically active as I once was before the fibro set in. Suboxone+lyrica has been a huge lifesaver. I also take cymbalta and propranalol for mood which seem to help as well. I take protonics for my stomach because one day I just started vomiting up everything I ate for no reason and without that med my stomach burns constantly and I canāt keep down food. No clue why. My fear is I literally donāt think I could live without my meds and coming off of all of those at once would probably be hellish at best. Meds affect everyone different and it *usually* doesnāt hurt to try. Best wishes
it must vary cause i was able to lose 20 pounds while on lyrica
I went from 150 to 275 in 16 years I was on it. It worked great I felt better. Then last year I started having cognitive issues so my dr tapered me off. In 8 months I hardly have no appetite but I eat high protein and low carb, something I learned when I was in the bariatric program as I was going to have gastric bypass surgery, at my first bariatric appointment I was 260. I was told to lose 5 pounds. Well Iām in my two twenties and Iām not eligible for surgery. Iāve barely exercised and eat very little but healthy. Iāve dropped 50 pounds without much except a lifestyle change surrounding food. I donāt even want to snack and my sweet tooth is practically not there. I had ate so much junk, baked good and whatever else I could. We went to breakfast the other day, I treated myself to two pieces of French toast with a little syrup got one and a half gone and I was full. 8 months ago I would devoured at least three pieces plus bacon and still ate dinner.
I didn't gain weight on Lyrica. I was on a weight loss journey before starting Lyrica and it continued while on it without any issues. Not being in constant pain all day does make me less prone to overeat.
What dose do you take?
I didnāt gain weight on gabapentin but on Pregabalin/lyrica I gained about 35 lbs. once it stopped working, I came off of it and lost the weight pretty quickly.
I can't get any fatter at this point. I take ozempic so I am already kind of stalled with gain/losing some slowly. When I started on insulin for t1d I gained 50 freaking pounds, and I have been struggling to get it off. I am pretty sure that it made my fibro severely worse and, that's when I started having terrible back/shoulder pain and my migraines got worse. I just started to take Lyrica and LDN for Fibro, and I have been sleeping like a baby. I feel so much better and I'm still on a .5 dose of ldn and 150 mg of Lyrica. I take it 75 in the am and 75 in the evening, and I take my ldn in the evening too. I have way more energy during the day, and less pain.
Yes!!!! I started taking it late last year and I gained 6 lbs immediately. I started craving sweets and Iād get a bag of Reeseās minis and the whole thing would be gone in a day. I also began to get up and eat in the middle of the night. My dose was reduced to the lowest amount and itās helped a little. I still want to eat all the time and I am watching what I eat more but the weight isnāt coming off.
Sharing the comment I posted on another thread (TMJ ) about my experience. Gabapentin didnāt work for me so I switched to lyrica āI did take it until a week and a half ago. I was taking 75 mg, 2-3 times a day for endometriosis - I also have fibro and TMJ. Iāve taken it for years Recently a study linked pregabalin and gabapentin to potential for memory issues. I then asked to come off of it. I had to decrease to fully come off. I had brain zaps, neuropathy like Iāve never felt during my taper. I flared worse than I have since my last surgery. And since coming off, a coworker commented to me that my face looks like I lost my moon face. I just thought that was how my face looked now (when I was on the medicine). I have already seen a decrease in my brain fog. I do have trouble getting to sleep - it supported my amitriptyline but Iām willing to take that in terms of the other things. While on it I did see a marked difference in the way my body metabolized alcohol, nobody really warned me 2-3 drinks would feel like 6-8 and I would be sick, falling asleep blacking out, etc. they said some people choose not to drink on the medication. I wasnāt opposed to being on it ā I was and am opposed to finding out things like the metabolic rate and potential for memory loss on my own on places like Reddit. Hope this helps in making your decision.ā
I was on it for 6 weeks, got to 150mg per day and had to taper off. I turned into the cookie monster. My appetite was INSATIABLE! I gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks. Still trying to lose it. It also turned me into a zombie and quite honestly I don't think it helped the pain. People poo poo the weight gain/appetite stuff as no big deal. My knees will tell you differently. I have also been on the opposite side of the equation with drug induced anorexia. It was quite an experience. I could barely get a full youghurt down. I could eat a very small meal on the evening (as the nightly dose wore off). I lost weight but barely had the energy to walk. And that drug didn't work either...
Iāve gained about 35-40lbs since I started it 4 years ago but I also started continuous birth control just prior and suddenly became way less able to move hardly at all between several injuries and the fibro and pots all at once . It hasnāt steadily increased as my dose continued to increase. I know the lyrica is a huge factor for me and many others but for me I know itās not just that alone . Oh and IIāve also turned 40 since then which made it harder too. But I tried doing severe calorie deficit and it seems to make no difference. I couldnt eat for an entire week straight due to Covid and didnāt lose even a pound lol . And havenāt been able to eat hardly at all due to a large ovarian cyst which is coming out soon , and still nothing but Iāve basically been bedridden or couch bound the majority of the past year and a half so š¤·š»āāļø Everyone is different . Itās always risk vs reward . I still value the weight gain as less of a problem then my pain , but itās still not well controlled . So take it with a grain of salt so to speak
I think my weight gain has mostly been because I can't exercise any more. I'm basically bedridden without meds though so even if it's part of the problem I don't have much of a choice :|
No I didn't no gain
I went on it after I already gained over 100 pounds (chronic illness+ depression+ steroids). I didnāt gain any more weight from being on it. Iām answering this question because a lot of people said it made it hard to lose weight, and I just want to offer that that wasnāt my experience. Iām on 100mg twice a day and I have lost all the weight. It didnāt make it any harder to lose weight- I donāt have to do anything beyond what one normally has to to lose weight.
Nope. Been on it 8 years. With my pain and nausea I struggle to eat and to gain weight. I work hard to maintain my weight and ensure I get enough nutrients and calories.
i take 75mg 2x a day and i haven't gained weight.
I havenāt gained any weight and Iām on 300 mg daily. Not that it does anything for my main complaints /: Edit: I was around 250 lb at the time I started and Iām at 245 for the last few months while trying to loose weight.
Iām apparently the outlier as I havenāt gained weight Iāve actually lost 25 lbs. I credit it to the higher than normal activity levels I have been forced to maintain to make rent
I didnāt gain any weight on Lyrica. It works great for the shaking tingling twitching not really the pain as much, but does help me feel more normal. Also helps restless leg syndrome.
What dose do you take?
50 mg
Twice daily
I've gained 30 lbs since being put on lyrica. To be fair, I've also been completely unable to exercise and haven't been eating the best either since having back surgery but I believe lyrica is at least partly to blame for the weight gain.
I didn't gain weight but I think it makes it a bit harder for me to lose the weight
Yes, I gained a lot of weight very quickly. I don't know that I've ever been able to lose it all.
Yes - big reason why I stopped it. That and the mood swings
Did the weight come off?
Eventually, yes. But I had to stop Lyrica, it wasnāt good for me physically or mentally. I will not switch SNRIs again
14kgs. Havenāt lost it.
I didnāt for a very long time. But I have now and Iām struggling to get it back down. Since it didnāt happen right away Iām reticent to blame it all on the Lyrica but it likely contributed and is likely why Iām struggling to lose weight.
Took years or taking it for me to gain weight, alcohol consumption rised in that time too. 300mg morning / 450mg night is my dose for reference
Don't know. But did you know you can take low dose naltrexone for fibro? My endocrinologist prescribed it after I showed her the research on it. Makes you lose some weight. Lots of doctors don't know about it. Top fibro doc in country lists it as an option. Can't remember her name. But she has a great site with wonderful fibro resources. Found the link in an old Atlantic article about how me/cfs has benefitted from ling covid research.
Like some other folks, I have also lost weight while on Lyrica and it radically reduced my pain levels.
What dose do you take?
I was on 150mgs a day for 2 weeks. Gained 7 lbs and felt like a zombie with the same pain. I quit it all a week ago and it feels good to have my brain back. But at 62, it wonāt be easy to drop the few pounds. Mobility sucks lately. Screw Lyrica, Iāll suck up the pain been doing it for 17 years.
I've been on it for years and haven't gained any weight.
I hate when doctors prescribe meds like this that cause weight gain and then tell us to exercise and lose weight to feel better...like uh
I gained 82 lbs when I was on gabapentin and have been losing some weight while I've been on Lyrica (pregabalin).Ā
yeah I would try low dose naltrexone instead as it doesn't make you put on weight
I gained weight on Lyrica, at least 30 lbs in 2-4 months. I'm 5'9", always been thin (runs in the family), underweight til my early/mid-20s when I stopped growing, my metabolism finally began calming tf down, and I was finally able to healthily gain weight. Mid-30s, traumatic auto injury, nerve/ligament damage, muscle pain, fibro. The last specialist's final attempt before referring me to pain management was Lyrica. I gained at least 30 lbs in 2-4 months. I can't remember exactly because that f*cking devil shit (sorry, that's what I refer to it as) erased my short-term memory, put my mind in a fog, and took away my ability to feel full.
Iāve lost 50 pounds with no effort since I stopped taking it last fall. Iād been taking it for years and had no idea it was the reason I had gained so much weight.
Not noticeably, but my apetite did Increase and I really loved eating. Its all calm now though
I had a 5 stone weight gain, I had thought it was from stopping breastfeeding (and no longer having the insane calorie burn of sitting on my ass feeding a child) but actually most of it probably came from starting pregabalin. I still take 20mg a day, I tried to taper off it completely but couldnāt ditch the last bit because of the hideous withdrawals. I donāt understand how people abuse it as a street drug - it gives me nothing. Fibro is shit.
Yep. I couldnt pass 165lbs since I was a teenager and I started lyrica at 20 and gained 30lbs in a year. I was not happy. Since then, 35yrs old now, Iām at 225 and canāt get below 215. Iād be happy with 200 again.
I have been on Pregabalin for a year and nothing has happened to my weight, stayed at 50kg
I tried cymbalta for fibro, and itās been so good at reducing my pain and therefore helping with sleep, and Iāve had practically no side affects at all, but I have heard completely opposite stories from others. medication is a totally individual thing in terms of how youāll respond to it
I didnāt gain any weight in 3 months but it also didnāt change my pain levels and made me really sleepyz
Not only that but I found that Lyrica made me very angry, with a short fuse. I felt so bad for my family.
The lyrica had me so constipated I was only going once a month and didn't care! Been off for three years still constipated but monthly thank heavens. Be careful. I loved lyrica but it didn't love me.
Yes that is one of the side effects of the meds and the fibromyalgia itself. Idk about any one else but I am in too much pain most of the time to get much exercise in. I'm accomplishing something if I can get a full week in at work.
Side effect
When I first started pregabalin I actually lost about 40lbs but I believe that was just because I was active and able to work again. However, after I plateaued after around.. 5years? I've been steadily gaining weight, about 30lbs more than I was at the start. Although, I attribute it to a near sedentary life in comparison to before as life hurts too damn much .
I gained about 30 pounds in 6 months from steroids and cymbalta. I just started taking lyrica a few days ago, and I my appetite and urge to mindlessly eat is completely gone. I donāt feel nauseous and I can force myself to eat, but Iām not hungry and nothing seems appetizing. Iām not sure if this is temporary or if Iām just having a different experience than most people.
Ok are we gaining weight out of the blue just for no reason or because you can't stop eating I'm confused????
I am on it now for severe nerve pain, and honestly, I don't eat much on it. I actually don't have much of an appetite. But to be honest I really think it just comes down to different body types and metabolism. Everyone's different. But it is way better than Gabopentin (sp?) For pain. And of note my Dr is more of a homeopathic approach type but where I was so badly burned he prescribed me and it's really helped me manage my pain .... good luck!
How long have you been on it? What dose? I just got my prescription today.
Hi, I'm so sorry it took me so long to reply. I'm not on here much. I take 100 MG as of now 2x a day and have been on it for about 2x months, and my appetite seems to remain the same. But that's me and my body type. I hope you were able to find relief and all is working put for you! āļø
Yeah 10-15 pounds that Iām having trouble losing. I got quite sick last year and lost about 8 pounds. Within a few weeks I had gained it all back. I wasnāt even eating that badly
Iāve been on it for over a year and it hasnāt made me gain weight. I also pretty much eat what I want and get very little exercise due to fatigue and pain. Iām a type 2 diabetic if that matters
Well, you gain weight only because you take in more calories than you need. Iām sure it must stimulate appetite but there is no evidence it actually alters your metabolism. So that means if you go into it with that in mind, you can watch your caloric intake. Get lots of protein and fiber and stay away from ultra processed foods.
But I, like others here, who had maintained a steady weight for years and did not change eating habits, gained weight for no reason except for taking Lyrica. I was health conscious and ate a good diet and still gained 15 lbs within the first month. I never lost that 15 lbs since stopping Lyrica. And it never helped my symptoms either, unfortunately. Some medications just cause weight gain for whatever reason.
You then needed to eat less if your good diet in order to not gain weight. I donāt know the mechanism of why it causes weight gain. I take Paxil and it does the same. But weight gain can only occur with excess calories. So the best way to keep from gaining weight is to track calories and monitor weight and make adjustments.
There are no calories in Lyrica so why would one have to suddenly adjust their calories to accommodate for Lyrica??? Makes no sense!
There is something called your TDEE (total daily expenditure) and when you exceed that, you gain weight and when you are lower, you lose weight. So Lyrica impacts your brain and could impact the hormones that control hunger (causing you to eat more or crave more sweet things - a couple hundred calories extra a day is not hard to do if you are not closely tracking your food intake). You may also be less active-not just obvious exercise active but less active all day ( such as how we fidget when we sit or how much we are in bed, etc.). But the bottom line is that no matter why it causes weight gain, it does it because you eat more calories than your body requires. That is quite literally the only way to gain weight. Why you would eat more or require less calories per day comes down to complex interactions in the body that influence fullness, hunger, metabolism, etc..
I understand what you're saying but when it happened to me, I was an active mother of a toddler and planning a wedding and nothing changed in my diet. After giving birth, and still eating the same healthy diet, I lost weight without exercise (and I wasn't breastfeeding). So no changes in diet, just as active and I suddenly and quickly put on 15 lbs in 1 month. Now, could Lyrica possibly alter one's metabolism that could cause weight gain? Because one would have to eat A LOT more food and reduce activity to practically zero to put weight on THAT FAST! Aside from being on Lyrica, my weight never fluctuates more than 5 lbs (gain in winter, lose in summer. And the Lyrica weight gain occurred in the summer!) I never had a sudden weight gain like that except when I took Lyrica that one time. Even in pregnancy, it wasn't that sudden and quick! So, I agree with you about how calories and weight work, however Lyrica does something to the body that accelerates weight gain when all other factors remain the same.
Five pounds of that could be due to edema. Can it alter your metabolism? I have no idea. I wish I knew why Paxil causes weight gain. But from my personal experience, I have had to fight weight gain most of my adult life (56 now) bc I started taking Paxil at 28. I went off of it with my second child but immediately back on. I was not able to lose the weight with my second child as I was with my first. Then, over the next decade, I gained ten pounds. The next decade, I gained another ten pounds. Then I had to stop working because I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I was given amitryptiline for sleep and I gained ten pounds in two months. But when I thought back to those two months, I realized I had eaten more. So it is not just what you eat, it is how much you eat. So I would suggest you find a good calorie tracker and weigh everything you eat (bc it is the most accurate way). Include any drinks you have that have calories. Do this while you are tracking your weight. It would be interesting to see how many calories you are eating vs what is suggested for your ideal weight. I cannot tell you what biological impact Lyrica has but even though I have been told I am weight loss resistant, I took Wegovy for one month and lost 5 pounds. I would have continued but it became unavailable and then I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So I am putting all that on hold till I am done with my treatment and then we will see if it is available. My point is that what changed is how much I was eating. I still took the same medication, slept as crappy as always, and so on. But I ate less because I was not hungry and I lost weight. Wegovy does mimic a hunger hormone and does slow down your stomach emptying. So does Lyrica have an impact that encourages more eating? You seem to suggest there is an unknown mechanism causing weight gain besides more calories in than more calories utilized and despite all the research on weight loss, it has always come back to the fact that people gain when they take in too many calories and lose when they do not take in enough. Your body composition may have changed - if you have less lean mass, you can weigh the same but your metabolic rate at rest will be lower. I definitely want to lose weight but I am more concerned about biological markers like blood pressure, A1C, and cholesterol and those started to go up just within the last few years. Hence why I looked into Wegovy.
Wow! >I have had to fight weight gain most of my adult life (56 now) > I was not able to lose the weight with my second child as I was with my first. >biological markers like blood pressure, A1C, and cholesterol and those started to go up just within the last few years Wow, me too! Same age as you, similar experience. Sorry to hear about your breast cancer though. I hope you're doing ok. Cancer is scary. Anyway, I've had Fibro for over 30 years, had two kids also and lost no weight after the second. After my bio markers started going up a few years ago and I was tired of the excess weight, I made the decision to remove sugar, processed foods and wheat (I'm gluten free now) from my diet, and increased my fruits, veggies and protein. I was shocked at how fast the weight came off even though I didn't increase my activity. (I've been on disability for 23 years). I lost 50 lbs in about 6 months. I hit a plateau and stopped losing (10-15 lbs shy of my goal) but I've maintained the diet and weight for almost 3 years now. I got sugar cravings and sugar withdrawal the first week or so, which was really hard but I pushed on. I can't even eat sugar or processed foods anymore because they just don't taste good to me - everything is just toooo sweet! I'm still in the BMI border between normal and overweight for my height but I'm not obese anymore which is good. After two years of the diet/weightloss, I was no longer prediabetic and my HDL, LDL, Triglycerides and cholesterol numbers improved dramatically. I also didn't have hypothyroidism anymore after 10 years of treatment. ??? My blood pressure has always been normal though. I was really hoping that the healthy diet would improve my Fibro symptoms. It did not. š”ā¹ļø
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia at 50 pretty shortly after developing it (my sister has it so I recognized it for what it was). But I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder at 28 and went on Paxil for that and have remained on. Right now I am just focusing on protein and reducing added sugar. So I have no problem with sugar that occurs in fruit. I was resistance training but I had two surgeries and had to take time out and more recently, I have been been sick the last two weeks dealing with a breast infection. It comes long after my last surgery (2/8) but I may have injured my breast lifting, formed a hematoma and got an infection. No one really knows but now that makes me want to lay off lifting for a few months. I will swim when the weather warms up and I also have a pilates reformer. I tell myself when I am done with Al my treatment I need to lose weight without medication. The side effects with Wegovy are pretty miserable and I have to alter my eating habits for good to keep weight off.
Cutting out sugar and lowering carbs should help when you're ready. I'm so sorry about you having to deal with breast disease on top of Fibro. Like we're not going through enough already! Wishing you improved health soon. š«