Help Too Much Weight Gain!!!

04-09-2007, 06:27 PM

HELLO, I WAS JUST STARTING A NEW THREAD ON THESE NERVE PILLS THAT MOST OF US ARE ON. I AM JUST PLAIN FED UP. STARTING OFF I WAS ON NEURONTIN AND GRADUALLY UPPED TO 600 MG 3XDAY, IT NEVER HELPED WITH THE NERVE PAIN. THEN 3 WEEKS AGO I STARTED LYRICA INITILLY 25MG AT NIGHT, THEN NOW 100MG 2XDAY. AT FIRST I TOUGHT I WAS CRAZY WHEN MY CLOTHED STARTED FITTING SMALLER AND SMALLER, BUT I WAS NOT. 2 WEEKS AGO I WAS 20LBS LIGHTER AND DURING THIS TIME I WAS STARTEING TO FEEL BETTER I GUESS BECAUSE OF THE ESI AND INCREASE IN LYRICA, WELL GUESS WHAT AS OF TODAY I AM 2OLBS HEAVIER. THE EASTER DRESS I BOUGHT IN THURSDAY FIT SO NICE, WHEN I PUT IT ON ON SUNDAY IT WAS TOO TIGHT. I JUST CANNOT BELIEVE I AM AS BIG AS I AM AND I HAVE NOT GONE OVERBOARD EATING AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO WALK. I JUST DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO, I WILL SEE MD ON WED. AND WILL ASK FOR TOPAMAX, I CANOT AFFORD TO GAIN ANY MORE WEIGHT AN I JUST KINDA WEENED MYSELF OFF THE LYRICA. SO FAR SINCE I INJURED MYSELF 4 MONTHS AGO I HAVE GAINED 30LBS. WAHT SHOULD I DO I AM ALREADY DOING A WALKING PROGRAM I AM FED UP AND I AM SCARED THAT THE NERVE PAIN WILL COME BACK REAL BAD AGAIN.
RACHEL

04-09-2007, 07:22 PM

My wife's sister is on a med that increases her appetite and weight. Her doctor has recently put her on meds to decrease her appetite.

I have had the opposite problem. My normal ht/wt is 5'!0" 177 lbs. When my back pain really kicked in, I lost 18 lbs. I've brought it back up to 170 by supplimenting my diet with a lot of carbs and candy. It really is strange how meds affect people coupled with our own unique metabolisms.

04-09-2007, 07:53 PM

kk, I am so sorry this is happening to you. I have been on this med for almost 3 weeks and fortunately have not had this side effect. I would definitely bring it up to your doctor.

Did it help you any?? So far, I have not noticed it helping me.

04-09-2007, 08:57 PM

hey pepper as far as the pain it did seem to help, but i do not know if it is part of the esi i had also. I hope you find some relief soon.

04-09-2007, 09:39 PM

I've gained about 35 pounds since my sept. fusion surgery. I was on Neurontin from July 2006 until Feb. 2007. The weight crept up a little before fusion surgery. After it is bad. I know I am eating more. I don't think it is the meds that make you gain. I think they make you eat more. I guess less activity doesn't help either.

04-09-2007, 10:13 PM

Ok this is news I didn’t need to hear after researching this med all day. My doctor today prescribed Lyrica 75mg 2x a day. I have just now been able to start losing the weight I have put on over the last 2 years. I don’t need anything else hindering my progress. I was on Lyrica a couple months before my surgery for a short time but it killed my “drive” and I can’t have that. So I don’t know what to do. I want to treat the nerve pain but I don’t want to gain weight or kill the “drive”. I know it’s different for each person and I can’t remember last time if I did gain weight. It’s coming down to treat the nerve pain and deal with the side effects or just deal with the pain...

*sigh*

04-12-2007, 05:31 PM

Just wanted to update you all on whats going on. I saw the doc yesterday and she wants to wean me off the lyrica, I suggested the topamax and I hope it works. Has anyone had good experience with topamax as far as nerve pain and weight loss. Thanks

04-12-2007, 10:49 PM

Hi

I have gained 2 stone since my back problems started 2 yrs ago!!

I have never been so heavy in my life!!!!

I take 1200mg Neurontin which i stared quite recently and just waitin to see if they make me even heavier!

I am not sure if just going on a diet is the answer as i have always been told you need to exercise with it!!

How do you do that when you have a back problem??

04-12-2007, 11:39 PM

Seems like a downward spiral, more upper body weight, more pressure on the lumbar discs, more pain, more meds, more weight gain.

Pain has made me inactive since Oct of '06 and I have gained 20lbs.
Sunday marked day 90 of no sodas for me and I have been tapering off the sugars and eating after 6 p.m.
Lots of water and green tea.
Seems like I am maintaining at 220 lbs. I am 5' 11".
I should also say I am not taking any kind of meds.

Sorry for the gains there Rach, you are not alone and I understand your frustration.

04-13-2007, 12:50 AM

It is a double edged sword. Help the pain but gain weight which makes the pain worse. I'm also going to mention to the dr. about Topomax (sp?). I want to reseach first. I like going in to the dr. sounding like I know what I am talking about. Makes them agree. I'm post gastric bypass so the weight gain is not good. I already had to have the opening repaired not from any fault of my own. They don't do that twice. Fought the insurance company a year until I won for them to pay. It's scary. I need the pain meds though. When I was weaned off the Gabapentin the pain was bad. Keep me updated. Sounds like we are in the same boat.

04-13-2007, 03:24 AM

KKmom I really don't know what to say to you apart from thank you. As this Lyrica stuff seems to show up on this back pain web site all the time. And alway with the same result that being weight gain. I know I don't want it as I'm 5'10" and I think 226 pound. I will keep well away from this stuff if we have it here in Australia. I hope that when you are weened off from it you get the results that you wanted. A great thread to have here. As there is no way I would have really thought about it until reading you'res. So once more thanks very much for puting it on here. All the best from the Tatman

04-13-2007, 05:52 AM

Hi KK, I was on Lyrica about a month after my fusion. I had lost weight prior to being on it. I gained about 20 pounds in 3 weeks on Lyrica and swelled up like a balloon. It works great on nerve pain and most likely works great for others. But I did not have a good reaction to it. I was taken off it and given Topamax. I have been taking that now for 2 months. The 20 pounds is gone and so is the swelling. I don't know how much the topamax worked for the weight, but has been working well for me for the nerve pain. I have been walking and eating 1200 - 1400 since then. I just understand where your frustration is coming from. Hang in there.

Rose

04-13-2007, 05:58 AM

[COLOR="Navy"]One of the side effects of Lyrica that they fail to mention is that it causes weight gain. And of course extra weight is not a good idea when you are trying to recover from back surgery and extra weight puts a stress on your back.

My pm doc. took me off of lyrica-slowly. You don't stop cold on that stuff. And is starting me on topapax, which is also used for weight management along with nerve pain control. I am only taking it in the evening this week, but can already see a difference in how my clothes are fitting...and I have less desire to "graze." I go back to him Monday so will see how much he ups the dose...[/COLOR]

04-13-2007, 08:07 AM

Wow thank you all for your responses. What interesting stories, I cant wait to see what happens with this stuff anf I will keep you all updated, Love you all thanks!

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