could it be the neurotin?? or the lamictal??

wishfullthinking79

So I have been doing a little research on my medications. Neurotin is really the only one I have done quite a bit of reading about. A lot people that were prescribed this medication have put on weight. I was not aware that this was a possible side effect. Now I have been taking this medication for a really long time so I do not know if it is fair for me to blame the weight gain on the meds. But I did find an old thread where a member was having trouble losing weight while on it. I just wanted to see if anyone else has had this proble

People have also had problems losing weight while on lamictal. COuld it be possible that this is just a fluke?? This is really the first time I have tried to lose a significant amount of weight while on these. I have noticed that I have been taking more of the neurotin than I use to. In the past I would always have lots of neurotin left over at the end of the month. I am prescribed to take it 3 times a day. I never did. Recently I have been taking it at least twice a day. I dont know.

soulofgrace

Not me. I used to blame neurontin, but my weight has been trending down since June 2015. The reason I used to blame neurontin was I read something about water retention. I do take a relatively low dose. I dont know how my dose compares to the people that report weight gain as a side effect. I have been taking it for about two years.

VintageFeline

I don't know of any medication that directly causes weight gain. They usually cause water retention, increased appetite or slight metabolic slowing which contributes to over-eating and thus gaining weight.

wishfullthinking79

soulofgrace wrote: »

Not me. I used to blame neurontin, but my weight has been trending down since June 2015. The reason I used to blame neurontin was I read something about water retention. I do take a relatively low dose. I dont know how my dose compares to the people that report weight gain as a side effect. I have been taking it for about two years.

Yeah I have been taking it for years. I do not think it is the culprit for the weight gain. I think it could be making it difficult for me to lose the weight. For 6 days I drank no cherry coke and eliminated sugar all together from my diet. I ate lean meat and barely any carbs. No change in weight.

VintageFeline

wishfullthinking79 wrote: »

soulofgrace wrote: »

Not me. I used to blame neurontin, but my weight has been trending down since June 2015. The reason I used to blame neurontin was I read something about water retention. I do take a relatively low dose. I dont know how my dose compares to the people that report weight gain as a side effect. I have been taking it for about two years.

Yeah I have been taking it for years. I do not think it is the culprit for the weight gain. I think it could be making it difficult for me to lose the weight. For 6 days I drank no cherry coke and eliminated sugar all together from my diet. I ate lean meat and barely any carbs. No change in weight.

6 days isn't enough time to judge any of anything. And cutting things out doesn't mean you didn't still over-eat the other things. Log accurately, consistently and with an appropriate calorie deficit for 6-8 weeks then you can judge if there might be something else going on. It is highly unlikely your medication has anything to do with it.

I see the title changed to include lamictal, generally a weight neutral medication.

kshama2001

My brother is on meds for which weight gain is listed as a side effect, probably for the increased appetite reason mentioned above. However, he changed what he ate, upped exercise, and has kept the weight off for 18 months. He did gain 5 pounds over Christmas but lost it already.

jenovatrix

I've been taking lamictal for 10 years and it hasn't affected my weight. I still weigh just about the same I did in high school (15 years ago)...of course it's too much but I haven't been trying to lose it until now

mrtastybutt

I take a low dose of neurontin for pain. I've not noticed any weight gain, if anything it's helped me to move more.

zoeysasha37

VintageFeline wrote: »

I don't know of any medication that directly causes weight gain. They usually cause water retention, increased appetite or slight metabolic slowing which contributes to over-eating and thus gaining weight.

I like you !

VintageFeline

thorsmom01 wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

I don't know of any medication that directly causes weight gain. They usually cause water retention, increased appetite or slight metabolic slowing which contributes to over-eating and thus gaining weight.

I like you !

Ha. Thanks!

I have been on mirtazapine which indirectly caused me to gain weight. In reality it made me flipping starving and crave all the yumyums. Which I ate. And ate. And ate. 14lbs in one month of eating. Was swiftly taken off it (wasn't working as intended either but that's another story). The there was the seroquel. I was already over-eating and then this drug helped my appetite along a bit. Hello another 14lbs. On top of the fact I was already overweight.

At no point did the drugs make me require less calories in the CICO equation, they just made the CI portion harder to manage, especially as I was in no position at the time to address the fact I was eating all of the things with abandon.

Now off meds for the time being and getting my act together so that if and when I go back on them I am much much better equipped to prevent previous weight gain. It wasn't the meds that were the problem, it was my inability to not buy yumyums and eat them.

VintageFeline

PS. Discovered after being on mirtazapine that it is used as an appetite stimulant for cats, my cat was given it by the vet. No wonder I ate all the things!

wishfullthinking79

ok... I never said either medication has made me gain weight.. I know they are weight neutral. In one of my other post someone asked me what meds I was taking. So now I am looking them all up. I think they could be making it difficult to lose weight. Now this is only based on what I have read so far where other people have experienced what I am experiencing. My search took me to this forum to a thread that was dated 2014 where other people were having difficulties losing weight. I didnt want to post to it since it was dated 2 years ago.

angelexperiment

I know my dr put me on lamictal bc it was less likely to make me gain or have urges to eat and even has a initial side effects of weight loss. So there's that.

wishfullthinking79

angelexperiment wrote: »

I know my dr put me on lamictal bc it was less likely to make me gain or have urges to eat and even has a initial side effects of weight loss. So there's that.

yeah the only reason why my psych doc prescribed it to me is because it was weight neutral. She knows I wont tak anything that will cause me to gain weight. I didnt even think to look at my meds because of that reason. Only today did i start looking them up. I do not want to wait weeks for the scale to move. I am just trying to educate myself further on how these meds do affect your body. I am going to start reducing the amount of neurotin I am taking. I bought a scale today. I am going on a stricter diet tomorrow. SO i guess the true test starts then,

azulvioleta6

I have been on both drugs, but that was quite a while ago and during a time when I was extraordinarily ill. My weight certainly was going down at the time (without trying to diet), but I was dealing with an aneurysm, DVTs, long hospitalization and a whole bunch of life-threatening complications.

You don't mention your calorie goal or how much exercise you are doing, which leads me to guess that *maybe* you aren't putting forth your full effort at weight loss yet. You don't say whether or not you are carefully tracking everything. You also need to give it more time as 6 days is not nearly long enough to judge how well things are working.

The obvious answer is to ask your doctor, but you might actually get a better and more useful perspective on this by talking to your pharmacist. If you have access one at a large hospital or a university medical center, even better.

duddysdad

I've been on the max dose of Neurontin since 2008 and I've lost a lot of weight and didn't notice it being hard at all.

CurlyCockney

I was on Neurontin (Gabapentin) for years before switching to Lyrica. I put all my weight on during this time, but that's because my mobility decreased but my eating didn't.

wishfullthinking79

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

I have been on both drugs, but that was quite a while ago and during a time when I was extraordinarily ill. My weight certainly was going down at the time (without trying to diet), but I was dealing with an aneurysm, DVTs, long hospitalization and a whole bunch of life-threatening complications.

You don't mention your calorie goal or how much exercise you are doing, which leads me to guess that *maybe* you aren't putting forth your full effort at weight loss yet. You don't say whether or not you are carefully tracking everything. You also need to give it more time as 6 days is not nearly long enough to judge how well things are working.

The obvious answer is to ask your doctor, but you might actually get a better and more useful perspective on this by talking to your pharmacist. If you have access one at a large hospital or a university medical center, even better.

Thank you for your input. My calorie goal is 1200 calories. I have been tracking everything that I eat and drink. A few days ago I also bought a scale so that I was certain about the amount of food that I was consuming. I have just recently started working out again post a knee fracture that kept me out of the gym and off my leg as much as possible. I will admit that I am discouraged that I have not seen any results yet. I do realize that I have only been tracking this for a short time now. I have started a new medical diet that is much pretty strict. I am limiting carbs significantly and eating much more protein than I would normally eat. I am hoping that this new diet will jump start my metabolism. I know that I will not see a huge loss in weight because I do not need to lose a lot of weight. Just really want to see results soon.

wishfullthinking79

CurlyCockney wrote: »

I was on Neurontin (Gabapentin) for years before switching to Lyrica. I put all my weight on during this time, but that's because my mobility decreased but my eating didn't.

My mobility was also limited for about 10 months because I fractured my knee which took a long time to heal. Due to the slow healing I was told that I could not put any weight on my leg on two seperate occassions if I wanted it to heal. I have considered this as a possible factor in the weight gain. I have just recently been told that I can start easing myself into exercise and cardio.

azulvioleta6

wishfullthinking79 wrote: »

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

I have been on both drugs, but that was quite a while ago and during a time when I was extraordinarily ill. My weight certainly was going down at the time (without trying to diet), but I was dealing with an aneurysm, DVTs, long hospitalization and a whole bunch of life-threatening complications.

You don't mention your calorie goal or how much exercise you are doing, which leads me to guess that *maybe* you aren't putting forth your full effort at weight loss yet. You don't say whether or not you are carefully tracking everything. You also need to give it more time as 6 days is not nearly long enough to judge how well things are working.

The obvious answer is to ask your doctor, but you might actually get a better and more useful perspective on this by talking to your pharmacist. If you have access one at a large hospital or a university medical center, even better.

Thank you for your input. My calorie goal is 1200 calories. I have been tracking everything that I eat and drink. A few days ago I also bought a scale so that I was certain about the amount of food that I was consuming. I have just recently started working out again post a knee fracture that kept me out of the gym and off my leg as much as possible. I will admit that I am discouraged that I have not seen any results yet. I do realize that I have only been tracking this for a short time now. I have started a new medical diet that is much pretty strict. I am limiting carbs significantly and eating much more protein than I would normally eat. I am hoping that this new diet will jump start my metabolism. I know that I will not see a huge loss in weight because I do not need to lose a lot of weight. Just really want to see results soon.

It sounds like you are off to a good start. Just keep going--the results will come!