Can pain meds sabotage weight loss?

delilah47

I’m looking for help from someone who has credentials that would include some knowledge on this subject:

I have been at a standstill in my weight for over a month now. During the week, my weight pops up and down 1-4 pounds a day. I never know what I will weigh from day-to-day. All I know is on weigh-in day, it doesn’t go down. I have been taking narcotic pain meds long term for an extreme slipped spine. It has slipped so the nerve bundle is almost at a 45º angle, pushed toward the front. (Note: The pain meds really don’t help much anymore as I have become “tolerant” to the set amount I take every day.) I do try to get some cardio, but it’s 30 minutes of pure hell. I push through it anyway and usually manage to get a “down-play” workout 4-5 times a week. I know I am getting cardio benefit, because before my spine injury I was an aerobics junkie.

Anyway, my question is:
Can this type of pain meds cause your body to think it’s getting more calories than you are giving it? Do they trick the metabolism? I am following the most common eating plan here; calorie deficit. The reason I am wondering about the pain meds is; several years back, before I took pain meds on a regular basis, I was on Adkin’s low carb diet plan. I lost weight very quickly, but when I DID have to take the pain meds, I would come out of ketosis immediately even though I did not raise my carb intake. Hence, I didn’t lose any weight when I was taking the pain meds and would go back into ketosis only after quitting the meds for at least 3 days. So, can the pain meds cause a similar effect when taken on a calorie deficit eating plan?

I would also like to hear from others who have had similar experiences. If you are pulling a guess from who-knows-where, I'll pass, thankyouverymuch!

mixedfeelings

Interesting question, I'd be interested in knowing the answer to this myself as I'm currently taking co-codamol for pain relief but as you mention it's to make the pain more tolerable rather than removing it altogether. Hopefully someone will know!

love22step

No credentials here, but my husband has taken hydrocodone and trazanidine for years. He had a little break for a few months with a Butrans patch that worked well, but the insurance company has taken that away. Even with a neurostimulator implanted in his back, he's still in constant pain. When I started losing weight in August, he weighed a little over 200 lbs. at 6'3". He walks quite a bit while he works with students as an instructor, but he does not purposely exercise. Since I've stopped baking and buying sweets, he's dropped to 187. He likes that and looks good, since most of what he lost was in his stomach. For him, the pain meds have not inhibited weight loss, and he wasn't intentionally losing weight. Cutting back on calories made a difference, despite the meds.

ericabrothers

i wouldn't think that the pain meciation should have anyting to do with your weight loss but it would be a good question for your doctor. if it is something on the lines of lortab it may mess with your metabolism becuase they are consdered a "downer" be careful if you drink any energy drinks or do any pre workout energy booster. the combination can actually make you have a heart attak. its called speed balling when you take an upper and a downer. so maybe it is messing with your metabolism. if it s nerve pain have you ever taken neurotin or lyrica is the most popular narcotic stritly for nerve pain. if you haven't tried physical thrapy that is an excellent option. i had a car accident in 09 and we having some significant back pain and FINALLY after about 6 months an orthopedic listened to me and did an mri and after he looked at it he looke suprised and goes "you have a bad back' i watned t hit him. no *kitten* doc i've been telling you that but no one wants to listen. anyway physical therapy did wonders for me. you coud also try swimming. it shouldn't caus you as much pain and its a pretty good workout too. hope you find something that gets you some relief. back pain sucks.

christibam

The only credentials I have are as a former user of morphine and percocet for about 2 years, as well as EMT/firefighter training.

Personally, I noticed it was VERY hard for me to lose weight while on pain killers. I retained water due to constipation, which is a very common side effect of narcotic pain medication. The reason for this is a slight lowering of a persons metabolism.

With patients, I saw everything from morbidly obese to stick thin while on pain medication. Granted, some of the thinner ones had other dependencies involved. If you ask an ER Doc, they will tell you that you can and, more than likely will, have some SERIOUS constipation and waste (not just water) retention when there is the use of narcotics.

I have seen x-rays of people holding an estimated 20-30 POUNDS of feces in their intestines because it slows everything down so much. (It's actually pretty funny to see on a x-ray because poop lights up like no ones business)

delilah47

i wouldn't think that the pain meciation should have anyting to do with your weight loss but it would be a good question for your doctor. if it is something on the lines of lortab it may mess with your metabolism becuase they are consdered a "downer" be careful if you drink any energy drinks or do any pre workout energy booster. the combination can actually make you have a heart attak. its called speed balling when you take an upper and a downer. so maybe it is messing with your metabolism. if it s nerve pain have you ever taken neurotin or lyrica is the most popular narcotic stritly for nerve pain. if you haven't tried physical thrapy that is an excellent option. i had a car accident in 09 and we having some significant back pain and FINALLY after about 6 months an orthopedic listened to me and did an mri and after he looked at it he looke suprised and goes "you have a bad back' i watned t hit him. no *kitten* doc i've been telling you that but no one wants to listen. anyway physical therapy did wonders for me. you coud also try swimming. it shouldn't caus you as much pain and its a pretty good workout too. hope you find something that gets you some relief. back pain sucks.

Guess I should have mentioned, the pain med is Vicodin. No, I don't do any weird stuff. I don't drink, smoke (anything) or do any street drugs. I have tried physical therapy twice. I think the physical therapy I have done is not directed for nerve pain as both times it has caused extreme sciatic flare up which I had to have steroid shots in my spine for). My doctor(s) don't really listen. The only one who actually looked at the MRI is the neurosurgeon who wonders how I even get up in the morning and, of course, wants to cut on me. I just can't do surgery right now due to personal obligations. Thanks for your response.

@mixedfeelings and ericabrothers- thanks

I may have to post this in another category. We'll see. I was hoping to get at least one pro's opinion. I have seen posts by some of them offering to help anyone who needs it. Unfortunately, I didn't note their names. :duh:

cakeums

No personal experience here, and I am not credentialed, but my father took narcotics for many years for slipped discs, pinched nerves, etc. He has had 3 surgeries, one disc repair on his lumbar spine, one on his cervical spine, and a cervical spine fusion as well. The only time his weight increased was when he started eating lots of junk (half an Entenmann's cake, a sleeve of Oreos) and he started going through a jar of peanut butter and a jar of preserves a week. I would think if you're eating at a deficit, you should still be seeing weight loss.

You could also have reached a plateau. I hit one and increased my calories a bit, and I have dropped about 6lbs in the past two weeks.

One other thing to consider is that narcotic pain relievers can slow down your digestion - you could be dealing with constipation, bloating, gas, etc. and that can affect the number on the scale too.

delilah47

No personal experience here, and I am not credentialed, but my father took narcotics for many years for slipped discs, pinched nerves, etc. He has had 3 surgeries, one disc repair on his lumbar spine, one on his cervical spine, and a cervical spine fusion as well. The only time his weight increased was when he started eating lots of junk (half an Entenmann's cake, a sleeve of Oreos) and he started going through a jar of peanut butter and a jar of preserves a week. I would think if you're eating at a deficit, you should still be seeing weight loss.

You could also have reached a plateau. I hit one and increased my calories a bit, and I have dropped about 6lbs in the past two weeks.

One other thing to consider is that narcotic pain relievers can slow down your digestion - you could be dealing with constipation, bloating, gas, etc. and that can affect the number on the scale too.

Thanks, I *could* be at a plateau, but geez, this started after only about 3 weeks. I think the first 3 weeks may have been mostly water-weight loss though. Bummers.

delilah47

bump

lsudler32

I know this is a really old post but it did help me out a lot. I was wondering the same thing. I do take pain meds on a regular my back and I seem to be at a standstill. My weight is pretty much staying the same for about a month now and I was wondering if it was due to the pain medication.

katiepeg46

Hi,
Does anyone here take Cardizem CD for blood pressure? I recently started taking it and I think one of the side effects is weight gain along with other side effects.

Can anyone help me wit this? I want to lose weight...not gain!

Thanks!
Kathy

Debbiedebbiey

My dr told me, percocet, muscle relaxers were the reason I wasn't losing. The pharmacist said it only reduces metabolism slightly, as in less than 5%. Would love more people's input. Needless to say, I'm off now for the most part, and starting to lose again. But I'm doing less than 50carbs/day. But doc did say, they suppresses your nervous system which also suppresses your metabolism. And muscle relaxers at bedtime slows your system down, and that's when, he said you metabolize fat ??? Who knows. I'd say prob everybody is different !?!?!

LittleMsPerfect

I started taking medication because of pain due to a wisdom tooth along with antibiotics. My weight jumped up by 2 lbs over night and another 1 lb the next day I realised it was from the painkillers as my diet was not significantly different. I was taking codeine and the fluid retention was terrible. I have now switched to Ibuprofen, dropped 1 lb since but still have swollen fingers and eyes, especially when I wake up. I was finding it difficult to go to the loo on the first couple of days, which didn't help. I had to take a mild herbal laxative. I still feel swollen but hopefully won't be on medication much longer.

sugarandopium

Constipation will always be an issue with opiate meds, though 99% of the time a fiber supplement (possibly taking more than directed, when you're consuming a natural fiber source taking double/triple of what's recommend all is well) and slight tweaks to diet will solve even the most extreme cases.

Fluid retention from some high dose therapies can lead to SIADH in rare cases. If you're constipation is under control and you're still experiencing water retention and have tried diuretics and or supplements/other remedies, consult your doctor.

If your medical professional is telling you your pain meds are causing you to not lose weight, he is uninformed, or more likely doesn't want to take the needed time to address the issue.
Pain meds, unlike psych meds, do NOT cause weight gain or impair loss. Yes they can slightly slow the metabolism but not in a huge way and the bathroom issues are more often than not corrected via natural remedies.

Don't keep yourself in pain, thinking the answer is not taking your meds.
This is NOT the answer, whoever tells you otherwise has a different agenda from reality.

Been there done that, have a chronic lifelong issue that requires meds, I gained weight, but I educated myself and lost it.
Long story, but gained weight again, this time I'm much older now making it more difficult to drop weight and already lost 30lbs.

ninerbuff

From my experience (and I work in a Wellness Center which is frequented by 40% Seniors), I haven't found any that I've worked with that take pain meds daily having any issue with weight loss.
I also haven't come across any peer reviewed clinical studies showing them to be a deterrence to weight loss. If there are any out there, I'd personally love to read them.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Christine_72

What about tramadol (tablet morphine)? I take these and it completely kills my appetite.

LeslieTSUK

A lot of experience with pain meds
been on codeines now for over 10 years plus other pain meds, for various things.

Narcotic/opiate based pain medications will have a severely adverse reaction to loosing weight.
They tend to slow down your digestion, and can make you quite constipated at times.

Some doctors prescribe laxatives for those who been on opiate type drugs for a long while.

I actually get 140 x 30mg codeine phosphate per month, though i try to take as few as possible as they are highly addictive.

I sometimes take 2 to 3 (2.5mg ducolax pico pearls) just to help keep my digestion running smoothly, but senekot or others of same type do same thing.

As for non opiate based pain killers like tylenol, ibuprofen, asprin, they shouldn't have any effects on weight loss.

There are a few other types like gabapentin and others for nerve damage that put a huge strain on your reflux and stomach acids due to the way they work, so if you have the likes of ibs and/or reflux problems to start with they can indirectly cause problems digesting food.

I hope that helps

Kalikel

A lot of people on long-term pain meds gain weight. The being in constant pain prevents exercise. The being drugged up prevents exercise.

Athletes, especially, seem to gain a TON, because they're accustomed to eating a lot and then don't stop because they're used to it...and probably because they're bored, sitting around all the time and not being able to be active.

For some people, swimming helps. They can move better in the water and many community pools are kept warm for older people with arthritis. But swimming doesn't help all.

After many years of constant pain, people tend to stop caring a whole lot about their weight. Just handling the pain is enough for them to bear.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is in pain. I pray for you all every night.

Kalikel

What about tramadol (tablet morphine)? I take these and it completely kills my appetite.

Tramadol is not morphine.

They're two different drugs. Both painkillers, but different.

If you had bone cancer and were in massive amounts of pain, you'd want the morphine, not the Tramadol.

Morphine is old, but it's still the best pain killer around. For serious pain.

sugarandopium

A lot of people on long-term pain meds gain weight. The being in constant pain prevents exercise. The being drugged up prevents exercise.

Everyone is different some care, some do not.
This goes for any human, with chronic pain, or with a completely uninjured body.

Some can't exercise at all depending on severity of the condition, obviously, though many conditions can be worked around.
I know several people with severe back issues, much worse than what I live with, who do what they can,
one whom had 3 surgeries that weren't very successful, in short his spine is in REALLY bad shape,
he uses the few hrs each day he has when the pain is bearable to be active.
Even if you can do so little as to take leisurely walks it will help.

And "drugged up". . . . seriously?
Stereotype. Any euphoria side effect subsides in a short time if taken any medication as prescribed.
It's not like shooting a gram of heroin then nodding out on the treadmill.
Again, as prescribed, a body and mind gets used to any needed pain med, after a VERY short time.
Tolerance to this class of drugs will not allow any constant euphoria like always available effects of say cocaine or marijuana.

aprilvikings

Debbiedebbiey wrote: »

My dr told me, percocet, muscle relaxers were the reason I wasn't losing. The pharmacist said it only reduces metabolism slightly, as in less than 5%. Would love more people's input. Needless to say, I'm off now for the most part, and starting to lose again. But I'm doing less than 50carbs/day. But doc did say, they suppresses your nervous system which also suppresses your metabolism. And muscle relaxers at bedtime slows your system down, and that's when, he said you metabolize fat ??? Who knows. I'd say prob everybody is different !?!?!