Pregablin and weight gain

[almamatters]

Hi has anyone else any experience of weight gain while on this medication. It does not seem long ago that I was posting that I was too thin, but have gained over a stone since December . My eating habits have not changed , although I have had a slight increase in appetite , so I am beginning to think it is because of the meds. I have gone from 7 stone 8 to nearly 9 stone, so there is a fair amount of difference. I am ok at this weight but do not want to gain much more. Anybody else similar??

[xtremx]

Yes my friend I have been on Pregabalin for 12 months and weight gain has been a massive problam. I will not say how much but a lot...
And same have not increased my food intake or anything like that.

But no matter what I do the weight will not come off I have tried under 600 calories calories but no luck...

Pregabalin slows done your metabolic rate leading to weight gain because your body doesn’t burn enough calories and so it is harder to lose..

[almamatters]

Thanks for reply. The metabolic rate thing makes sense as I am still fairly active but just seem to be getting bigger. It is just something else for me to worry about. How long have you been on them?

[xtremx]

14 Months.
The doctor was going to take me of then and change it to gabapentin But again that causes weight gain and no way I'm I about to do that.

[hanshan]

I've been slowly losing weight - about 11 kg or 24 lb since last September - while taking pregabalin 600 mg per day and mirtazapine 45 mg per day.

I aim to eat 8,000 kJ (2,000 kcal) per day or less, which should result in a loss of about a pound a week or two kg per month for someone my height, weight and activity level. Because the loss is fairly slow, it can sometimes seem that the scales are stuck, but the weight has come off steadily.

I find it essential to keep a diary and write down everything I eat and drink during the day and its energy equivalent eg a simple sandwich can easily top 250 kcal.

I agree that not all calories are equal. Anything with glucose in it can be used directly by the body. Other sugars and alcohol can be quickly processed. Raw calories require more digestion than the same food cooked, and give up less of their energy, and so on. However, the calorie charts are still a helpful way to design a mild energy deficit diet.

[Mark13]

I was already 4 stone overweight when I started on pregabalin, and have put on another ½ stone.

However, on a counting diet this week I lost 3lbs, which is what I would expect from the amount I've eaten.

so I'm hopeful that I can follow hanshan in losing weight despite the fact that both drugs I'm on are associated with weight gain.

[BobbyDog]

I was about 9 stone when I started taking Pregabalin 9 months ago. I take 300mg a day plus 45mg Mirtazapine(4 years). I have gained about 2 stone since starting the Pregabalin.
I really want to find a diet that works, I hate being heavier and I am obsessed with it at the moment.

[xtremx]

BobbyDog

I have some bad news mate no diet will work that well from what I have searched because of it slowing down the metabolic rate. The best at the moment is eat healthy and stop more gain.

Its that or we all turn it into muslce..

I have tried a few weight loss drugs but none have worked and have tried a very low calorie diet with little effect.. But I'm planning to come of pregabalin in the next year and try to cure my anxiety/panic disorder and agoraphobia some other way.

[hanshan]

I've also searched for scientific evidence of both pregabalin and mirtazapine slowing down metabolic rate, but all I have been able to find is the same assertion repeated on various forums and blogs. It's a reasonable theory, but just being reasonable doesn't make it true.

There is evidence, however, that starting a crash diet with severe calorie restriction will cause the body to slow metabolism in response. If you try to survive on 600 kcal per day, the body's weight regulation mechanism is going to do everything in its power to stop you.

Congratulations, Mark, on starting what will be a long journey. Although you lost 3 lb in the first week, much of that is the dreaded water loss. When the body has an energy deficit, it doesn't start burning fat immediately, but calls on its temporary stores of glycogen. Glycogen is bound to several molecules of water, so as the glycogen is burnt up, a lot of stored water is released.

What has been successful for me has been going slowly - about a pound per week. That's still an awful lot if you think about it - a margarine tub of fat every week. The slow approach is designed not to antagonize the body's weight regulation too much.

There is some evidence that fructose (found naturally in fruit, but added to many foods and drinks as a sweetener, and also a 50% breakdown product of sucrose, common household sugar) causes leptin resistance. For that reason, I don't eat sugar or products containing sucrose or fructose, apart from actual fruit.

[little wren]

I agree hanshan - before I took pregabalin I researched why weight gain was a side effect.
I cannot find that it alters metabolism but that weight gain is caused by increased appetite. Anti-psychotics alter metabolism which is the major reason I opted for pregabalin over them to augment ssri.