Lyrica and Weight Gain

Yellwdaisy,

I can sure relate to this. I have been taking Lyrica for 21/2 years, first at 300mg per day, then at 450mg for awhile. At this point, I was gaining weight. My appetite did not seem to increase, but my weight sure did. I talked to my doctor, and he indicated that it was a "weight gain drug", and I asked about reducing the dose. It was reduced to 150mg in one dose daily, with another capsule of the same dosage as a prn. I have seldom used the prn dose in the past 11/2 years-probably only 2-3 times. The weight gain halted, but I have only lost a very minimal amount of weight. Now, I appear to be STUCK. I watch what I eat, and exercise-usually 2hours per day 5-6 times per week. However, the weight won't budge. My feet do swell during the day more than before, so maybe this is water weight? I have tried to do without the Lyrica, but my symptoms return after a few days. I have GERD, so I am unable to take a lot of the other prescription meds or Ibuprophin medications that usually help us the most.

Yellwdaisy:

I don't know if you have tried this yet, but I have found a lot of benefits in water exercise. I went through physical therapy about 21/2 years ago, and they used a heated pool. I could notice a difference in the way I felt immediately. Therapy involved simply walking (forward, backward, and sideways), doing stretches, and easy range of motion exercises in the water. They soon had me treading water using a noodle, and doing "step-ups" using a step in the pool and the ledge for support. There was also a whirlpool in the heated pool that we used during therapy. Although I had not been exercising before this, my pain did not worsen. My therapy ended after just 3 weeks, but I was given a months free membership there, which I used as much as possible. When the free membership ended, I stopped going for awhile, but could notice my progress fading rapidly. I got a membership in the hospital's fitness center, which included use of the gym and pool, along with access to many classes. I soon started attending water exercise classes, and still do this 2-3 times per week. Although I still have some pain, it is much worse if I do not go for awhile. The water exercise has enabled me to start walking more, and I am now able to walk 3-4 miles per day- either on a treadmill or outdoors depending on the weather, and I also do WII Fit. I have been pretty regular with this, which is why I beieve that the lyrica is preventing me from losing weight. If I "get lazy" for a few days and don't exercise, I start gaining. Even though I don't lose, I do feel much stronger, and my body can tolerate more than what it could before.

I can understand your frustration with the two medications. I am a firm believer in trying to get by on as few meds as possible, but these are both hard medications to wean off of. I would discuss this with my doctor. If you cannot wean off of these, maybe you can at least get the doses decreased. There are also vitamins and supplements that sometimes help with controlling fibro symptoms. They can sometimes be used in addition to or in place of medications. Just check with your doctor to be sure that they wil not interact with your other medications.

Good luck with your situation. As I said, I know how frusterating this can be!

 

To stepping stone,

Thanks for the feedback once again. I do have an outside pool, but of course it's not heated. But our dr's office does have a program he can sign patients up that would benefit from this kind of therapy with heated pools at the local Family Y. I will try to look into that.

To Cat, thanks for the information. I too have noticed swelling in my lower extremities and calves, as well as my fingers. More so since I started  taking the Lyrica. Frankly, I can tell that I get more benefits from the Cymbalta than the Lyrica. Also, as you mentioned about bp, for some reason the more doseage I take of Lyrica, the lower my bp goes. Something my pcp is watching a close eye on. The doseage has been decreased, now I am having headaches...but am still planning on talking to my rheum about weaning off.

I appreciate you both taking time to respond. Both comments gave me some things to think about. Again, thanks.

Yellwdaisy

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Fibromyalgia, Herniated Disc, Pinched Nerve, Chronic Back Pain, Anxiety, PTSD, Depression, Degenerative Arthritis, Bone Spurs, Headaches, Tendonitis.