Does methadone cause weight gain and/or slow down metabolism?

I am on 70mg of methadone, I just started the clnic about 10 weeks ago and I have already gained 10lbs. Its all in my stomach and butt. Everyone is asking me if I'm pregnant! I'm 5'4 and have always been thin, weighing at the MOST 125, now I'm steadily gaining weight...and FAST!! I'm up to almost 136lbs now. I was always confident about my body, now I dont even like getting undressed in front of my fiance! I'm not eating any more than I did, and I just keep gaining. I'm afraid if this continues I will have to buy a whole new wordrobe, summer is coming up and I definitaly would not wear a bikini. It makes me feel a little better to know I'm not the only one but What do I do!?

I HAVE BEEN TAKING 270MG OF METHADONE FOR 6 yrs now and yes i have gained lots of weigt i think its not only the methadone but its that i eat alot because im not using drugs that stop me from eating i think its a comBO OF THE 2 THINGS . METHADONE AND CLEAN LIVING = WEIGT GAIN PERIOD :O :O :-S YOU TRY AND GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER AND GET FAT IT SUCKS BUT ID RATHER BE FAT AND CLEAN THEN SKINNY AND HOOKED ON DOPE ! WHAT DO U THINK ? 4

I have been in the clinic for over two years. I started at the weight of 115. I kept getting higher and higher and finally reached 154 lbs. Everyone at work, asks daily, are you pregnant. It is all belly. and thighs. So, last week was my yearly physical, i stepped on the scale, and now i weight 168. I never would of thought i weighed that much! I am so unhappy and uncomfortable. I can't afford to buy any bigger clothes again. I have been for the last two years, kept going up and up. Now, I am to the point where I am going to have to get elastic stuff. LOL. seriously, I am miserable and its making me so depressed. I detoxed a month ago, so i can get off and get my size back. Or at least get lower. Well, didn' t work to well. i had to get right back in within two weeks. So, i am back now, but at a lower does. I went down to a 100mg lower. So, I need to know, does vitadone, really work? I don't eat alot of junk food and sugar snacks. So, what do i do? what helps? Anyone? I am desperate, please help!!! I can't stop gaining. Thanks guys.

I'm sick and tired of hearing all these BS stories about why you are addicted or were addicted to opiates. it's always the same c**p, i.e. " i hurt my back or the story with lifting the guy into the wheelchair and tore something." there is always justification for why you started your addiction or that it's not your fault because the doctor prescribed you the pain killers. why didn't you just take tylenol if you're going to throw it up in the doc's face instead of blaming yourselves? no one is ever honest anymore and even if these events did happen, it's your fault you got addicted. just like it's my fault i shot tar heroin for five years. and you know what, i did it to get high! the same reason everyone else does it. i too am on a methadone clinic and have been for two years. i don't plan on getting off it and I'm 26 years old. i don't care that I'll be on methadone for the rest of my existence because it's almost guaranteed that you'll relapse and I'm not being dope sick. you people who popped pills or oxy contins don't know what being sick is like. even if you did powder heroin it's still not as intense as the black tar heroin. that c**p makes you deathly ill that you ponder suicide. methadone is for I.V. HEROIN ADDICTS. it's not for pill poppers or snorters. people on pills would do great in a suboxone treatment plan. the medical director at my clinic stated the cause of weight gain while on methadone. he said "if the people here on methadone maintenance would not spend all their money on mcdonalds they wouldn't be so fat." i agree with this partly. it is about what you put in your body and did you ever think that when you were using you didn't eat at all? or at least i didn't. i was lucky to get a 25 cent little debbie snack at a gas station every week. all of the money i got from boosting went to heroin. i even smoked cigarettes out of the walmart ashtrays. what addict would buy cigarettes when people throw away full cigarettes all the time? did your addiction cause you to lose everything/everyone in your life, including your place to stay and dog? i.v. heroin made me homeless and destroyed everything i ever known. that's a real addiction and that's who really needs methadone. the waiting list at my clinic is a two year wait because of pill poppers and oxy contin users who are taking up a real junkie's chance at recovery. i.v. heroin users are dying everyday because of these pathetic, whiny pretend drug addicts. i wish you people would get a real addiction before getting on methadone. you all need suboxone.

i have been on methadone for four years, due to a bladder spasm problem. Before I got on this medication, I had never weighed over 120- except when I was pregnant- and I lost that weight within a few months after delivery. Now, fours years after methadone- i weigh a horrible 180 and cannot lose the weight for anything. I have tried eating basically nothing, and done a lot of working out but nothing seems to make me lose this weight!! I was on 200 mg methadone per day and have gone down to 136mg, yet i am still constantly sleepy and overweight. I hate HATE feeling so gross and lazy. If anyone has any new suggestions, or just wants to talk- 

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Thanks

Anyway, I too have been on Meth for about year and a half now. Dr and I did a follow back in my charts the other day cause I eat healthy as hell, I have been exercising and walking. And all I ever drink is water. And from the time I got on Methadone, you can see a steady weight climb to where I am now. It's crazy. in 5 months I went from 147lbs to 206lbs. I stayed there, then I had marital problems where the wie and I separated for about a month. BOOM, couldn't eat, you know that whole story...went down to 165 in about a month. I know that's not healthy, but man I lloked good, everyone was talking about how great I looked and ect ect. Now we are back together and worked stuff out, I am happy. the weight has climbed right back on. We got back together and worked it all out in May, I was 165lbs now I weigh 195lbs!!!! WTF??? So the Dr said that he thought it was the Meth, he said not directly as a result of the meth, but just that it slowed your metabolism down, and that I probably wasn't AS active as I was before ect ect... And now since I see all of your adds here, I'm like WOW! I guess he may have been right. Anyway, I would love to try to come down a little or none on my dosage but I have the nerve in my neck that is beyond repair, no surgery, nothing. It's like a severe form of Distonia that no Doc can seem to offer anything that helps except blocking the pain with pain killers (Meth). But good luck to everyone.

I just wanted to answer your question regarding the pill you can take to reduce sweet cravings...it is called Vitadone. It is like a vitamin especially for methadone patients, I was on it for awhile. You can only buy it over the internet or through the 800 number they provide. I forgot the number but if you google Vitadone, it should pop up their website! It also relieves other side effects of methadone as well like sweating, energy, sweet cravings, constipation!! (that was a major problem when I first started a year and a half ago. Hope this helps!!



Slave2Methadone in West Virginia

I find it fascinating that no one blames the opiates for the weight LOSS experienced before going onto Methadone. I used to take Darvocet and Lortabs several times a day for a couple months d/t two herniated disks in my lower back, and then Percocet after the subsequent surgery. I started out (before my back went out) at 195lbs. After the surgery (three months after beginning to take the meds) I weighed 175. Since coming off the opiates I have regained my previous weight. I wish I could've kept the weight off, obviously, but I know that my appetite was suppressed, I was lethargic, and I didn't have the ability to move, which all caused my weight to drop. I'm not so sure that methadone makes you gain weight, I think it just allows you to because it has different properties from other opiates. Just a thought.

I agree with the person addressing the 26 yr old heroin addict. I did not know that you were the all knowing holy yota of opiate addiction. I just turned thirty and I started shooting heroin at the tender age of 13 in Baltimore, MD. I too shot tar as well as scramble and raw, really it's all dope to me. Out of all the hard times and heart ache that I'm sure you have experienced, how could you be so ostentatious and judge another so harshly? A pretentious junkie, you should be ashamed.
I have been on methadone for over 3 yrs and I have gained about 50 unwanted lbs. I wanted to know if anybody has lost weight on methadone and if so, how they did it. Also, I was considering detoxing off of methadone and wanted to know the best way to do it. I can't check in to any place because I have 4 young children, ages 6 months to 10yrs. The father is still in active addiction. My parents may be able to watch my boys for a few days but that's it. I also have rheumatoid arthritis. I am worried that I will not be able to take care of my boys while detoxing and I will be stuck on methadone for life. Has anybody heard of something called ibogaine? I have read about it and thought that it may be an option for me. I would be grateful for any thoughts or answers to any of my questions.

just because you hate your yourself and your life don't you dare come on here and judge people who you don't know and are finally getting the courage to share their story. It's not about who has done what or whose drug is stronger. If you dont like what the people are saying on here then LEAVE! We could care less if youve done tar heroin. THERE ALL DRUGS. So because you've lost everyone in your life and were homeless gives you the right to make everyone on here feel like c**p about themselves? You have no right telling people that it's because of them that there is a waiting list at your stupid clinic. It sounds to me like you need to find a new clinic because I've never heard of any waiting list EVER at a clinic. I know you think you have it all figured it out and all but YOU DONT! So maybe your the one that needs to go try suboxone!

I have been on methadone for two years and not only can I not get off of it, I gained over 60 pounds on it! I was 116 when I started, and now I am 180. I work out daily, eat healthy, and cut sugar from my diet...which all you methadone users know is pretty difficult. Still..I can't loose any weight. I want to try a diuretic (water pills) but my doctor said its not recommended. I feel like all my weight is water retension, not fat. Any advice...has anyone lost weight on methadone?

I have only been on methadone for 7m months but in that time I have went from 120lbs to 160...Nothing fits me anymore and like so many of you have said, my self esteem has gone down the tubes...I also dont want people to know that I am on methadone so it is such a horrible feeling that they are thinking i AM just getting fat for no reason...I know what you mean when you are talking about the fat feeling different. It feels so hard in my stomach I almost thought I was pregnant, but I am not...no matter what I do I cannot get the weight off. I also sweat constantly from the methadone. I was at 100mg a day (not too hight) but I want to get off of it asap now. Thank you to all of you who posted it was a relief to know why I have gained so much weight and that it was not just me. I am looking forward to getting off the program as soon as I can (or at least lower my dose to as little as possible) I am hoping all goes back to normal, as for now I am getting a membership at my local YMCA and am going to start really looking at my diet and exercise and hopefully I can get back to my normal size soon.

you are such an a-hole. It doesnt matter what you use addiction is addiction opiates are opiates and withdrawl is withdrawl. like someone said you dont know what others go through. So shut up

Oh my heart bleeds! Who do you think you are? If you think that heroin addicts are the only ones who deserve to be on Methadone, you're way off base. Methadone works for anyone who is addicted to just about anything. My husband had shoulder surgery done twice in the same year, on the same shoulder within 3 months of each other. While in the process of recovering from the surgery, it got to where he was taking 3 times as much pain medication just to get through the day. While he already knew that he was abusing his medication, he couldn't stop on his own. I suffer with chronic back pain, I have been put on every kind of pain medication you can think of to treat the pain; and every kind always leave me the same way. My body builds up a tolerance to it, and I end up taking more just to get the same results. It wasn't until after my husbands second surgery that I had the idea of getting us both on Methadone. He had been on it before several years ago, but was able to get off of it when he didn't need it anymore. But as it turns out, the Methadone was the only medication that he and I both could take for pain and still be able to function. It not only saved his job, but it also saved our marriage. We were on the verge of a divorce, but the Methadone saved us from it. The only two complaints I have about the Methadone is 1) The extra weight I have put on from it; and 2) Our sex life isn't the same. We tried the Vitadone vitamins a while back, and wanted to stay on them, but the methadone clinic he and I were going to only supplied them for a short time. So short, I'm talking about 2 months at the most. Talk about teasing people. That really pissed off a lot of clients. The cost is a bit expensive, but if it helps with the constipation, and our sex life, then they are worth the money.

You know, when I was a little girl, and some adult would come along and ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up; I never replied to them that I wanted to be an addict and an alcoholic. I have to live with my addiction, and it is my decision if I choose to use today or not. And today, I choose not to. I look at drugs and alcohol as a type of food that I am alergic to, that if I eat it, it will kill me on the spot. Because if I take enough drugs and drink enough alcohol, they will kill me. Methadone is for my pain that I have to live with everyday, but I hope to one day to be able to get off it. I want to be able to feel again. How about you?

i have ben taking methadone now for 3yrs and i am the complete opposite i have been losing alot of weight im a 25 yr old male that weighs 125 any tips on gaining wieght.