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

Wow, i thought something was SERIOUSLY wrong with me!!! I was addicted to heroin for 6yrs on and off, i was on suboxone for 2yrs then i got pregnant with my now 4 month old. The suboxone dr. said he didn't feel comfortable prescribing the medication throughout my pregnancy and suggested i go on the clinic! i didn't want to cause i had done it 3+ times in the past. But was told i could miscarry if i just stopped. So Sep 09 i got on the clinic, i had my son April 2010 i am usually 110lbs, i went up to 150lbs while pregnant, then after i went down to 130lbs pretty quick, then all of a sudden it's 3 then 4 months later and i'm 145lbs!!! i hadn't been over eating or anything so i didn't understand what was happening!! I thought maybe since i haven't gotten my period still maybe something is causing me to gain weight? But people told me that methadone can cause weight gain! It's mostly in my mid-section, and more the upper stomach area, it feels spongy?? Anyway, i'm STILL on 140mg, i thought i would have to come down after giving birth but i had to stay at that dose. I also have been experiencing abnormal sweating!! my armpits are dry, but my head literally DRIPS droplets of sweat! You can ring out my ponytail!! It's so embarrassing, i don't go out ANYWHERE!! My best friend is getting married Aug 21st 2010 (10 days) and i'm her maid of honor!!! I told her i don't want to go cause first i'm too fat for the dress and 2ND, i don't want to be standing up there sweating profusely!!
I want to know if anyone knows for a fact that if i start coming down on my dose, will it help me lose weight and will the sweating stop??? I hope someone can help me. I want to join the gym but can't right now, cause it would be a waste of $$ If lowering my dose will help then that's what i'll do, then i'm thinking about going onto subutex then suboxone again. I hope someone knows what i'm going through and i hope someone can help.

Hey girl! I COMPLETELY feel your pain! I have always been a very small, petite girl. I am 5'2 and had never weighed more than 107. I started a methadone clinic a little over a year ago and since then i have gained 20 lbs.! Remember: I am not used to gaining ANY weight at all so this was very hard for me to handle. At first i was depressed and felt very hopeless. I too stopped going out and enjoying the things that i once loved. I am a very social person so staying in the house because of weight gain was absolutely horrible. To make all of this worse what i do for a living obligates me to stay thin and looking my best constatly. In my profession weight gain is not an option so i've actually had to quit inderfinitly (or until i lose the weight.) About 2 months ago i started eating healthy by trying to eat about 6 small meals a day as opposed to 3 larger meals and snacking on not-so-good-for -you foods. I incorporate alot of whole grain items, vegetables are a must! (anything green is something you should try to fill up on!!) The proteins or meat that i eat are lean meats such as fish and lean skinless boneless GRILLED chicken. Ive also started excercising about an hour a day...sometimes less, sometimes more depending on my mood and time available. The last thing ive done is startd taking the dietary supplement SLINQUICK as directed on the bottle. In the last 2 months or since ive started ive slowly lost about 5 lbs which does not sound like alot but remember..working out causes you to gain lean muscle weight which weighs more than fat. So although ive only lost about 5 lbs., i now fit COMFORTABLY in my usual clothes and feel so much better and my confidence is finally slowly returning. All of this is happening and i just started 2 months ago! I plan on continuing my success. I hope what im telling all of you will inspire you to go ahead and become proactive and do something about this methadone "curse". YES, gaining weight on methadone happens and YES it is harder to lose the weight than it would be if you were not on methadone but what im here to say is that its POSSIBLE. And i also wanted to add that i too know that going to the gym is not always an option for everyone, i do not belong to a gym. All of my workouts go down right in my little living room! It does not take a fancy gym to lose those lbs. It takes will power. Trust me, i felt pretty helpless and so unattractive. I didnt want to have to wait to lose the weight. Being a recovering addict i tend to want everything NOW or YESTERDAY! lol BUT you must realize that you can bite the bullet and DO SOMETHING about your weight issue or continue to gain and probably become more and more unhealthy, unattrative and above all-miserable! So I will keep updating everyone on my weight loss. I know i love to hear other people success stories because it tells my "hey.. if they can do it..why cant i?!" "I CAN". As for the sweating, i too suffer from this but at the end of the day i have to ask myself if something like a lil extra sweat is going to stop me from living my life. No its not worth it babe! I just wear clothes that do not show wetness easily. And definitly bring a towel with u whereever u go! I carry one in my purse! lol Hope this helps!

:'( :'( :-( hi iv just started the methdone its been 6mths and iv gain 30lbs i went up to 60mls when i notice the weight gain i started to be reduced by 5mls every two weeks im now at 45mls and my weight is still the same iv started to diet and i hope to get down on the methdone to a small amount and go on suboxone and i hope my weight will start to drop .

Unfortunately, My personal experience with Methadone maintainanace and seemingly unavoidable weight gain, regardless of exercise routines, and or super healthy diets, IS the case; within 6 to 10 weeks I went up two clothing sizes after being very petite my entire life, even without any exercise. I quickly began a vigourous exercise regimen along with a low calorie, high protein, low fat, no sugar, high fiber diet. It took a few frustrating months to lose about half of the 25 lbs gained, and if I stop, the weight comes right back quickly. I'm sure there are some exceptions, albeit rare especially among women; even my fiancee, who is 5'10 and 130 lbs, and has remained there for years, gained at least 25 lbs as well, although being a male with some height and being so naturally thin his whole life, he was fine with his weight gain. I'm currently dropping my dose the maximum amount allowed per week, and am 2mgs shy of dropping 30 mgs from my peak of 95mg/day of methadone. I am in the process of getting off of this medicine for good; it just takes some time due to the nature of methadone and its withdrawl symptoms. I do know that my fiancee is completely off of the medicine, and lost all weight gained; the same goes for one of my friends, a female who came off of methadone suddenly, with no gradual drop down. As much as I want to be off of methadone for good, I am not going to risk sudden discontinuation, due to some of the physical pain and withdrawl that can cause. If someone must be on this medication, and are unhappy about the quick and stubborn weight gain, I suggest vigorous cardio exercise regularly, and keep sugar intake to a very minimum. I know how miserable the stubborn weight gain that many experience is, and I wish them the best with their struggle. %-) %-)

I too have been on methadone a little over six months, i gained 50 lbs since my first weigh in at the clinic. The weight I started at, like 175, typically fluctuated 15 lbsfrom 160-175 back and forth since I have been 13. Now 27 and this has been the only weight gain in my life. I eat less than ever cause of depression and legally prescribed aderal amphetamines (or real ones). the weight is oddly distributed on me. i got man boobs and a fat puffy face, and a beer gut without alcohol whatsoever. i dont feel better about my addiction cause the clinic has their collective heads so far up their asses, their computer system denied me my daily dose 3 separate occasions this month alone due to failure of a professional duty by staff. i don't enjoy any aspect of this opiate or my life while a slave to it. at first i was barely even able to cease illicit use because of the fact that it did nothing for cravings after i adjusted to each higher dose. after a week or two at any methadone level, it stops being able to relax me or allow me any rest. i toss and turn and don't even enjoy sleeping. when sleep is the high point of your day, some things clearly aren't working.

i like the reassurance that i won't be sick, and i wont go to jail while trying to score and never get well. i hate another addiction particularly one that has such few benefits, but i know i am blessed to even have the option. i feel for the 26 yr old dickhead cause i know how bad it can be being on a waitlist for something (spent over a yr jumping hoops to get in to a suboxone doc in a smaller town with a huge using population. however, empathy, like intelligence, was not that posters strong suit. i really am questioning whether being sober in and of itself (off h) is worth feeling this way physically or mentally.

my education is on hold again while i try to find a better balance of legal and other "supplements". unfortunately, putting recovery first is not my strong suit. had i done it in the past, i would only have so much less than i do now. i wouldn't have a b.a. or even a roof over my head, had i tried to.

i am kinda curious, anyone know examples of functional addicts who have maintained a career and a life. why them, the ones who can do it vs the vast majority of the population who cannot function after a point. the success rate of 12 step is no better than the rate of recovery in people in general. the ones who have huge habits and can just stop on their own and those who never get caught. they r the shining examples we need to learn from, not the ones that try and fail time and time again.

i hope this is helpful to at least someone considering either methadone maintenance or first tryin h. just don 't do either if u have any plans for your future, and don't take the warning lightly

"take a day off from using opiates for each one that u do use, constantly alternating. the first time u decide to use two days in arow may dictate every single day of your life after that."

This sounds like wat i am trying to do as well, please e-mail me at ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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! Need all the support i can.

I have been on methadone for 4 or 5 months now for a drug treatment program which starts me off at 90 mg a day and drops me 10 mg every month im down to 5 a day now but since the 2nd month Ive already starting noticing weight gain cept unlike all you people I am very very happy with it being 85 to 90 pounds and to gain 15-20 pounds already is wonderful I am now 105 && couldnt be happier plan to gain a lil more. :-) never been 100 pounds in my life. my matabolisum has always been sooo fast.

Like everyone else, I Googled "methadone weight gain" and ended up here. I have almost the exact same symptoms as everyone else. The weight gain was "shocking", diet and/or exercise had no effect on it. Wasn't like regular weight gain. Here are my stats......

In the winter I fluxuate between 185-195 lbs, in the summer, 180-190 lbs. 195 is like the top end of the top end for weight gain for me, anything higher and something else is wrong. Something happened this month that has NEVER happened before. The scale I stepped on said 200 lbs. THAT woke me right up. The even weirder thing is that it never fluxuated. I was a steady 200 lbs for 3.5 weeks.

That got me on the internet and to you fine people and after reading 100 messages, patterns begin to emerge. The weight gained by all was "shocking". Everyone was a steady weight for the longest time until they took methadone and THEN they ballooned up. Another common denominator is how the weight was different than other weight like.....it was not fat. After reading all your posts and my own experiences, I came to the obvious conclusion that the methadone was causing water retention.

Diet and exercise have very little effect on water retention. People posted how they worked out more and changed their diet which in the past always worked and now did not. I'm here not only to reflect but to offer help. REAL help........read on.

Now I'm convinced it's water retention so I end up taking two of my father's Lasix which is a diueretic (makes you lose water and pee a lot). I made sure to take it very spaced out from my last methadone dose like, 18 hours. Not more than 35 minutes later I GOTTA pee and it's a strong stream pee that lasts a good 20 seconds. Right there I realize that I haven't pee'd that strong/long for quite some time. My pee was always like a little trickle. No one analyzes their pee until there is something wrong.

So I take my long pee, very happy and go lay down. 12 minutes later I GOTTA pee again and again it's an exact same type pee. Long and strong and in 1 hour I pee'd just like that 6 times. I pee'd more in that hour than I did the previous three days. The next 6 hours are just like this with each hour maybe having one less pee turn then the prior. Took the dose at 5 pm and this stayed constant for 6 hours. Couldn't sleep but still was getting up once an hour after midnight. Here are the numbers.

When I woke up that Monday morning (actually two days ago from the day of this post) I weight 203.4 lbs. When I weighed myself the following morning I weighed 197.2. YES.....that means I pissed out over 6 lbs of fluids. THIS almost took me down to where I should be at 195. I think I got a little more to go so I am going to repeat the procedure tomorrow, Thursday. Same as I did on Monday and I will report back with any results.

This forum truly helped me out and convinced me about my water retention theory. I hope MY post will help other out there and convince them this water retention theory is the real deal. If you are like me and are catching this in the early phase, a dose of Lasix or some other pharm grade dieuretic will definitely help. For those that are like 40 lbs of water retained, probably a once a week type procedure would be best for you. Pee out 6 lbs once a week and for those that are saying it's only water weight and he'll get it all back with a few glasses of water, I ate and drank regular all day Monday.....I didn't withhold anything. The results........

I really felt the results on Tuesday, the day after my Lasix procedure (sounds funny, eh??? Like the eye surgery). It's like when you get fat slowly....you don't realize it until you hit a breaking point. Someone asks you if you're pregnant, your buddys make fun of you. Pants don't fit. Never realized how bad my body was getting. Tuesday I was getting erections like I used to, I roll with a mouth full of saliva I can't remember ever having before due to excessive dry mouth. I thought I was gonna start drooling like the dogs in the Westminister Dog Show!!! My pee's were normal it was like my body got rebooted. Like it's back online now which had me thinking if my saliva glands were under perfoming, my penis was under performing, my bladder was under performing it's safe to assume other bodily processes were under performing like my metabolism!!!! Let's speculate.....

We have all this info now so here is my speculation and I would enjoy reading yours. From what I have read, methadone parks itself in our livers and it parks itself there for days. We take them everyday, all day so it's piling up slowly and I believe so much so that water has no where to go. Can't live without your liver but all it's all just fat and water. I think the body is reacting to the methadone piling up in one's liver and creating a water retention area for survival. Normally we drink water, our bodies absorb it and send it everywhere and use it as it's needed. Like gas is to a car, water is to the human body but with the pile up of methadone the body goes into this water retention mode, diverting directly into it!! I always had super dry mouth and barely had anything to pee out of my bladder why???? Cause all the water I was drinking was being diverted into this water retention area or areas around my body due to the methadone pile up.

It's all just speculation but the facts speak for themselves. Would love to hear from others that do something similar, doesn't have to be lasix just any pharm grade dieuretic. I'd bet someone in your family or one of your friends (or one of your friend's family) would have a dieuretic right now just sitting in their medicine cabinet. Like I said, space it out as much as you can but give it a shot and if you do, don't do it on a work day or any day you won't be around a toilet!!!

I truly hope this info helps others, especially the ones here on this forum that have definitely helped me. Take care.




Anxiously Awaiting Your Replies,

JBRONCFAN

anonymous wrote:

I was working as a Registered Nurse and one of my patients fell out of his wheelchair ending up flat on his back. It was lunchtime, so the only person I could find was the girl I was going to lunch with. We picked him up and put him back.That said, I ended up in excruciating pain due to a herniated disc which happened when the pt. was in mid air.Somehow I didn't drop him and make matters even worse. Anyway , this happened when I was 39yrs. old. After many surgeries, I live my life in constant pain, I've gained a huge amt. of weight, which I blame on the methadone 40mg. every 6 hrs. That's 160mg. per day. I don't know how to explain it, but it's a different type of fat than when I gained weight before, like from pregnancies.If anyone else has this problem and their self esteem is just about gone. I'd love to hear your story.
(the lifting accident happened 15yrs. ago, The trips to Drs. never stop.)

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hey my name is robin you and have pretty simular stories i would like to talk to you if you could email i would like to ask some question but perferre to talk by email thanks

hi i have just started a methadone program and was 6st 8 when i started it 4 weeks ago and i am now 7st9 my apearance is really important to me as i want to become a model and obviously that wont happen if i gain alot of weight i really dont know what to do and i really dont want to be on the methadone but its so hard to come off help lease any advice would be much apreciated xx

i have been on methadone for 4 years and gained 40 pounds i just put on the 40 pounds in last 2 years, i talked to my doctor about it and he said the methadone and other opiates make your body resistant to lose weight, it doesnt mean methadone makes you gain weight it means once you gain it you cant get it off. What he suggested is to decrease the medicine by 10% this month and that should start to help, decreasing the amount you take even by just a little bit will allow the body to lose weight, he says we will see i just started my reduction today.

@Mymichelle37- OMG! Please fill me in on the HCG diet! I have been on the methadone program for 9 months, and gained well over 80 pounds! It is sickening... I have tried everything, like you stated; gym memberships, diet pills, exercise, appetite controllors, etc. I need to know what you are doing to lose your weight! Summer is coming and I want to be able to feel comfortable, in my own skin! Please respond!! Thanks so much!!

I was in a coma and when I woke had severe headaches to go with my Brain Injury and was placed on a very high dose of methadone for pain Like 250mg a day I was also put on, fentanyl and Dilaudid.  I was always slim and just like everyone else I put on 76 lbs in 4 months I have stuggled with it for 8 years now i have high BP, had a stroke, went into renal failure, and had my gull bladder removed.  I hate to leave the house because of my weight and I am just so depressed to top it off I have no stamina.  I am now down to 10mg of methadone and no others and I am still not loosing could my metabolism be messed up thanks Kim

i have been on methadone for a year now for sever back pain and i have gained 40 pounds. It is hard to get off but i have no choice to it has also caused the right side of my heart to be inlarged i just found out cause mine is now and i have never had a problem with my heart before till my dr put me on this 

I am REALLY anxious to hear about your experience with the hcg diet. my husband and I are starting the "gorge" part tomorrow. Any tips?/ I was kinda afraid that since nothing else has worked ofr weight loss while on methadone that i would be somehow resistant to this also. How are you now???