I was on cymbalta for a couple of years and I gained weight on it. I was also on lipitor, Zetia, prednisone, Fosamax, methotrexate, Enbrel, and welbutrin with occasionally taking flexiril. Because of my damaged liver the drs took me off of lipitor, zetia, and Cymbalta. We found out it was the Cymbalta that was hurting my liver. I am not very happy about all of this. *Note (the withdrawal from cymbalta was very painful).
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They have now put me on Neurontin. I am gaining weight almost daily or at least it looks that way by the scales and my clothes. PLEASE HELP with any advise. I do not want to go back to pain again but I am already very fat from all the meds.

Neurontin is a big weight gainer . Try Topamax you loose weight taking it. also Keppra . that is what I take . good luck

Hello gladtobealive ~ Welcome to NeuroTalk.
I took Neurontin quite a few years ago and I also gained quite a bit of weight but every bit fell off and when I stopped it - thank goodness - and I didn't even diet!!

And - just like razzle said - I took Topamax and weight fell off - too much!! I had to stop taking Topamax and then start it again very slowly to stabilize my weight.

I'm certainly not a doctor and far, far from an expert but I think all the meds can affect all of us in different ways.

Maybe the best thing for you to do is tell your doctor just how things are going and how you feel about Neurontin .... There are other meds to try.

But if Neurontin is HELPING you, maybe the docotr can help you fight the weight gain?

Here's wishing you well -- wishing you the VERY BEST.
And here's a hug

thank you for this information. i will talk to my doctor about this.

Thank you for this information and for your kindness. You do not know how much i needed a hug. it has been a long hard road and there are not too many people that understand what the pain has been like. thanks again for the cyber hug.

I have been looking for a long time for a solution to this troubling side effect. No one is making public any study to explain the weight gain with gabapentin and Lyrica.

Both drugs are not appreciably metabolized by the liver, they are excreted whole by the kidney. I believe that most of the weight gain is fluid retention.

However, taking diuretics does not improve this, and diuretics have negative side effects of their own, and do not offer much of a solution.

Also not all people get this side effect. But many do. Whatever makes some immune to this effect remains unknown.

Thank YOU mrsD ...
Your answers - knowledge - are so valuable. We appreciate them very much.

Thank you for the reply and the information. I feel as if the meds make us better in some ways but hurt us in so many other ways. I wish we did not have to take any of them.

That's one of the primary reasons I didn't start on neurontin when it was suggested...that and the fear of hair loss.

I think the weight gain issue is very real indeed! I was on Paxil for years and slowly gained 35 lbs over those years. The weight gain wasn't the reason for me going off the Paxil. But what I did discover since going off that (2 years ago? Can't remember now.) is that I lost that 35 lbs. Lots of people out there just contribute it to overeating for whatever reason on whatever med. But I just beg to differ!

I've taken neuronton/gabapentin fo about ten years, but I will soon have to make a choice, Was glad to see some of the other possibilities posted above. weight gain will be considered in the selection.thanks for the tips.

Henryb