A member has just bought this up and I want everyone who can to post suggestions please. Its bad enough having TN and all the attendant drug side effects but lots of members are unhappy about weight gain and want it GONE yesterday.
I have lost a bit of weight lately by trying to be as active as possible and cutting my fats as low as possible with adding an extra portion of fruit or veg to every meal but it’s slow going and I need to lose a lot more. I know, as many more tell me the same there are many more on here.
I’ve been talking walks every evening. My man goes with me. We walk around and praise or criticize everyone’s yard. Sometimes it’s only a 10 minute walk, sometimes an hour, depending on my pain. They say walking is the best, so we’ll see.
I hate that the drug Neurontin makes it so difficult to keep from gaining weight. I also don't feel like exercising when in pain. If anyone has a magic bullet, let us know. I just know that it takes a lot of will power not to self-medicate sith sweets.
My daughter talked me into a gym membership. But after work I am so tired I cannot make it to the gym. She gets so mad at me. I just wish that my energy level was up. I wondered which of the medications it was that made me gain. I am taking 600mg 3x a day of Neurontin. I cannot increase it any more and work. By Friday I am so exhausted that I go home and go straight to bed. I am one that used to stay up until 12 or 1am knitting. Now I am in bed by 8 or 9. My family gets so frustrated with me.
Yoga is an amazing exercise! It helps with the anxiety and depression of having TN so much. Sometimes the breathing and straining does cause my face to hurt, so I tend to pick days where I feel great and happy to do it just to avoid extra pain. Unfortunately it seems my good days are happening less then my bad days!
Hi,yes weight gain has been a big issue. Always been thin then meds caused weight to rapidly increase. I hear a lot that if I exercised and ate well I would be all better. I have MS & TN. regular people just don't get it! No one can understand just how bad constant fatique effects everything. & if you dont have TN you have no ideajust how bad pain can be. & the weight gain sure hasnt helped my self esteme, or energy. I have had to lower my dosage & quit some meds to control the pain just to lower the weight gain & have to tolerate more pain to. a balanceing act.
I have been riding a bike more instead of walking. I can go farther with less pain & my dogs really appreciate it. It really sucks that I have no control on the weight gain other than taking less & suffering more. I have been trying to find something that works without the weight gain, anticonvulsivesjust dont work for me. & my doctor is absolutely no help at all. does anyone have alternatives, currently taking only Lyrica, 150 mg a day. 200 mg works even better but adds 10 lbs.
I also have MS and TN...I've gained 10 pounds in the past three months due to the drugs for TN. I'm seeing my neuro surgeon tomorrow for a consult re: glycerol rhizotomy, which was performed on my two years ago but seems to be wearing off. At least I was drug free for two years. The decompression procedure is rarely prescribed for MS patients according to my neuro. The reason: the TN is not caused by a blood vessel but usually a lesion impacting the trigeminal nerve. Talk to your neuro about alternatives.
joylee1962 said:
Hi,yes weight gain has been a big issue. Always been thin then meds caused weight to rapidly increase. I hear a lot that if I exercised and ate well I would be all better. I have MS & TN. regular people just don't get it! No one can understand just how bad constant fatique effects everything. & if you dont have TN you have no ideajust how bad pain can be. & the weight gain sure hasnt helped my self esteme, or energy. I have had to lower my dosage & quit some meds to control the pain just to lower the weight gain & have to tolerate more pain to. a balanceing act.
I have been riding a bike more instead of walking. I can go farther with less pain & my dogs really appreciate it. It really sucks that I have no control on the weight gain other than taking less & suffering more. I have been trying to find something that works without the weight gain, anticonvulsivesjust dont work for me. & my doctor is absolutely no help at all. does anyone have alternatives, currently taking only Lyrica, 150 mg a day. 200 mg works even better but adds 10 lbs.
I put on loads of weight with the meds i am on so joined the gym and go in the morning as this is when i dont have as much pain. Also, at the minute i am being very careful about what i eat and as matthew has said, cutting down on sodas and sweets has also helped me.
I cut out Soda about 3 years ago. Instant 15 lb loss that I have managed to keep off. At that point I was on a slide up the scale, so not only did I lose, but I quit gaining-Bonus. Soda is LOADED with sodium, so it help the ticker too.
Before my MVD surgery in Dec. I was taking 2400 mg of Gabapentin (generic for Neurontin). I gained 15 pounds since I started taking it over a year ago. I am only taking 600 mg a day right now and after I have surgery on August 1st to repair my leaking brain (CSF leak), then I hope to be off of it and hopefully lose the weight. I have tried everything to lose but I cannot do high level exercise. Walking is it for me. I can feel it in my head if I try to do anything else.
Mary Christman said:
My daughter talked me into a gym membership. But after work I am so tired I cannot make it to the gym. She gets so mad at me. I just wish that my energy level was up. I wondered which of the medications it was that made me gain. I am taking 600mg 3x a day of Neurontin. I cannot increase it any more and work. By Friday I am so exhausted that I go home and go straight to bed. I am one that used to stay up until 12 or 1am knitting. Now I am in bed by 8 or 9. My family gets so frustrated with me.
I do think that Neurontin makes you feel hungry and sluggish. It’s hard for me to resist eating sweets like ice cream, pudding or yogurt and berries with whipped cream. (sorry, I know that sounds tempting). My only way to avoid the calories is to just not buy the stuff. I’m glad I’m not the only one that feels their will power is undermined by the Neurontin.
Sometimes it just does not seem fair that we have one more thing to struggle with. When the pain is in the background it sometimes makes me so anxious that I eat for whatever reason trying to make it go away or just in the anticipation. I am a stress eater now which is exactly opposite of when I was young. The ceiling fans and AC seem to set my ATN off. Which means more drugs and more of the side effects.
Sometimes I use oragel to numb my mouth when I get a zinger. Then I'm less stressed when I do eat. I'm thinking of joining Weight Watchers online (only $1.00 to join right now). Check it out if you are so inclined. Good luck.
Lois Mary Christman said:
Sometimes it just does not seem fair that we have one more thing to struggle with. When the pain is in the background it sometimes makes me so anxious that I eat for whatever reason trying to make it go away or just in the anticipation. I am a stress eater now which is exactly opposite of when I was young. The ceiling fans and AC seem to set my ATN off. Which means more drugs and more of the side effects.
Weight Watchers is a great program. I have lost and kept a lot of weight off when I would go. But for now I just can’t add anything else to my life. I am hoping after surgery and getting off the meds I will be able to lose. For now I’m having an issue with my knee too and can’t walk which was the only form of exercise that I was dong. Hope everyone has a great day!
I as so mad about my weight gain. I am not a small person after having 6 kids, and I was trying to eat right and lose some weight, and then I got hit with TN. For 6 months I was put on Gabapentin and wow my weight soared even higher. I have since have MVD, lost 12 pounds because of not being able to eat after my surgery. Then I went off my Gabapentin and started to eat again, I gained back only 7 pounds. Now I eat more healthy, but the needle just sits at the same numbers. People say oh you should work out. Well I do walk, but hello people I just had brain surgery and I am not allowed to work out for at least a year! So anyway if anyone has any ideas on how to lose weight and not workout please let me know.
I was on Lyrica for about six months the first part of 2007, it worked well but I gained like ten pounds as it made me hungry all the time. I am currently taking Carbamazepine for about seven weeks now and so far so good. I have not gained any weight yet. It did make me really tired at first, but I am doing better with it and I exercise in the morning now when I have the most energy. Seems to be working for me so far. Good luck to you, Min joylee1962 said:
Hi,yes weight gain has been a big issue. Always been thin then meds caused weight to rapidly increase. I hear a lot that if I exercised and ate well I would be all better. I have MS & TN. regular people just don't get it! No one can understand just how bad constant fatique effects everything. & if you dont have TN you have no ideajust how bad pain can be. & the weight gain sure hasnt helped my self esteme, or energy. I have had to lower my dosage & quit some meds to control the pain just to lower the weight gain & have to tolerate more pain to. a balanceing act.
I have been riding a bike more instead of walking. I can go farther with less pain & my dogs really appreciate it. It really sucks that I have no control on the weight gain other than taking less & suffering more. I have been trying to find something that works without the weight gain, anticonvulsivesjust dont work for me. & my doctor is absolutely no help at all. does anyone have alternatives, currently taking only Lyrica, 150 mg a day. 200 mg works even better but adds 10 lbs.
I am finding that the meds seem to increase my desire to eat. Net result is weight gain. I am now watching everything I put in my mouth. Exercise would be great, put I have to be carefull. Increased blood flow to the brain area (the right side temple area) due to exercise, bending over, or work that causes increased blood flow, seems to set off an attack so moderation and very short periods of work, is the key. I packed on 17 pounds before I realized what was happening, have lost 3 of those and now holding, wish you could lose as fast as gain. The other thing that I am having trouble with is that I seem to have lost about 20 points off my IQ and have a real short term memory problem. For someone who was known for a memory like an elephant and smart as a whip, people really look at me funny now, but what the hay not their problem right, I am the one that has to live with this junk.