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Does Buprenorphine Itself Cause Weight Gain

daddysgone

Bluelighter
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Oct 22, 2007
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I was curious if buprenorphine causes weight gain. I know that people often gain weight on bupe or methadone but this is often attributed to the change in lifestyle which accompanies bupe or methadone maintenance (better eating habits, etc.).

Consider the following:
If someone were to begin bupe maintenance, but not change his diet or activity level in any way, is there a mechanism which might account for weight gain.

The reason I ask is that I have put on about 10 pounds since starting bupe, and I have not changed by diet or excercise routine in any way. The only thing I can attribute to is the bupe. Is this possible?
 
I've never noticed any weight gain and I've been on bupe for years.

On the other hand almost everyone I know who's on methadone is kinda fat...
 
I was on buprenorphine. 4mg every morning for just over 2 years and I never noticed any change in weight.

Try having smaller, more frequent meals to raise your metabolism throughout the day, drink as much water as you can, and have a cut-off time at night after which you don't allow yourself to eat anything (e.g. after 8 PM).

Eat complex carbs in multiple small meals in the AM hours and focus more on protein in the PM hours, also taking small, frequent meals. Don't entirely cut out fat; just keep it low and try to eliminate sugar from your diet (a useless foodstuff).
 
when I was on it, I never noticed a weight change

it killed my appetite, like most opiates/opioids
 
Im just trying to establish if there is a mechanism by which bupe might cause weight gain.

Might the decrease of peristalsis lead to weight gain? If this is the case I imagine all opioids would lead to weight gain.

As I said, my diet and exercise regimen has remained constant and the only change has been my being on bupe, so I obviously I am suspicious that bupe might be the culprit. If so, I would like to know by what mechanism it is causing the weight gain.
 
perhaps your regimen before you began the bupe maintenance began was keeping your weight down
 
decreased peristalsis won't make you gain weight... temporary shit weight, maybe.
 
decreased peristalsis = increased shit weight yeah, but opiates destroy my appitite, so opiates (I've never tried bupe, I'm partial to hydrocodone/morphone and morphine) cause my weight to actually go down. I would imagine bupe is the same way.
 
no I meant your medication regimen. Were you addicted to a full agonist prior to going on bupe?

Incidentally the comparison between chronic methadone and buprenorphine is possibly not helpful. There are serious hormonal differences:

1. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Jan;90(1):203-6. Epub 2004 Oct 13.

Plasma testosterone and sexual function in men receiving buprenorphine
maintenance for opioid dependence.

Bliesener N, Albrecht S, Schwager A, Weckbecker K, Lichtermann D, Klingmüller D.

Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Division of Endocrinology, University of
Bonn, Sigmund Freud Strasse 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany. [email protected]

High-dose methadone is well known to cause testosterone deficiency and sexual
dysfunction in opioid-dependent men. Buprenorphine is a new drug for the
pharmacotherapy of opioid dependence. Its influence on the gonadal axis has not
been investigated to date. We therefore assayed testosterone, free testosterone,
estradiol, SHBG, LH, FSH, and prolactin in 17 men treated with buprenorphine.
Thirty-seven men treated with high-dose methadone and 51 healthy blood donors
served as controls. Sexual function and depression were assessed using a
self-rating sexual function questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory.
Patients treated with buprenorphine had a significantly higher testosterone level
[5.1 +/- 1.2 ng/ml (17.7 +/- 4.2 nmol/liter) vs. 2.8 +/- 1.2 ng/ml (9.7 +/- 4.2
nmol/liter); P < 0.0001] and a significantly lower frequency of sexual
dysfunction (P < 0.0001) compared with patients treated with methadone. The
testosterone level of buprenorphine-treated patients did not differ from that of
healthy controls. In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time that
buprenorphine, in contrast with high-dose methadone, seems not to suppress plasma
testosterone in heroin-addicted men. To this effect, buprenorphine was less
frequently related to sexual side effects. Buprenorphine might therefore be
favored in the treatment of opioid dependence to prevent patients from the
clinical consequences of methadone-induced hypogonadism.

free full text here
 
I seriously doubt bupe caues weight gain. If anything, I eat less while on it. I THINK you already hit the nail on the head, and it's by and large attributed to a drastic change in life style (not for you of course).

I actually once asked myself this same question, and I took extra note to pay attention to my eating habits, physical activity (or lack there of) and my weight. The change only seemed apparent when I wasn't minding my health, which really has nothing to do with drugs imo.
 
I seriously doubt bupe caues weight gain. If anything, I eat less while on it. I THINK you already hit the nail on the head, and it's by and large attributed to a drastic change in life style (not for you of course).
I actually once asked myself this same question, and I took extra note to pay attention to my eating habits, physical activity (or lack there of) and my weight. The change only seemed apparent when I wasn't minding my health, which really has nothing to do with drugs imo.



My girl has gained weight whilst on the bupe. We both started out on 32mg daily and now we're down to 8-12mg daily. She has gone from around 60kg to 80 something, it has crushed the poor girl's confidence tremendously. She was the same, we used to walk everyday about 20 mins to the clinic and both eat heathily, and her exercise/diet regime has not changed. I, on the other hand cannot put on any weight at all. Our doctor said that bupe does something to the metabolism. Since gaining the weight she has, she hasn't put anymore on or lost any either. We've noticed that if we have a speed binge while having our bupe everyday, she loses next to weight and I lose a noticable amount. However, if we have a binge on the speed when we haven't had any bupe for a few days, she will lose some weight and the cellulite on the back of her legs basically disappears. She is so upset about it that she's terrified its not the bupe that is the cause. The beautiful fairy told me the only reason it troubles her so is because she's ashamed to been seen by people I know in public.
 
Because Bupe made me so tired, I always wanted sweet, sugary, caffienated things, thus I found myself drinking a soda 50% of the day. So far in the last 13 days since stopping Bupe, I've lost the ~15lbs I gained due to not consuming sugar, strictly vitamins and protiens. Tack on 15-20% to your weight now if you're on this for more than ~18 months.
 
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