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Opioids Anyone have weight gain from opioids?

kayaker318

kayaker318

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
Messages
67
Location
USA
Has anyone experienced weight gain from Opioids? Specifically I am referring to Demerol but will entertain hearing about all others. Previously when I was on Percocet (Oxy/Tylenol) I did not gain weight. For some reason Demerol, along with making me more lethargic, also gives me an increase in sugar and carb cravings. Most cravings intensify later in the day with more pills in my system.

I have stepped up my gym workouts because aside from suffering from chronic pain I now need to lose the 25 pounds I put on after being on Demerol for 2 years. Just in time for the holidays!#?! 8(
 
Yeah I did, its pretty common. When I started using I was exercising a ton, I had actually gotten down like 35-40 lbs, then started to develop my habit and slowly began exercising less and less.

I didn't gain weight too fast. After the first time I cold turkeyed oxy I was using for like 9 month (addicted 3) and I still weighed around the same and even dropped below 170 from not eating and dehydration. But with 2 more years of use(off and on, but more often on) I've put on around 15 lbs. Its mostly just because I hardly workout anymore. A couple of times I started getting back into it for a few weeks but never kept it going.

Opiates (referring to almost exclusively oxycodone and heroin) make me crave sweets/sugars like crazy, too, that is completely normal. When I'm using I will eat some type of sweets every night, somedays be eating candy all day and eat donuts/muffins a lot in the morning. Considering how awful I eat, I am surprised I haven't gained more weight. Thing is nothing causes me weight gain like beer, which I use to drink a lot of and no longer drink much of anymore.

I also will note that I never liked coffee until I started using opiates, now I don't go a day without it...or the opiates.
 
Funny, I always thought that opiates/opioids made you LOSE weight. I certainly have no appetite when I'm on them.
 
^Thats a misconception. Just look at Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys as a prime example. He sat around just doing heroin and ended up at 325 lbs
 
Yeah there are plenty of people who gain weight on heroin. After your body gets used to it, you start to eat a lot on it, hah. You definitely get the munchies on H. I've gotten them way more from dope then I ever did smoking weed.
 
Meperidine/Pethidine has an interesting pharmacological profile compared to other common opioids, and may affect certain neurological/physiological functions so as to promote fat storage = weight gain. Glucocorticoids (steroids) for example, will actually alter metabolic processes, and essentially change the way your body uses and stores different fats. Also, both of these and many other classes of medication cause edema, and this retention of excess fluid in the body's tissues can add pounds of extra weight. Habitual opioid use also does not promote healthy levels of hormones/amino acids/etc which can result in a broad spectrum of symptomatic effects including weight gain.
 
RTrain>> I definitely drink a lot more coffee too since being on the opiates. Most likely to counteract the drowsiness I feel. I hear you about beer. Back in my 20's (many moons ago) I quit drinking and automatically dropped 20 pounds. Of course at the time I was living in Manhattan where walking all over town was a way of life. And high metabolism was burning brightly.

Perfect example of sweet cravings -- AA meetings are full of coffee and sweets. Amazing how much sugar is in alcohol so there must be a replacement. But I digress...
 
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morphonorconic>> This is totally fascinating. It makes a lot of sense to me since I did not gain weight on the Percs/Oxy which I was on for approx. 4 years. But very gradually and what seems like practically overnight I gained 25 pounds after 2 years on Demerol. The worst part is that I cannot seem to lose it (as I am still on the Demerol) and I have been working out 5x/a week with very limited calorie intake for 2 months. I am extremely frustrated and concerned. I also believe there is water retention involved in addition to constipation which is par for the opiate course.

I am going to go back on the Percocets since this Demerol weight gain is depressing me in a bad way. As if being in pain wasn't enough I really can't afford to be fat on top of it. Not a real self esteem booster.
 
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Kayaker, I feel you about being in pain and fat! I take opiates because of these terrible back problems I have, which means I can't exercise, yet I have 25 lbs to lose...so I'm in pain and fat...and probably slowly becoming addicted to my meds. It sucks to be me right now.
 
^^ Hey xtcgrrrl thanks for your understanding. I just realized I responded to one of your posts earlier so I do remember your back pain which is no fun. I had debilatating back pain at one point about 10 years ago. At the time I remember the doctor just giving me a muscle relaxer and ibuprofen. Not helpful. I have chronic migraines which are ridiculously painful and I have managed to exercise only because of the relief the opiates give me. I try to go earlier in the day so I have less pills in my system. If it weren't for opiates I know for a fact I would be in constant pain and not doing anything. Believe me I hate being on them but it helps me function.
 
Hardcore habits make me lose wait

All the women at my methadone clinic bitch about it making them gain weight
 
Opiates make me hungry but I try to eat healthy & havent gained more than 5 pounds in 3 years with my prescribed vicodin.
 
I lost a shit load of weight on morphine and oxy. I was already skinny when I lost the weight. I got straight emaciated.

I suppose if you get constipated you will gain weight. Some opiates do that. Maybe a bit of laxative.

I had to take laxative once on morphine cuz I got crucially constipated. I forget what it was but it was the strongest otc laxative. I also used a suppository. I shat like 20 lbs of normal feces. But other than that opiates make me lose weight and keep losing weight. I just got constipated once.

I have gone through CT WDs a lot though and that knocks off ten lbs each time, so maybe cuz I ran out of my meds a lot, I lost weight. But in general opiates made me more skinny.
 
I've been on a ton of opiates for a very long time, and I am incredibly thin. I'm not my experience is relevant to this thread, however, as I *always* have been. I also eat 8 times a day, apparently more than a high school linebacker lol. YMMV.
 
I think there is basically no set rule on how its going to effect every person. I have 2 friends who are on the heavier side and have opiate addictions. Both seem to have lost weight, one more than the other.

The one who has lost more weight is always scrounging for money and probably can only support getting high for half the week on his paycheck alone. Then he is either supplementing with Subs or he is begging everyone he knows for money to get high. So he probably lost a lot of weight from not eating b/c he's sick half the time. Living like the you are bound to lose weight.

The other one actually has a good job and, as far as I recall(haven't talked to him much over past year), maintains a steady habit and is good about rationing his supply to always have something. He looks lighter b/c he lost a lot of muscle weight, was a college football player, now he doesn't lift. But he does hike and kayak a lot, so that probably helps him in the weight loss area. But his diet is awful, he definitely would have bad munchies from opiates. All he eats is pizza, cereal and ice cream. Like I couldn't go over his apartment without him offering me some ice cream and seeing he had a pizza box in the kitchen.
 
Whosajiggawaaa said:
That sounds horrible. Couldn't you phrase it more gentle-like! Heard u've gotta be on OPs long-term for that to happen 10 yrs +, but it's just forum info really.
Click to expand...

It starts getting lower within months of use, but it usually takes more than a couple years to get to the point where you need trt. That's just one mechanism by which opioids may cause weight gain. There has to be some more direct effects...
 
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