Misc Is it even possible to lose fat while on gabapentin/pregabalin?

[InfectedWithDrugs]

I am tapering off this evil medication and as long as I was on it, losing body fat was impossible. I decided to come off of it cold turkey and within 3-4 days I lost 5lbs (probably water weight), but withdrawal was so bad that I had to get back on gabapentin to taper slowly. Within a week I gained 7lbs!!!!

I am 6'1, 196lbs, 29 years old, ectomorph body type, I lift weight 6-7 days per week (as heavy as possible) for about 40-60 minutes and then do 20-30 minutes of mid-intensity cardio. In total I lose about 600 calories in the gym. My diet is very strict. No refined sugars, no processed carbs, 1g of protein per lean body weight (155lbs), 0.4g of fats for lean body weight (62), and the rest is healthy whole unprocessed carbs (keeping it under 50g per day). My total caloric in-take is 1500 calories per day. That's cutting it REAL low. It should be at 1750 or so, but I stick with 1500. With this diet + gapabentin, I still keep GAINING weight! WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! How the hell does gapabentin slow down metabolic rate? This medication is freaking EVIL. I am also on certain medications that increase my testosterone levels (significantly) and reduce estrogen to very healthy levels, so hormones aren't a problem...

 

[Runtoparadise]

Interesting question, I've been on both Gabapentin & lyrica & have gained significant weight over the years.

I'm tall, so I can carry it ok, but I eat one meal a day, at dinner time.

Since exercising every day as part of physio I've noticed a shift in weight, but I also no longer take lyrica every day. Just prn which I know not many agree with.

Weight gain is common with both these meds, & I think dietary restriction is prob more important than hitting the gym,

Just my 2 cents though,

Rtp

 

[InfectedWithDrugs]

Yeah, but its so weird... I mean gapabentin/pregabalin must be literally shutting down vital metabolic processes to have such a drastic effect...

 

[mike.vick]

Yeah, but its so weird... I mean gapabentin/pregabalin must be literally shutting down vital metabolic processes to have such a drastic effect...

Of course it is possible, your body has rapid tollerence to the effects anyway. But if you want to speed up your metabolism, eat more calories more often so 2000 instead of 1500, but eat 6-7 times a day with fat being from cashews and sugar being from fruits, apples- that is how it is done. If your body is only processing 1500 calories, you are slowing your metabolism this way.

 

[InfectedWithDrugs]

Er... I am cutting, trying to go very low body fat percentage to get shredded
You do not do that with a caloric surplus. Of course too few calories and you will catabolize your muscle gain.

 

[mike.vick]

People can shred fat eating 5000 calories a day, If you eat cashews (healthy fat) your body gets used to metabolizing fat.

 

[InfectedWithDrugs]

That's if they have a LOT of muscle and 5000 calories per day is a caloric deficit for them. What you're describing is ketosis / keto where a person eats only 50g of healthy carbs, 1g of protein per lean body weight, and the rest are healthy fat, which make up most calories, BUT there has to be a caloric deficit.

 

[crisler]

I know a great deal about bodybuilding related things actually from 6 years on bodybuilding/com forums. What I can assure you is if you are actually accurately measuring food and actually eating 1500 calories a day NO MATTER how many carbs you eat, (Ive reached 11% bodyfat on 200g - 250g carbs), If you are eating less than your body is burning, (google tdee calculators to see how many calories you actually burn a day), you will lose weight/fat/water. There is NO DRUG in existence that can change your metabolism, if there were, thered be actual fat burners that werent just caffeine and other diuretics.

Only possibility here is that you are not eating 1500 calories, whether bad measuring and guessing, or if your not being honest with yourself. Scientifically impossible to not lose weight on 1500 calories even if you are a 4'9 woman with a 1900 calorie tdee (total daily energy expenditure). Track those calories better man its not the medication its the food. No drug can change you metabolism, it may cause bloating but thats not fat gain and that has nothing to do with metabolism, thats the bodys reaction to a particular substance and its deciding the action it wants to take it binding water to it. Good luck with your bodybuilding goals bro!

 

[blue comet]

I gained 10 pounds in very uncomfortable bloated water weight from taking gabapentin for seven weeks. Once I stopped the medicine I lost the 10 pounds, and then a few more, in about a months time.

 

[Sasha88]

That med is crazy. It worked so well for me years ago for nerve pain but I put in 20 pounds from it! Then it's like, what makes me feel worse, the pain or the fact than my clothes no longer fit!
And once I stopped, it didn't just come off. I've avoided it ever since. I think it's good if no other meds are working for you... I guess I'd rather be heavy than in complete nerve pain. But I wouldn't take it unless it truly was necessary, IMO.

 

[SKR]

My best cut was when I was hospitalized with pancreatitis, 10 days on a drip nil food or water by mouth, I maintained most if not all muscle and was cut to the bone, striations everywhere, lats like feathers and veins visible through my abs.....I used to think I knew how to cut until I was forced to as above....I went in at 90kilos at about 10% - respectable size for me on a frame designed to carry 70kg max (no training guess, I've always trained though).....i lost about 12kgs in those 10 days on a low dose anabolic (EQ)....and achieved my best look, at 78 kilos I still looked around 90kgs, classic bodybuilding - almost died but the mirror brought a smile, just had to stay away from the scales lol.....but the experience completely changed the way I think about my body and what it can handle and how it handles. My blood sugars were perfect the whole time. Yep.

 

[Moreaux]

Weight gain/loss is a matter of physics and ultimately comes down to calories in vs calories out. A calories I a unit of energy. While some medications and conditions may have a small effect on metabolism it's usually not significant enough to cause a large weight gain or prevent somebody from losing weight. However, medications can dramatically increase or decrease your appetite, which I suspect may be the case here. I recommend you calculate your BMR/TDEE and begin to accurately track your calorie consumption. You say you have cut down to 1500 calories - if that were the case you would be losing rapidly. 1500 calories is way to low for you btw. I'm 5'2 and 110lb female and my maintenance calories are 1750.

Get a good scale, preferably one that tarres and weighs on grams. Weigh all solids on the scale, and measure all liquids. Often nutritional information on food packaging will be off so measure proportioned food as well, and go by the weight measurement they have listed, not the volume as frequently they will have it with serving size = 1 cup (28g). Track everything you consume. People are inherently bad at eyeballing portion sizes, and you can be off doing so and unknowingly be adding a significant amount of extra calories (i.e. 200 here, 200 there - if you do that five times in a day that is an extra 1000).

A pound roughly = 3500 calories. To lose a pound a week you will have to have a deficit of 3500 calories a week, or 500 calories a day. To lose half a pound create a 250 calories a day deficit.

Record you calories burned from excersize as well, and eat roughly half of them back. Feel free to message me with questions - years ago I was on a variety of GABAergic drugs and found I had gained significant weight and also thought it was the medication. I was able to lose most of it before discontinuing the meds. Good luck!

 

[crzydiamond]

I know a great deal about bodybuilding related things actually from 6 years on bodybuilding/com forums. What I can assure you is if you are actually accurately measuring food and actually eating 1500 calories a day NO MATTER how many carbs you eat, (Ive reached 11% bodyfat on 200g - 250g carbs), If you are eating less than your body is burning, (google tdee calculators to see how many calories you actually burn a day), you will lose weight/fat/water. There is NO DRUG in existence that can change your metabolism, if there were, thered be actual fat burners that werent just caffeine and other diuretics.

Only possibility here is that you are not eating 1500 calories, whether bad measuring and guessing, or if your not being honest with yourself. Scientifically impossible to not lose weight on 1500 calories even if you are a 4'9 woman with a 1900 calorie tdee (total daily energy expenditure). Track those calories better man its not the medication its the food. No drug can change you metabolism, it may cause bloating but thats not fat gain and that has nothing to do with metabolism, thats the bodys reaction to a particular substance and its deciding the action it wants to take it binding water to it. Good luck with your bodybuilding goals bro!

I can't say about lyrica, but I can assure you there are indeed drugs that change metabolism. Methadone is one of them. When on it in the past I gained about 30 lbs, while eating about the same or less. When I got off methadone I didn't change eating habits or workout habits. I easily dropped that 30 lbs in a few months.

3 years ago I got back on methadone. Within a few months (knowing how I gained weight before I purposely watched my weight) I had gained about 35 lbs. it stabilized there. Slowly coming off methadone , down to about 45 mg from 95 mg...I notice a little weight loss but not much. And on methadone I can barely eat and I don't lose weight. I fully expect once off it again ill drop the weight.

The doctor confirmed its effect on my metabolism, by the way. It's not in my head

 

[crisler]

I can't say about lyrica, but I can assure you there are indeed drugs that change metabolism. Methadone is one of them. When on it in the past I gained about 30 lbs, while eating about the same or less. When I got off methadone I didn't change eating habits or workout habits. I easily dropped that 30 lbs in a few months.

3 years ago I got back on methadone. Within a few months (knowing how I gained weight before I purposely watched my weight) I had gained about 35 lbs. it stabilized there. Slowly coming off methadone , down to about 45 mg from 95 mg...I notice a little weight loss but not much. And on methadone I can barely eat and I don't lose weight. I fully expect once off it again ill drop the weight.

The doctor confirmed its effect on my metabolism, by the way. It's not in my head

Sorry for seeming like a dick or trying to seem like Im right not trying to come off like it. But I stand corrected, the only drug that has enough effect on the metabolism to be deemed significant (burns 40-80 calories on its own) is cocaine. Other than cocaine no drug is going to have a greater affect on your body's metabolism, especially not enough to where youd hain 30 lbs eating the same amount of food. What happens is you'renot into any bodybuilding or weight cutting for any reason as most normal ppl are not as well, and that causes youto really badly guesstimate how much you eat.

You gain 30lbs only possible way is as the lady above said, the drug changed your appetite, now it took more food and larger meals tosatisfy your hunger to satiety. Thats what gained you the weight. Its certain drugs affect on appetite, not the drug affecting your metabolism. People tend to confuse metabolism and appetite. Just like alot of heavy pot smokers use to tell me "weed increases my metabolism so i have to eat more now". Alot of drugs affect appetite in profound ways but not metabolism at all. If something affected your metabolism that is serious, and you'd probably be dying.