Does methadone make u gain weight

[MaraDnB]

I have heard from many people that methadone makes you gain weight.  the doctor at the clininc and my psychiatrist and my primary care doctor all insit that it doesnt... they say it makes you crave sugar and most people gain the weight because they werent eating right before they started the program, and the done makes you crave sugar.  I need an answer from someone who is actually in the program.  I dont want to hear he said she saids... i need the truth.  I spent 600 dollars on a personal trainer last month and lost 15 pounds and 6% body fat... i dont want that to come back.  HELP
-Mara

[MartineSha]

Early days. You will see.

[MartineSha]

You contradict yourself. If people are finally eating right, they would not be obese. And there is simply no other exp-lanation for extreme weight gain 100 percent of the time. Why do people keep on lying about this subject. Also; NOT WATER RETENTION, you can not retain over 20 pounds of water on a daily basis. IT IS FAT. And I am no longer fat, which is 100 percent because I am no longer on Methadone.

[Mace21]

U r right same thing is happening to me now this is why I looked it up, I used to be 115 w abs n obliques I am now up to 140 with no muscles in my stomach and a doughnut around my waist only I'm ready to kms! I'm also trying the starvation, than I tried the healthy then I just gave up and started dropping my dose just a few weeks ago, I have a while to go though :( I'm on 70mg and I'm going down 1mg a week ... I just want my body back! I'm wondering if I go back to the gym while on methadone if this will work? I haven't tried because I figured I'd be wasting my time anyone know about this  

[MartineSha]

ACTUALLY IT SLOWS YOUR METABOLISM. THAT IS WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE FOR SUCH A LONG TIME. IT MAKES YOU GAIN WEIGHT DESPITE WHAT YOU EAT. I TRIED A NEAR STARVATION DIET, AND STILL GAINED MORE WEIGHT.  AS SOON AS I DROPPED MY DOSE WITH NO CHANGE IN DIET. I LOST WEIGHT. FACT>

[jingie1971]

I started methadone 5 yrs ago& I weighed 165& now I weigh 225pds I was up to 226 milagrams & a split dose but now down to a total of 112& I’m going down 3-5 milagrams a week cause I want off of this crap yeah it has helped me but made things worse with my health & I’m also going through menopause also whatever the case may be I need to be off of this methadone cause sugar cravings are bad cravings are no joke!!!

[MartineSha]

That is completely dishonest. There is no increase in sugar craving, and everyone except the rarest person gains weight very quickly. Your metabolism is slowed to such extent that dieting, even starving yourself is of little use. You need to reconcile yourself to becoming obese if you take Methadone.

[MartineSha]

That makes no sense. You have a high metabolism, yet you gained a ton of weight, but you are telling this person that it DOESN'T? Your logic is flawed, unless you have been eating candy non stop day and night.

[nette2642]

I just got off the methadone maintenance program and I believe that if you watch what you eat and you control what you eat you may not gain weight. I have a high metabolism. And I did gain weight on the methadone maintenance program. So I believe that methadone itself,  does not make you gain weight, but it does increase your appetite by a lot. Again, I have a very high metabolism. And in a year I went from 111 pounds to 168 on the methadone maintenance program.

[rosewantsout]

omg I m in the same boat do you think even if we tamper off to 0 we will feel that bad.

[GiNaMaRie143]

I am currently on methadone for 2 years now i was sniffing herion before that if it wasnt for methadone i would probably still be on herion. Methadone saved my life but now i gained so much weight and i feel at tho it is the methadone that is doing it to me so to answer your ? Yes it does so many other people i no that are on it gained some amount of weight. I dont no if it is the sugar foods i grave or the medicine it self but either way it is from the methedone

[rrhiannan]

I gained 25-30lbs on methadone & as soon as I got off it I lost 25lbs in a month!! Yes it makes everyone on it gain. Everyone I c that I went to the clinic with has gained tremendously. Soboxone doesn't or hasn't made me gain.

[emk526]

You are one lucky one in hundreds then and God bless you that you have lost weight.  But if you talk to the nurse at your clinic the FACT is that yes you can and usually do put on weight for a number of reasons, one your living healthier so eating more, but the more is generally sweets now, you have more fatigue with methadone so your metabolism slows down.  i've not heard about the teeth rotting but you are quick to denounce others just because you have been fortunate enough not to put on weight.  Don't understand where your anger is coming from, this is just a forum for everyone to express their feelings and issues they have had, just because you have not, does not mean they are lying or need to get their facts straight.  Perhaps you need to do something about your attitude since you don't have to address weight issues, work on not being miserable

[Oregon35M]

I am tall and typically slender male age 35, I've been on methadone for almost 16 years! I weened off methadone a few years ago and became ridiculously skinny (160lbs and 6'4) I switched to suboxone and the entire time I was still losing weight on suboxone, frightening amount of Weight loss, skinny face etc. now I'm back on methadone at 80mgs(my average dose for over a decade) and I slowly gained about 50 plus pounds. I've topped off at about 230 lbs and I don't look "fat" per say because I'm so tall I can balance out the extra weight but looking at old pictures of myself (especially when I was on the suboxone) my face is much puffier now, and puffier than when I had never taken methadone. I'm steady at this weight of 230 lbs and don't seem to be gaining anymore but I feel like I d be way better losing about 30 lbs and the strangest thing is that I barely take in 1000 calories a day. I do eat lot of sugars and fats but I'm vegetarian. Within the last year I've been apparently diagnosed with an under active thyroid and since taking levothyroxine haven't seemed to lose much weight. I'm seriously going to start working out more often and try and eat less sugar and see if that helps. Also I am convinced methadone hurts teeth health as I've seen so many people have this issue.
I should also mention that I am not on methadone (currently) for addiction. I take it for pain and I don't abuse it or take more than prescribed. Just wanted to share that I've also joined the "50# weight gain" club since being on methadone

[Martinigal]

After reading many of these comments I think I am the only one who is on Methadone to manage the chronic pain of Fibromyalgia.

When I first started it was like a miracle drug.  I've never been high on Methadone, my dose (10 mg am, 5 mg pm) doesn't get me high, but it did put an end to so many of the horrible affects of Fibromyalgia.  I had so much energy and my head became so much clearer.  I got my life back.  I could clean, go grocery shopping, it was amazing.  Of course you'd have to understand the devastation of Fibromyalgia to understand the miracle of getting some control of your life again.

I did, however gain a huge amount of weight on methadone.  And, for the life of me, I can't shed a single pound!  I eat a very healthy diet.  Lots of fish, complex grains and good fats.  I have a very complex medical history, once involving having 4 pulmonary embolisms at once.  This required me to go on a drug called Coumain and to limit my intake of Vitamin K, a natural blood clotter.  Vitamin K is found primarily in leafy green veggies, so this makes it especially hard for me to maintain a balanced diet, but I take many vitamin and mineral supplements to make up for what I can't eat.

So here I am, so incredible unhappy at 240 lbs (5'9"), knowing that if I go off Methadone I will go back to the hell of Fibromyalgia.  I'm not afraid of withdrawl from Methadone, I'm afraid of losing my life again.  Of spending days on end unable to shower, washing my hair, even wake up.  Of my head being so full of fog I no longer read, one of the greates loves in life.

Nothing else came close to the relief I've experienced with methadone.  I will say, after being on it for 9 months, the effects are starting to wain a bit.  I don't have as much energy anymore and my head get's a bit foggy again.  So, do I increase my methadone to get my life back, but surely also gain more weight, or do I just get off it now and spend the rest of my days isolated and in pain?  I feel like it's Sophie's Choice.  There's no good answer.

[Martinigal]

Wow, all caps, you must be really angry.

It is you that has no idea what you're talking about.  I went on Methadone for chronic pain relief.  My history is complex, but I am unable to take other pain relievers and it was either Methadone or continue to lie in bed for the rest  of my life.
As far as all of us piggies just eating sugar all day long, what a joke.  I've gained 80 lbs from Fibromyalgia.  I then lost 40 while I spent 2 stints in the hospital.  Came out of the hospital, started methadone and the 40 lbs came on in 9 months.
I DO NOT eat added sugar.  My diet is very clean, I eat salmon, complex carbohydrates and good fats; ie: olive oil, avocado and coconut oil.  I am unable to exercise because of some very painful tendon disorders which have even affected my feet!
So don't you dare act like a know it all, when your all caps message makes it appear you're lit on something.  This kind of ignorance gets under my skin like nothing else.  I get it from my doctor all the time and it's ********.  Methadone makes some of us gain weight regardless of the healthy clean diets we follow, as well as heavy vitamin and mineral supplementation.
Shut your pie hole!

[tramuser99]

I was given methadone to help taper me off other meds and I can tell you first hand the crap is strong.  When I was on opiates I gained 35lbs and I used to be a gym rat.  In fact I avoided seeing people because I knew if they saw my condition they would know something was wrong with me.  Opiates definitely make you crave sugar, plus its not like they give you motivation for the gym either.  I also got so depressed I developed a food addiction I never had before, I was eating because of being depressed.  

I think maintenance programs are good for certain individuals, basically depending on how you handle depression/stress and what drug you were on.  If you are a former herion user and not willing to go to a inpatient rehab then subs or methadone is better than staying on smack.  However if you are on regular prescription meds I think methadone is just side-stepping the issue.  

[TheGreenMile]

What you need to do to stay/Keep clean is WILLPOWER, all the way, you also need to really WANT it, if u've managed to come off AND stay off the Kit, then you will have the willpower to do it. Good Luck. x

[Matt_C1984]

I'm have very mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand, I've been on methadone for a year and a half (220 mg now) and have gained 20-30 pounds. Most of that came very quickly, and seems to be extremely hard to lose. That said, the scientist in me knows better than to assume that correlation equaks causation. While it certainly does seem as though most people posting here (myself included) have had significant weight gain which seems completely attributable to our medication, I also notice vast changes in my eating and exercise habits. There's also the fact that methadone is a full mu-opiate receptor agonist just like oxy, heroin or any other drug we've likely been abusing. While addicted to these substances, I lost a lot of weight. It may strongly seem as though methadone alone causes weight gain because of this, but it just doesn't make much sense from a pharmalogical point of view; methadone has no real effect on your body that isn't duplicated by any other opiate.

That said, with this much anecdotal evidence, it's certainly worth rigorous study. It's also very important to find a doctor without a vested interest, and preferably a clinic like this as well. That may be harder in the US where they are always for-profit businesses (excepting insurance) - here in Canada, we get our methadone mostly from any old pharmacy, and it's dispensed just like (and alongside) any other medication. This makes staff less likely to embellish the therapeutic effects of the drug, or minimize the side-effects.

All I know is that so far, methadone has given me my life back. I don't hesitate to say that I would nearly certainly be lying in a box underground now without it. No, it's not for everyone; you need to be very well-informed before initiating maintenance therapy. However if used properly as intended and under competent medical supervision, it can provide a second chance to those people who had all but given up on life. Naturally many people who have quit methadone - recently or not - will be more biased toward reporting negative effects since those are there most recent experiences, and can easily overshadow the years of stability it provided.

[AngieB81]

Liquid or not Methadone WILL NOT rot your teeth. What doctor told you that?  I have been taking Methadone (liquid) for almost 2 years now I never had even one cavity before. Still Don't have the slightest problem with my teeth. Meth mouth is when you are hooked on meth amphetamine. Thats what rots your teeth.

[barbval]

I have been on methadone pill form from pain management for severe back pain, and yes my teeth have chipped ( molars) and ive gained about 35 lbs..it definitely is the cause..i never had a weight problem or tooth problem !!!! gonna try to get on something different for a long acting pain med...

[megmmm93]

I'm a methadone patient myself, 21 years young, female. From California. Wow you took the words right out of my mouth, tho I have no kids, I have   family and my fiance. The way I saw it finally was to stop beating myself up for not going through that 3-5 day pain and then just leave it alone forever and I'm home free. The thing is I had gone through that 3-5 days over and over again. Sometimes   because I felt I was at my bottom and needed to quit, others just because I wanted my tolerance of H to go down so I could better enjoy my high. I had even quit and not relapsed for two months once. The thing is whether it was 2 weeks or two months it was a never ending cycle that I could no longer control. I take it day by day instead of looking  at  where I'm going to be at in my recovery next week, next month, next year even! I'm getting a controlled dosage of methadone every day. I will never again wake up in pain due to withdraw. I'll wake up not even thinking of how I feel and I don't think of it as a fix at all. Methadone in a way did save me. I am not abusing it, I can't say the same about  H. I know I'll never ID on my methadone  dosage. And luckily I got a wonderful counselor (this is coming from someone forced into therapy and recovery for years) and she is a human being not a by the book robot. I know if nothing else she's rooting for me. And as long as I'm doing everything  I possibly can on my end she will break her back for me if need be. I'm sure other clients are hardly as lucky to click or hit it off with there counselor as me. But if you have a legitimate  complaint about your counselor there's always  someone  of higher power to talk to. I'll quit my rant but if at all you can stop beating  yourself up please do. I'm sure you saved your life deciding to be on methadone , your not weak for not wanting to feel that pain you're human! Your children will never be subjected to having a user for a mother, your a strong person. Please believe that exactly how you feel is what I did I just had to see it from another point of view.. Best wishes.

[bobbibris]

Yes it does. But you do crave sweets you must watch what you eat. I have been on methadone for five years. Two years ago I walked everyday 3 miles and in 7 months I lost  65 lbs. however I got sick and the weight came back plus. It is very hard to lose weight on this drug. That is why I have been tapering off of it. This drug is the worst drug in the world. It is very difficult to come off of. I was at 50mgs a day ,now I am at 10 mg. I plan to be completely off of before Christmas. My withdraw would hopefully be like the flu. You have to be very strong and have people support you. Get off of it.

[jdhldhdmh]

My husband has been on and off of methadone for about 8 yrs was in the methadone clinic probably 4 or 5 years during that period of time.  It helped him when he was in the program he got his life back he was able to work and have money.  Yes he was still an addict because he was taking methadone.  You aren't clean if your taking methadone.  I believe in the methadone clinic program it works for the people who want help.  It sure beats buying it on the street.  He gained about 50 pounds but lost it after coming off the methadone it stores it in your fat so once you stop taking you are no longer absorbing it.  It is a very hard to drug to come off of it took him probably a month after leaving the clinic and he was on 5 mg when he left the clinic to come off it.  The depression that comes with it lasts months.

[ffrancis00]

Educate yourself on this medication and its side effects before posting your opinion.  Methadone causes your body to retain water  and slows your metabolism. Why do you think people immediately lose the excess weight once they cease the medication. There are many people who have used drugs but functioned the same (i.e. eating habits, exercise etc.) while getting high and after being "clean", myself included.  In addition you stated you have been on this medication for only a year.  Your still in the toddler league sweetie, post your dose and weight in another couple of years when you're opinion may actually count,  then re-read your uneducated post to see how stupid you sound.

[NicH74]

YES! YES! & YES!! I went from about 110 to about 190!! The only straight answer is it destroys your metabolism! I kept the same eating habits I had all my life & gained & gained. Now I am dying to lose weight & started the Atkins Diet, which I did once when I was just a social drinker no other vices. The 1st time I did this diet I dropped 20 lbs in 2 weeks, this time I;m on methadone & it's been about 3 wks or more & I've barely lost 10! One thing I remind myself though is that I wouldn't have my daughter if I was a skinny junkie, better to have her w/ me & be a good Mom & fat than the alternative!
Good Luck!

[nette2642]

I agree with you