... and since I have been on Suboxone I have gained 45lbs quickly. The weight gain first presented itself as fluid retention with severe peripheral edema. I started going to specialists to figure it out and I have not had any luck yet, I have been to a nephrologist, rheumatologist, neurologist, vascular surgeon, and I am currently getting some tests for a cardiologist. All labs come back normal and all diagnostic testing comes back normal. Weight issues are a very sensitive topic for me since I had gastric bypass almost 6 years ago, and lost 110lbs, and kept all but about 10lbs off for the past 5 years until this quick weight gain occurred with the onset of Suboxone use. I have been reading other people's experience with weight gain and suboxone and I am now wondering if my weight gain was caused by Suboxone, my pain management doctor has never had a patient on Suboxone gain a lot of weight quickly, but he has said to me that it is possible. Now after reading a few entries on this support group sight, I am beginning to feel that I have found an answer. It is weird because I have no appetite, but the only thing that tastes good to me is are sweets, which if eaten in large quantities make me sick due to the gastric bypass. My reason for going on pain medicine is a newly diagnosed neurological condition called pseudo-tumor cerebri, this has caused me a lot of headaches, some days worse than others. Now after this journey with pain medication that started with the pseudo tumor diagnosis, I am in such a tailspin I just want everything to go back to normal so I can start enjoying life again. Any suggestions or comments I would appreciate. Thanks so much! Baron's mommy!!
Does Suboxone cause weight gain? I detoxed from hydrocodone and went on suboxone in April of 2009,?
Question posted by Baron's Mom on 21 Aug 2009
Last updated on 10 February 2022 by cgk34
10 Answers
Yes I have gained almost 100 pounds in 3 1/2 years... I have never been this weight... hope and pray I don't gain anymore
I've been on this medication two different points in my live from different back surgeries, and I can positively attest to you that you WILL GAIN WEIGHT in almost 100% of cases. I've also inquired with a lot of other folks I know in the region who have taken the medicine and they have seen incredible weight gain as well.
most folks, male or female, tell me the exact same thing I feel: it makes me starved and can eat anything at any time, even when I wake up in the middle of the night. I also have a ton of water weight, similar to the times I've been on steroids for other things such as chronic pain (wrecks from my time as a professional stock car race driver & also stunt driver).
be careful with this medicine - it can ruin your sex life and increase your weight exponentially faster than I could win a pole in Atlanta or Charlotte!
JRE
I have been on this medication for over a year-and-a-half for pain management. I have had many surgeries and have a plethora of health problems. I went from 175 to 250 pounds in one year. My legs are always swollen and my face was swollen as well. My thyroid condition called Hashimoto's hypothyroidism which is inherited got worse as did my hormone levels. After researching this drug I found it makes your thyroid worse and your hormone levels worse. Even if you were taking a large dose of thyroid medication and bioidentical hormones your body cannot absorb them because of this drug. Because of the state I live in, I was not able to continue on the pain medicine I have been on for many years that was working. This is the only medication they allowed me to be on and because of excessive heart pain, I had no choice.
Now because of the excessive weight gain they have switched me over to another prescription drug which is far better with less side effects. I'm a very private person but I am sharing this information because I think there are a lot of people out there with the same conditions and suffering and they need to know that this drug is detrimental to people with the same health problems I have. I have only been on my new medication for 2 days so I haven't seen any Improvement yet but I am looking forward to get back to my normal self again. My total weight gain was over a hundred pounds.
Well this may be a bit long but if it helps even one person then I am going to type away so here it goes. I also had the gastric bypass and lost 160 lbs. in 1 year and was 10 lbs. away from being able to have the tummy tuck which would have given me the body I have always wanted. I was so happy and my future looked so bright and each day I woke up smiling. But, my Mother to whom I was so very close to took ill with dementia and after trying so hard to keep her home with me I had to put her in a nursing home. This all but destroyed my very soul. My heart was broken. Her dementia was not so bad that she did not know me so I had great visits with her daily. Then, 2 years had passed since the bypass and I had to have a total hysterectomy. Due to a blood clot to my lung after the bypass I was not able to take any kind of Hormone Replacement Therapy. I was suffering with severe surgical menopause and Major Depression.
This along with my Mother being in a nursing home, and I, still trying to stay together with my alcoholic husband, trying to finish getting my 2 beautiful kids through high school and into college and a full time demanding job my future did not look so bright to me any longer. Six months after the hysterectomy I started having bad pain in my upper legs which made it hard to walk for any length of time. This was about the time the "miracle drug" Oxycontin came out and my Doctor immediately put me on this. Well, taking those little pills took the pain in my legs away, helped with my broken heart, helped me function at work as I never had and things were looking good again. But as my Mother's condition started deteriorating, the amount of Oxy started to increase to the point that I was abusing it and taking more than I was supposed to. I would run out, suffer horrific withdrawals and barely make it till I could fill my prescription. But I continued down this road in order to try and carry on my duties as Mother, Daughter, employee, wife, ect... I felt I had to stay on this highly addictive drug to keep working all day, taking care of the household, playing the role of both parents most of the time, and making sure I always visited my Mother, making sure she had all she needed and trying to keep her as content as she could be in that place. I knew my Mother did not have much longer and the thought of living in a world where she did not exist was more than I could bear. My Mother died in that nursing home from a fall which caused blunt force trauma to her head. For the first time in my life I went to sleep hoping that I would never have to wake again. But, for my children's sake I went to an addiction Psychiatrist and he put me on Suboxone. I had no withdrawals from stopping the Oxycontin and the Suboxone gave me energy and kept my mood lifted. But really all I was doing was continuing to mask the pain that was inside me. I too started to swell badly in my lower extremities and saw many doctors to try to find out why. None of them ever mentioned that it could possibly be the Suboxone. I guess they just did not know enough about this drug. I gained 100 lbs in about 14 months. I can not begin to describe the pain that caused me after all I had been through to loose it. So, I decided to taper off of the Suboxone and finally got off all together. Although, my depression was back full force I lost 70 of those lbs in 3 months and all swelling has stopped, and also lost my terrible craving for sweets the drug causes. So, yes, I believe 100% that Suboxone and Subutex causes weight gain and in some people can cause severe edema. What I have learned from this is that there are other ways to manage pain and other ways to help with depression and that by trying to mask pain and grief with the use of opioids is a terrible mistake. I know I will always have the danger of relapse and I just try to take 1 day at a time and trust in the Lord because without him I do not think I would be here writing to you today. I pray that this helps some of you and I pray your days get brighter and your burdens get lighter. Thanks for listening...
Hello all, I have been addicted to opiates for about four years. I started methadone maintence about a year after my addiction. I started gaining weight almost instantly... It seemed as if my whole body had swelled up i gained at least 40 lbs in the almost three years i was on Methadone. I slowly tapered myself off of methadone. My first day with no methadone i noticed i was urinating almost all day long this went on for about three or four weeks and i had lost almost 30lbs in that short time and i defeniatly beleive it was water retention because of all the urinating. Seven months later I relapsed and then resorted to Suboxone i have only been on Suboxone for a week or so and i am devestated to read about all this weight gain. This time around I am going to be on a strict diet and defeniatly start taking water pills. I pray for the best and good luck to all of you... I will try to keep you posted on my progress!!! You are not alone.
Yes suboxone does cause weight gain. It slows down your metabolism, causes you to crave sweets, and causes severe constipation. Good luck and God Bless you.
I just gained 35 pounds in 2 months when my dr switched me from buprenorphine to Suboxone. I have tapered down to one 8 mg film per day and will be down to half a strip per day this Thursday. I just can't look at my pumpkin head in the mirror anymore or buy more xl pants. This has been hideous. My boyfriend just broke up with me and he swears it's not the weight gain. But he didn't know re the subs, prob just thought I was a pig. It broke my heart. He is not a monster but likes someone that cares about themselves and wants to be healthy. I didn't even know re the gain bc when I would go to the dr I wouldn't look at the scale each month when they would weigh me but last week I made myself look. It was such a shock. 180! That's how much my ex husband, firefighter, weighed. I am 5 ft 6 and horrified. I hate Suboxone.
I would have stayed on buprenorphine bc it seems that the naloxone in the sub might be the weight gainer for me, Idk, but either way, it's gonna be peace out to this piece of s&$t drug and live without it. So sick of taking drugs too. Now on LASIK for the swelling and topomax for high blood pressure. Lovely.
hey kendajo - I know this is an old post, but I have to say, you made me laugh my head off, which I really needed today! And, not because of your situation, but because of your dry sense of humour! I'm sorry about your boyfriend. I had the same major weight gain happen to me... 40+ lb weight gain, and it seemed to be a delayed reaction because I've been on this med.for awhile. I've managed to drop 16 lbs by changing eating habits & going to the gym daily. But, its a helluva daily battle and I've been pretty rigorous. I don't think Drs. knew this about he subox. when it first came out (among all the other things they didn't know, like how addictive it is!), but it definitely causes craving of carbs/sweets! And, I've been down to only 1 mg. a day for about a month or so! You'd think that wouldn't be enough to make a difference, but I'm still retaining water & weight! Good luck! (You'll find someone better, who appreciates you!) Jillian
I started taking suboxone about 7 months ago and put on 40 lbs in 60 days. I have never weighed over 115 lbs my entire life, so this was extremely alarming to me. My doc told me he had never heard of anyone putting on weight due to suboxone, but I've heard many people testify differently. I went 30 days without my subs in October of this year and the weight started to "fall" off of me. However, the withdrawal was way worse then any I had been through with the ultram I had initially been taking, and I had to get back on the subs. I have since put the weight back on and tried dieting... to no avail. Then I joined a gym and have been working out extensively 6 days a week. Which again, doesnt seem to be dropping the weight. I've come to discover that the only way to lose the weight is to cut back on the subs. My doc wants to keep me on indefinately, but the weight gain is intolerable to me. So, I cut my dosage back from 8 mgs a day to 4 mgs a day...
My doc also put me on an anti-depressant called cymbalta which is supposed to make you lose weight. My physical therapist has recommended some suppliments that might work... and he said that anything that elevates your thyroid levels would help as well. A low carb-high fiber diet is good too I was told... no more than 1500 calories a day. I just started all this so I will post again in 30 days to up any progress
Suboxone increases cortisol. This effect is strongest during first time administration. Cortisol makes you hungry and adds water weight this is why people on steroids i.e. hydrocortisone or prednisone gain weight (even if they need the drug). Perhaps if one already has higher cortisol levels or even has borderline Cushing's Disease, or is more sensitive to even small increases in cortisol then that might make the difference. There isn't any way to counteract the side effects of cortisol that I am aware of.The answer about eating more due to quitting opioids may be true as well. When starting steroids you really don't notice you're eating more because you eat when you're hungry as you always have. IDK if this is the answer but it could be a possibility. Stress also increases cortisol levels, maybe combat stress if stopping Suboxone is out of the question.
I have been on Suboxone for about 5 months now and have lost 20lbs. I have been more active and have been eating less but 13lbs of that was in one month so the suboxone definitely didn't stop me from losing. Surely it's different for everyone.
I have been on suboxone for 2 years now and it is so hard..I have gained 30 lbs..and I have always been skinny my whole life..Most of my life I weighed 125 lbs and then i got on oc and went down to about 115 then I got off oc and went to lorritabs and went to about 130 then i got put into a rehab where i had to stop drugs,and smoking cigerettes and went to 130 to 180... Then i left the rehab after 9 months and got back on pain meds and went from 180 back to 150 ...
Then i started suboxone and I stayed at 150 while i was taking the suboxone pill form the orange ones and then the stopped makeing the pills and made suboxone film and i have been taking the film for about 7 months now and I weigh 180 again..I have always been skinny so 180 is fat to me i feel so awful and worry about my weight every day i truly believe that the film has something in it that make me crave junk foood like choclote,candy,chips , salt ,,and especially soft drinks,the film leaves a n awful taste in my mouth, and nothing takes that taste away except Coca Cola,so i know for a fact that suboxone causes weight gain because i look at my fat ass everyday for the proof...
NEVER have I heard of suboxone causing weight gain.
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suboxone, fluid retention, hydrocodone, weight
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