Lyrica: The Weight Gain Story You Need to Hear

So, you’ve been told you have neuropathy, nerve pain, or restless legs (all three can affect your feet and legs), and you may have been prescribed Lyrica. Lyrica is from a class of drugs that are antiseizure medications. It has been FDA approved to treat nerve pain, or more specifically neuropathy. Many patients I see have had negative experiences taking this medication and have left negative Lyrica reviews, with gaining weight being the most prominent issue. This blog will serve to explain their negative experiences, and risks, and share their stories.

Uses of Lyrica medication

Restless Legs

We treat many patients for their severe restless legs condition and Lyrica is a drug commonly used to help with restless legs symptoms. The other two drugs commonly used are ropinirole and Mirapex. Both are dopaminergic medications that increase dopamine levels in the brain which is thought to aid with the reduction of restless legs symptoms. Both of these drugs are becoming less favored because of the severe withdrawal symptoms that patients may go through if they elect to discontinue these medications. Therefore, Lyrica treatment has become more popular in the treatment of restless legs.

Neuropathy treatment

Whether you suffer from diabetic or nondiabetic neuropathy, doctors have been trained to recommend Lyrica or pregabalin as the primary drug to reduce symptoms. It is especially common for patients in their senior years to acquire type 2 diabetes and it is suggested that they use Lyrica or pregabalin for their symptoms.

Risks and Side Effects: Does Lyrica Cause Weight Gain?

The primary side effects for many are drowsiness or spaciness, and there’s more risk of this effect with higher doses. There are multiple risks taking Lyrica with the primary one being weight gain. It is thought that patients taking Lyrica have an average weight gain of 10 to 15 pounds, and it has been my experience to hear patients who have gained 40 to 60 pounds from taking the medication. The effect of that much more added weight is likely to cause a cascade of other medical issues including the possibility of increased risk of blood pressure, and potential risk of heart failure. It has also been noted that these patients may have fluid retention which leads to significant peripheral edema in their feet and legs. Other long-term effects of gaining weight include added stress on the joints in the lower extremity that could cause wear and tear of the joints resulting in osteoarthritis. In some cases, it can result in the need for surgical procedures because of this pregabalin weight gain. The primary drug interaction that one should be concerned about when taking Lyrica is its interaction with alcohol or narcotics because both of these in combination with Lyrica can lead to even more drowsiness.

Stories and Experiences from our patients about gaining weight from using Lyrica

It’s a common story to hear about the weight gain many patients have experienced when they come to us seeking relief from restless legs and neuropathy. I could share many stories of patients gaining 30, 40, or even 50 pounds after taking Lyrica. Imagine the negative physical and mental effects of carrying an extra 50 pounds. Many patients are angry and frustrated that they never knew about options that treat the root cause of the problem, and they could have avoided the medications or had an opportunity to get off the medications sooner in their lives. We have had success in treating the root cause of neuropathy and restless legs with our surgical and non-surgical means and it has been rewarding for our patients who are reversing Lyrica weight gain.

Effectiveness of the medications

Yes, it is true. Some might have significant improvement of nerve symptoms, but I would like to share a story from a research assistant who found a study on the effectiveness of the medication on restless legs. He did this to provide data for the book I made called A Perfect Night’s Sleep which documents our research and the effectiveness of surgical reversal of restless legs. The assistant was shocked at how little research there is to show its effectiveness.

Many of the stories that I hear can be organized into three groups

Here are the stories I hear from my patients organized into three groups:

1. The “just say no” group: These folks are very anti-drug, and in most cases, I can agree with these sentiments. We are a very over-drugged society and if you watch TV it seems like every other commercial is about a drug. These patients are very concerned about the side effects of any drug, not just Lyrica.
2. The “I’m stuck with this drug” group: This group has felt relief with the medication but are often desperately seeking other options to get off it. These are the folks who have heard about our nerve decompression procedures to reverse their nerve symptoms and want to learn more or are interested in our non-drug technologies that can help their nerve issues. It’s a love-hate thing with Lyrica: the drug helps but they pay the price with the common side effects.
3. The “Been there done that” group: These patients usually were in very severe pain and in search of pain relief, so they decided to give it a try but quit. Why? For two reasons:
   1. It just had no effect.
   2. They could not stand the side effects! The side effects are usually drowsiness or feeling very dopey or spacey especially when higher doses are given. They just didn’t feel mentally as sharp. And, of course, the weight gain!

You might be asking yourself, shouldn’t there be another group? And you are right, there should be. That would be the, “I take the drug, it’s awesome and I have no side effects!” Sadly, from my experience, this is the smallest group, and I seldom hear about it.

So, the message is that if you’re experiencing neuropathic pain from neuropathy or restless leg type symptoms start asking the more difficult question: what other options do I have? Is it worth the risk of potential weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes or worsening of your diabetes, cancer, and arthritic joints by using Lyrica or other medicines?

Start looking behind another door, a door of hope. Consider shutting the door of drug treatment and learn about ways to make your nerve pain a memory!