Never taken methadone personally. However, I know that stress increases cortisol levels in the body which holds onto fat or weight. I, myself have recently gained about 15 pounds and it's not great but I think mine is stress related for sure. Whenever I am under lots of stress I tend to eat more and get depressed = lying around alot. With all my recent health issues, meds, stress, inactivitiy, and emotionally absent spouse have all contributed. I think it's different for everyone but I am willing to bet stress is def a factor for you. Hang in there hun...

Lisa, first, I'm happy to meet you.

Second, I've never taken Methadone, but as Beth said, stress increases cortisol levels which makes you eat more and gain weight.

Do you eat when you are stressed out? I've found that women who are thin, like you, tend to not eat when stressed but everyone is different.

If you feel it's the methadone, maybe you can get your doctor to put you on another opiate- there are a ton of them out there it's just a shot or two in the dark til you find the right one. I've been on MSContin, MSIR, OxyContin, oxycodone, and now Opana and NuCynta. Those last two seem to control my pain pretty well.

I wish you luck on your journey.

Sandy

Thanks guys.

From searching online, it sounds like others have experienced a lot of weight gain while taking methadone, too. However, yeah, it might be stress too--I have really been having a hard time with all of the school work and team projects (especially when on teams I don't care for), and living in a city I don't like. The only thing that's given me some happiness is ice cream and pizza :( So...hard to say what it could be...but I think I'll just try to drink more water and eat more fruit and see if that helps stave off gaining more weight.

I just took my last methadone today. I was only on it for 2 months but I gained almost 10 pounds. I constantly wanted to eat even if I was hungry. On top of that I was hungry more than what is normal. I can't imagine staying on it. I didn't get off methadone because the eating but simply it did nothing for my pain relief. I started a new pain med tonight. I bet stress could have a part in your weight gain though. I gained weight in college and I was planning my wedding the end of my senior year.

I started methadone last summer and have successfully put on the 25 lbs I fought so hard to lose. I have been on Atkins going into my 3rd week with next to zero weight loss and started investigating as to why and the only thing I can come up with is my medications. I take muscle relaxers and methadone daily, sometimes I need a valium for the lower back spasms and then of course from time to time an ambien in order to sleep. I am calling my doctor on Monday to see about a med change, I cannot continue to gain and gain. I also have hormone deficiency from a hysterectomy so I have many things against me in this war on fat. :(

That is not the only problem I read that methadone is highly addictive with a very long half life so really hard to get off. Not sure how that compares to other opiates.

Hope you are doing better and none of this affects your health too much.