Lyrica and Weight Gain

Is anyone else taking Lyrica? I started two days ago for chronic restless leg syndrome and now I'm reading that many people experience weight gain while on this medication! This is certainly something that I don't want to have happen and I'm wondering if anyone is on Lyrica and still losing weight? I NEED to take something for the RLS as my quality of life has been drastically affected. I have only 3 days until my surgery :) and have some weight (not a lot) while taking Optifast before surgery.

I am almost 3 years post VSG and have been on Lyrica for about 6 years for nerve pain in both of my feet. I did not experience weight gain with Lyrica and haven't had any trouble since surgery. My best advice is to speak with your pharmacist and your surgeon as to what they think. My concern with Lyrica is that it is hard to stop, I have tried several times to taper off. To be honest I wish I had other options 6 years ago other than Lyrica. But no, Lyrica has not been a problem with weight gain. I wish you the best on your surgery!

Thank-you very much for your response. It puts my mind at ease quite a bit. I was on Effexor for about 6 years and it was just terrible trying to ease off of it. I had these brain zaps that are really hard to explain but they really were quite hard to deal with! It took over 4 months but I'm finally Effexor free! The restless leg syndrome is so bad though that belief it or not I'm almost okay with an addictive drug - I"m sure you understand with what you are also going through with your feet.

Trying to explain brain zaps to someone is almost impossible unless they have had them too, it's rough. Good for you for tapering off Effexor. Definitely look at all of your options:-)

I take the older auntie of Lyrica (gabapentin) for nerve pain and I don't think it causes weight gain but if I have to take it at full strength it does make me swell or retain water a bit sometimes.

Thank-you for your response. All I read online is that Lyrica causes weight gain so I'm a little nervous. It is good to hear from real people that it doesn't. Eases my mind!

I was on gabapentin for about 6 months. I had to quit because it dramatically increased my afternoon fatigue. I put on about 10 pounds with it, but it came back off after I stopped.