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

[Yngve]

Subutex/subuxone will not gain your weight like metadone. I know, i have used both sub and metadone. The sugar craving people are talking about, i think is some kind of substitute or longing, for a high again....

[Yngve]

Yes you gain weight. the higher methadone dose, the more you gain.
I live in Norway, and have used metadone for ca 15 years. I was a normal slim man before i started on metadone, and the first years on the stuff, i used 125 mg. a day. I was active in work and did not gain so much. After ca 3 years i lost my metadone, due to wrong people running the program in parts of Norway. (the abstinens of metadone is far more painfull than all other opiates, and last for much loner time.Noting helps due to the reseptor blokade of other opiates from metadone. and the blokade lasts a looong time) I started up again after a couple of years, but this time on Subutex. This beacause i would never experience the pain of the abstinens of metadone again. The Subutex worked fine, but after a year i was in a motorcycle accsident. smashing my spine, and ended in a wheelshair, with a lot of pain. The Subutex could not kill my pain, so i had to start back on metadone. Now on 160mg a day. and i started to gain a lot of weight, and a lot of water in my body.I dont eat sugar and fat food, and i eat very little. I still gain a lot. I know a lot of people who uses metadone in my hometown, ca 90% of them have problems with weight. Please excuse my bad english, it is not my language.I still have to say, after 25 years on heroin before the metadone, it is way better to be fat, than living the hell of a heroin addict....

[Jenniefl]

Listen, everyone is different, so please do not post something so judgmental in capital letters; this simply isn't the place to do that. As you can read, different strokes for different folks. There have been several people who have mentioned that they exercise and eat healthy and still gained weight, so take it easy.  I am on Methadone because I have Chronic-Chronic absolute NON stop pain in my lumbar region due to numerous problems.  I am disabled & receive my monetary benefits, but all people who become disabled have to wait 24 months after being declared disabled before they receive Medicare disability. So I have to take the Methadone because I have NO Insurance coverage & it is affordable. I got much more relief from the Fentanyl patch, however they are anywhere from $200 to $400 per box (5 patches per box, need 10 patch per month) I have gained 20 pounds in the past 6 months.  It definitely causes an uncontrollable craving for sweets & I had no idea why.  After coming across this forum & reading everyone's comments, now I know why.  So I can look forward to dropping my Methadone 20' when I finally get my Medicare coverage in 10/2014 and can go back on the patch, HURRAY!!!!  

[scifi1203]

YES,  it  ABSOLUTELY causes  weight  gain, I  am  on a  program,  have  been  for  over 11 years,  and I  have  probably  gained  at  least 50lbs.  I'm  on  financial detox at my clinic currently, down from 88mg  to 34mg  in  less  than 2 1/2  weeks,  abd I  already  don't  want  sugar  like I  used  to. I  am  hoping  I'll  lose  it  getting  off. I'm  trying  to  switch  to  Suboxone,  did  that  make  anyone  crave  sweets?  Hope  you  have  found  your  answer and  best  wishes!

[chris1544]

Yes! Of course we are all different, but for the most part everyone gains weight from methadone.  I certainly have.  It also depends on your dose.  I was on 55 mgs and gained over 15 pounds in 3 months.

[mamabear1974]

Ok ppl...yes the methadone does make u gain weight....but that's better than the **** loads of drugs I was taking daily...which was enough that how I didn't overdose is a mystery....and yes it makes u crave sweets....but NO it doesn't rot your teeth out...did u every stop to think that maybe all that sugar u are taking in is what's causing your teeth problems NOT the methadone...and I agree with the person who said it makes you sweet because I defiantly sweat so badly now....so here's the run down....YES U GAIN WEIGHT, BUT IF U EXERCISE AND EAT RIGHT THEN U WILL BE FINE....NO IT DOES NOT ROT YOUR TEETH OUT...THOSE PPL NEED TO STAY OFF THE SWEETS AND BRUSH....and for those who talk about how bad methadone is for your body...I don't guess the HERION, CRACK OR HUNDREDS OF PILLS THAT PPL WERE TAKNG BEFORE WERE BAD :/...all things have pros and cons but everybody is different and everyone has different reason for why they are taking methadone PPL NEED TO STOP BEING EVERYONE ELSES JUDGE AND WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN PROBLEMS!