How does everyone manage weight gain due to their preventatives?
How does everyone manage weight gain due to their preventatives? I have gained 40 pounds because of amtripyline but got it to stop by dropping the other ones that weren't doing anything (vaporic acid and tramadol ER). I want to stay on this med because it's the only one that has made any difference to my severe depression and I need it at the 75mg level. But I started taking 30mg of baclofen since a lot of the pain is due to muscle spasms. Now after a week I am up another pound and eating healthy and exercising some (as much as the pain allows me). I really hate it. 🙁
Hi Tamara,
Thank you for your question, while you wait from feedback from the community about what others are experiencing, I thought you might be interested in this article written for the site a few years ago about coping with, and dealing with migraine-medicine-related weight gain. I am sorry you are having a difficult time with this, and am sending encouragement your way. https://migraine.com/blog/avoiding-coping-with-migraine-medication-related-weight-gain/ Take care.
Hi Tamara,
This is very topical for me personally. I take Depakote as a preventative [hemiplegic migraine]; for me it works to prevent the paralyzing episodes. However when I first started it it also slammed on 50 pounds. And, over the years I have been unable to lose those pounds. I'm now 67 and have been considering going off my med because I'm tired of the weight. I also have arthritis and the extra weight is hard on my joints. So I started doing some research; however the result is that now I have concluded that the weight gain is a small price to pay. I simply don't want to go back to the fear and uncertainty of when or how severe a paralyzing episode will be, whether it will result in an actual stroke rather than simply mimic one. As for the weight? As long as I'm healthy and concentrate on 'wellness' I'm good.
