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Propranolol and weight gain

Posted , 69 users are following.

Kermodesmum
Kermodesmum

Hi

I have been taking this drug for over 6 months now. 40mg twice a day The cluster headaches that have plagued my life are now down to a bare minimum.....(not totally gone away) and manageable.

HOWEVER! I have gained about 1.5 stone in weight, particularly round my middle. This is highly unusual for me.

My GP states this is NOT a recognised side effect and I simply must be eating more due to feeling better! As my eating habits have not changed at all, I find this very hard to accept. If I am to take this drug for the rest of my days, At this rate I will be enormous!

PLEASE…can anyone help/confirm/reassure me that this is only a temporary side effect?

cry

Thank you

7 likes, 119 replies

119 Replies

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  • j21354
    j21354 Kermodesmum

    Posted

    I'm glad I found this even if it's a few months old. I'm beginning to think that weight gain is a new side effect.

    My eating habits have no changes and I had been taking 40mg daily for anxiety and migraines. I've now out on nearly 2 stone around my middle and I just can't seem to shift it. I don't eat huge amounts and I walk a lot due to my job.

    It's (nice) to know it wasn't/isn't just me

    • fionar4
      fionar4 j21354

      Posted

      I've been off these meds for 3 months now and like you can't seem to shift my weight gain at all, my 8 year old eats more than me, my doctors said they hadn't heard of people putting on weight, i think they need to look at boards like this, maybe they will learn a thing or too ! rolleyes this is one med i will never take again !
  • jingrids22089
    jingrids22089 Kermodesmum

    Posted

    Hello all....

    The 'weight' gain that most pharmacutecals put on is ACTUALLY WATER RETENTION..  The worst for this are anti-psycotics/and most anti-depressants.......I am on (not a water gainer) venlafaine/effexor/sedatives-ATM.....

    I speak from experience and research....

    So many doctors are told by pharmacutecal companies that meds are 'safe'...

    Doctors 'warn' clients to watch their diet....They still have not learnt about water retention......

    When one stops the medication off comes the supposed 'weight'.. Before I knew it was water, and I could not eat for days and no 'weight' dropped.....I was even attending the gym 3 x times a week....... After stopping the medication, I dropped two dress sizes in 10 days....age 48 yrs...

    It does get harder to drop as one ages..I recently had to use them for 3 x months and even though I could barley eat I went up two sizes... I am 62 yrs and after 4 x weeks I am still waiting to drop the water......I am now on water pills and will get some herbs for my kidney...

    - I AM PRAYING FOR IT TO COME OFF SOON...I WANT TO WEAR MY NICE CLOTHES  :-)  ...

    Namaste..

     

  • susiebelle43
    susiebelle43 Kermodesmum

    Posted

    I came off this medication after it caused me to gain 2 stone in weight. It has also lost its effectiveness. I asked my doctor about this being a side effect and she said it was not a common one she had come across, however a GP friend confirmed that it slows down the metabolism so weight gain is possible. She said I could lose it but would have to work extra hard to do so. So I came off it, and it took me 7 months but I lost it all through diet and exercise. I am about to try Amitriptyline which can also cause weight gain but this time I will be monitoring my weight very closely and will stop taking it if I find my weight going up!
    • jingrids22089
      jingrids22089 susiebelle43

      Posted

      Hi Susie....

      are you taking it for anxiety...

      amytrptalyine will also put on two dress sizes of water......

      I have/had aways been slim.....I was on amytrip and I had a time when I could not eat for a few days.. I was also tending the gym 3  x times a week...I stayed the same size....

      After I stopped amytrip I lost the water in 10 days.... I have been recently on it as my sedatives for sleep were not working...

      I have been off 5 x weeks now and a smidge has come off-seems age delays the process...My doc gave me water retenetion pills 2 x weeks ago to help....I was shattred to find my sedatives not working again...

      After much research, I am now trialling 'inositol' plus 'choline' and 'L-theanine'-small doses to start with... take the ones that work best as not all spps are equal...These three are very cheap....

      I am using less sedatives now and sleeping...

      My anxiety is lessened.. I have other issues I am working on, and praying other supplements (only those that cross the brain barrier) will get me off antidepressants..

      Namste-Ingrid

    • melody30942
      melody30942 susiebelle43

      Posted

      Hi, I just read this thread on weight gain and Propanolol, and noticed your post mentioned amitriptyline. I just quit Propanolol after 2 weeks and gaining 11 pounds (I'm in the USA...don't know what a 'stone' is) and just like people here on the thread, it feels like weird, sudden fat, especially in my lower belly area and upper thighs, horrible! I took amitriptyline years ago and gained about 42 pounds in a year, quit, and slowly lost weight. Be careful with the amitrip...at least for me it caused bizarre low metabolism.

        Propanolol is EQUAL TO = FAT, FAT, FAT SUDDENLY!!

      :-(  I think the med should have a warning label next to 'may cause dizziness'...'WILL CAUSE WEIGHT GAIN! Yeesh!

       Hope everyone on here is better... I am so relieved I quit. I am also so glad i am not the only one with this experience.

      Melody

    • jingrids22089
      jingrids22089 melody30942

      Posted

      ..Hi... I had been speaking on here a few months ago, but depression etc has me 'dead'...

      Amytriptalyine/antipsycotics and other meds that affect the brain, put on 'water retention'...   it is not 'fat' weight...  Last time I was on amy' I dropped two dress sizes in two weeks...  this time (and resorting to water retention tablets) I have lost some water, but still wearing my big clothes... it has been 3 x months now...

      The amytrip has also induced some brain damage...  I feel like a dead blimp wishing to die..... BLOODY MEDICAL PROFFESSION.....  They did this to me...

      I am trying to find nootroics to handle the depression/anxiety...  They are not working..  From what I can acertain, I have blocked channels/debris resulting from the antidepressants... I am still on effexor which I was on with amytrip added.....

      Regards Ingrid

    • melody30942
      melody30942 jingrids22089

      Posted

      I'm sad for what you have been through, and I sympathize. I hope that debris gets out of your system; I know it might sound too minimal but maybe a once a week detox day with a juicer for fruit & veggies. I did that after emergency laparotomy for ovarian cysts and endometriosis with my nutritionist's suggestion to flush out the xenoestrogens and I felt alot better every month & have had no more cysts. I have PTSD with depression & anxiety and have too much experience with meds! I have been on Wellbutrin (bupropion) for about 8 months with zero side effects and any sadness is so brief and i got more energy. If I get sad, it's not crippling anymore. Try it maybe?

      I just was told by my shrink she wants to eventually taper me off Xanax because of memory issues. However, Xanax has been awesome with my anxiety. She and I are arguing a bit over this point. *sigh*

      Propanolol sucks and is no replacement for xanax!

      I hope those ideas help.

      Melody

  • kimberli1975
    kimberli1975 Kermodesmum

    Posted

    I'm so thankful for finding this. I've been on propranolol for a few years for anxiety and have gained about 20 lbs. Ugh. I have been having such a hard time losing it. I'm just glad to know that others are having this same issue and it's not just me. I amend that: I'm sorry we all are going thru this. It sucks. But my anxiety sucked worse. I'm at a point I think I'm going to start deeming myself down. I hope that it works.
  • lavery84
    lavery84 Kermodesmum

    Posted

    I am so happy to see I am not losing my mind. I thought it was my diet. I have put on stone and half in the past 8 months, it's gone on very slowly but now others have noticed. It's starting to get me down now and not helping my anxiety. Thinking of coming off them. BAD tablets 😡
  • karen42530
    karen42530 Kermodesmum

    Posted

    I've been on 80mg of gastro resistant propranolol for less than 6 months to treat my anxiety.

    In that time I have gone from 9st 10lbs to 11st 4lbs and it keeps rising.

    After reading all of the comments on this thread I don't think I can keep taking these otherwise I'm going to end up HUGE as I'm only 5ft 4!!

    I agree the weight is mostly around my middle and the top of my legs, I agree it's really uncomfortable and I also feel really unfit but I don't know if that's the extra weight slowing me down or the tablets or maybe a bit of both. Tomorrow I will take my tablet as normal because I have work but I'm planning on going cold turkey starting on Friday.......I am prescribed capsules not tablets so I can't half/quarter them :-( 

  • NatMarie
    NatMarie Kermodesmum

    Posted

    Don't go COLD TURKEY! This is very dangerous as it messes with your blood pressure. I did this by accident (I had the flu & couldn't keep food/ medicine down) I started having bad shakes & almost convulsing!

    When I was on capsules - I opened it up to dump half the pellets out. This was the way I initially reduced the dosage. It's not very accurate or scientific - but it worked for me in a pinch.

    • susiebelle43
      susiebelle43 NatMarie

      Posted

      I went cold turkey on my GP's advice and it was fine, no repercussions at all. I was on 80mg at night but the weight gain was horrific and I got fed up and stopped taking them. My GP gave me a prescription for 40Mg just in case I had any side effects from stopping, but she said it shouldn't be a problem and it wasn't. I think it depends on what dosage you are on really and so long as you consult a GP about coming off it will be ok.
  • ScottH
    ScottH Kermodesmum

    Posted

    I've lost 40lbs on propranolol over the last year.  I take 3 x 80mg daily.

    It didn't start that way though, in the first month I gained 15 lbs (going to 205, I'm 5'11") without changing what I was eating.  For whatever reason, it seems propranolol reduces the amount of calories you burn in a day (which kinda makes sense).  I knew I should lose weight anyway so I started to track everything I ate and reduced my daily calories to 1500 from 1750.

    I have noticed that my weight will go up as much as 5lbs in a single day if I eat processed foods, especially bread, or potatoe chips.  Oddly enough, corn chips doesn't cause this to happen.

    99% of what I eat now is vegtables, beans, and nuts and I'm still losing 1-2lbs per week.  I'm not hungry as the amount of vegtables that I can eat in a day to get to 1500 calories is ridiculous.  If my family wants to go out to dinner, I plan ahead and eat less the day before and the day after.  I'm not one to obsess over daily calorie amounts, I make sure that my last 7 days is on or under the 1500/day average.  (I use myfitnesspal)

    So, there is hope for weight loss, just realize you require less calories while on this drug.

    cheers,

    Scott

    • melody30942
      melody30942 ScottH

      Posted

      Hi Scott, :-) Thanks! You are right about the kind of food and definitely calories. I appreciate your sharing about your story with the med and weight. I also find that days when I eat any processed food, my colon feels ill and I feel exhaused. I am back to a diet of complete raw veggies and some fruit, occasional wild salmon/tuna, and my emergency but healthier, non-chemical carb: raw oats (oatmeal).  I think reducing calories to 1,200 a day is optimal for me, but I suppose it depends on each individual's size and medical needs.

        It's so good to hear that it is possible to take proponalol without having to 'stay fat'. I might take it if I get desperate days of too much stress then. Thanks again for sharing, it makes a difference. :-)  M

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