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Tegretol and Weight Gain

Tue, 06/27/2006 - 09:07
I have been on tegratol for almost 1 year now and have put on about 15 pds, mostly in my mid-section. Very upsetting as i cannot seem to do anything to get it off. Has anyone had any success losing weight while on tegratol- how did you do it? I am about to get pregnant, so changing drugs is out of the question. Do not want to carry around excess weight during pregnancy. Also, does increased dose affect weight gain?

Comments

Re: Tegretol and Weight Gain

Submitted by aquila316 on Tue, 2006-06-27 - 09:22
Hello Donna, I am sorry to hear about your problem with Tegretol. Unfortunately, it is an extremely common side effect in anti-convulsive drugs. I took Depakote for 10 year first, and that one packed the weight on. When I was switched from Depakote to Tegretol I was very heavy for my short height, and I wanted to loose weight but never had been successful. I became a vegetarian, excersized almost every day, and watched my meal portions, and it only took about 6 months and all the exess weight was gone. I went from a size 15 to a size 3, and am still in size 3 jeans to this day (and I have not been vegetarian for years) but I still excersize almost every single day for a miniumum of 1 hour. Hope this helps, Susan

Re: Re: Tegretol and Weight Gain

Submitted by Donnajoy on Tue, 2006-06-27 - 09:27
Thanks Susan Can I get an idea of what type of diet you followed? I am trying low carb and am exercising maybe 3x/week (I am home alone with a 1 year old, so who has the time?). I guess you are saying that it is possible to lose the weight....That is great news!

Re: Re: Re: Tegretol and Weight Gain

Submitted by aquila316 on Tue, 2006-06-27 - 17:29
I ate no red meat, or pork whatsoever, and chicken was a rare thing. I ate lots of veggies, salads, and whole grains pastas and breads (there are a great deal of healthy carbs, now). Once I lost all the weight I went back to eating pretty much whatever I wanted. It also helps that I drink no alcohol and no soda. Bottled water, and juice. I even have to watch the coffee intake, because you'd be surprised how the calories start adding up once you add cream and sugar. I'll post more when I remember more, it seems like so long ago, Susan

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