Morning All

I wanted to see if anyone else has bad this experience?

I am really trying not to blame my weight gain/stagnation of loss on Copaxone.... but after I started taking it it has been IMPOSSIBLE to loose some weight.

I had been on WW since April 2009 and had lost about 45 pounds. Since December I have gained back 15 of those. I am trying sooo hard to loose this weight but to no avail it seems. I have upped my exercise, I track everything, I weight/measure everything, I started wearing a pedometer to get more active....and still I am lucky to have no gain from week to week.

Obviously having MS sucks big time for lost of reason... but I have been off of steriods (for my flare) since the end of January....so I can't blame them anymore.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I am so frustrated I just want to throw the towel in!

My husband takes Copaxone for his MS and he hasn't really had an issue with weight gain or anything (but of course everyone is different). He doesn't have any sort of weight problem as he's 6'3" and 190 lbs. I haven't noticed a difference in his weight and he hasn't mentioned anything either.

I looked up weight and copaxone and I found from reading around that very little, if any, weight gain associated with copaxone. Explanations as to the weight gain seen is seems to be explained by people losing their mobility and therefore not getting as much exercise as before? Though I doubt that's your issue.

How long have you been on it? My husband has been on Copaxone over a year now. I'm not sure what you are doing but maybe you are eating too little and your body is clinging on to the extra weight?

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply... I went on it in November. Then i got the steriods in Jan and I have been gaining/loosing the same 5 pounds ever since!

Hi DCAGirl,

I've been on Copaxone for about 5 years now, and I think it has definitely contributed to the weight coming off slower than it would without it. I've managed to lose and keep off about 30 pounds since then. Sometimes it can be so frustrating from week to week, though. Oh, and sometimes after steroids, my body hangs on to pounds like crazy for what seems like months.

I think I'd tend to agree with beerab, though, about maybe eating too few calories?

Good job on your progress, though!

I talked to my hubby btw and he says that he does feel his stomach is slightly larger but he hasn't felt that he's gained any signficant weight (he was 193 yesterday but he weighed in later in the day . He did note however he can't eat like he used to lol. I told him that's him getting old He's turning 35 in June.

I would personally check my calories (if you don't already track) and then see if I need to add more calories in my diet- you might just be at a plateau and need to shake things up a bit

Good luck!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

I am new to MS and this was my first round of steroids, so I am really trying not to blame them or my medication... I didn't realize they could make weight harder to take off for so long afterwards! I stopped my taper in late January and figured by now it couldn't still be them affecting me, but I don't really know of course

Congrads on your loss btw, thats awesome and its fantastic to hear it can be done!

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to your DH for me and report back! That is so nice of you

Maybe I should start tracking the calories... I am on weight watchers and always use my daily "points" but I don't always eat all of my weekly "flex" points...perhaps I should try eating more of them...not with junk of course but fruit, whole grains, etc.

Thank you for your suggestions, and thank your hubby for me for sharing!

YW! Oh since you are on WW I would definitely try to eat more of your flex points

Just wanted to update. It seems I have FINALLY been able to get things moving and restart my metabolism.

I have tried eating a bit more each day and made an effort to add some dairy (which I wasn't getting at all) and I am down 2.5 pounds.

Slow and steady is going to win this race.

Thank you folks so much for the advice an encouragement, it meant so much to me during a reaaaaally frustrating time. I think it really was the steroids affecting me still. But hey I'd rather have the steroids and get back to my life and be a bit heavy for longer. So thank you all!!!