Hi all,
Hope everyone is thriving.
Am looking for…well, not sure! Similar experiences, sympathy?
I have RRMS, dx 2018, had Lemtrada 2018/19. Trigeminal neuralgia ‘surfaced’ about 2 years ago. Tried carbamazepine, which elevated my ggt liver enzyme dangerously. Now on 225mg/day pregabalin (increased every fortnight from 75mg).
However - I’m piling on weight. I was slightly overweight to begin with, and despite a lower calorie intake (including no alcohol!), the weight is still going on.
I’ve started snoring quite badly, which I’m attributing to weight gain. So I’m exhausted the next day, which exacerbates and adds to any MS related issues. Any thoughts of exercise go right out the window!
It’s a vicious circle really. Has anyone dealt with similar issues? Thanks 
I am sorry that you are in this fix. I haven’t had trigeminal neuralgia, but know people who have, and I really feel for you. Drugs in that class are notorious for weight-gain in the susceptible, and my suggestion for you concerns nutrition. My personal favourite guide on food is the attached piece from the UK’s Public Health Initiative (a group of UK doctors and nutritionists who are trying to improve the (rather poor) quality of nutrition advice available to the public. In a nutshell, it’s all about reducing refined carbs, sugar in particular, and avoiding processed crap. If you read it, yu will see that it is all pretty different from the tired old ‘low fat, healthywholegrain, eat less, exercise more’ orthodoxy, though. I find it a very
much nicer way to eat and to live. https://phcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Eat-Fat-Cut-The-Carbs-and-Avoid-Snacking-To-Reverse-Obesity-and-Type-2-Diabetes-National-Obesity-Forum-Public-Health-Collaboration.pdf
Thanks Alison, I’ll take a look. I do think my diet is fairly healthy, mostly - I tend to cook from scratch, but it’s always worth revisiting occasionally 
Hello all - quick update.
Well, it became clear that the pregabalin was losing its effectiveness at the dose I was taking. I was really reluctant to increase the dose, so after consultation with my GP surgery, I changed to gabapentin. I’m about to increase the dose of that, but in the 20 days I have been taking it, I’ve lost a lot of the pregabalin weight. And I haven’t done anything differently diet or exercise wise.
Gabapentin is the 3rd medication I have tried for TN, and I’m really hoping an increased dose does the trick! I’m pleased about the weight loss - there is a genetic predisposition towards T2 Diabetes in my family, and I’d really rather not add that to the MS!
Hope everyone is ok.
I’m on gabapentin for trig neuralgia and it has worked for me (just into 1st month of treatment) I’m only on 300mg per day but the pain has subsided, thankfully. No weight gain as such, althoigh I could do with losing a few pounds