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Originally Posted by manicdepressive07
If so, I have some questions for you!
First I was wondering if anyone has ever lost weight while taking Geodon. I was told it's weight neutral, but I've read numerous reports online of people losing weight while on it. (Which will be a welcome side effect, considering my last AP made me gain 15lbs).
Second, I was wondering what you do about taking it with meals? It makes me SUPER sleepy (again, a welcome side effect because I often have trouble falling asleep), so I take it about an hour before I go to bed, (between 12am-2am). And because I am trying to lose weight, I don't want to have to eat a big meal at this time, although I'm supposed to take it with a meal.
I asked my pdoc about taking it with say a granola bar and he said that wouldn't be enough... that it needs to be AT LEAST be 200 calories. I'm wondering what happens if I take it without food, and what happens if I take it with food, but only 100 calories or so.
Also any tips or advice you can give me about how the medicine affected you would be great. I know everyone's body responds differently but I'm curious how other people have liked it. I'm just switched from Saphris to Geodon last night. Thanks for your input!
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I was advised to take it with a meal that has at least 500 calories in it, but if it turns out to be impossible (in my case, because I react to anxiety by stopping to eat, feeling nauseous, etc., so I was not always able to get a big meal), then at least something. At the hospital, the instruction for the nursing staff stressed the point about food - without food, the absorption goes down by 40%.
Just by applying common sense, I would recommend that you at least have a snack and a glass of warm milk. A glass of warm milk before bed is great anyway, always.
I did lose weight on it. I then regained and more, on Zyprexa and due to thyroid issues. But yes, I did lose a lot of weight while on it.
Careful though with planning for weight loss - many people "lose" the weight previously gained on other medications. So it is not a loss versus the baseline, it is a loss versus previously heavier due to other medications.