My daughter was very fearful of weight gain when she went on Seroquel, but mainly because she had put on a lot of weight, very quickly, with Risperdol. We have found that the Seroquel seems less likely to do this.

Perhaps there is a tendency for weight gain with seroquel, but being aware of it seems the important point ie not dieting at all, but just keeping a watchful eye on what and how much she eats. So far, she has remained a good weight and hasn't had to really modify her diet much at all.

Fortunately, she has always been inclined towards good nutrition and has never been one for fast foods or sweet foods generally, so that helps. She has always been very active too, so perhaps that is a factor. However, overall,there doesn't seem to be a major weight gain issue with Seroquel for my daughter. Now, with Risperdol, it was a whole different story and, although there may be other advantages with Risperdol, this side effect was important enough to keep off it and prefer the Seroquel. My daughter isn't anorexic but I think she could easily drift over to that, so that was an important point in favour of the seroquel.

I guess. maybe, there are cases where people put on some weight around about the same time they switch or go onto different medications, and maybe attribute it to the medications rather than perhaps other causes. I can understand your being wary here, but in our experience at least, the beneficial effects of the seroquel were sufficient for us to deal with the issue of possible weight gain.

As regards the change in metabolism, sugar response etc, yes, my daughter has this checked at regular intervals, also the other possible side effects such as vision changes, liver function etc. We would do this anyway as her overall health has to be monitored fairly closely, particularly cardiac effects, as she developed malignant neuroleptic syndrome whilst on another anti-psychotic (olanzapine)

I think perhaps, it could be helpful to discuss your concerns with your medical people. The very fact that you are concerned about possible weight gain is a very valid concern for you and i am sure they would take it seriously. There is not much point taking a medication for one problem if you are going to stress out about something else that may, in fact, be quite unlikely. I would speak to your doctors and explain your fears about this medication. Those fears may not be medically realistic but they are real for you and need to be treated with compassion and understanding. perhaps it may be useful for you to just try this medication for a while and see how it goes ?

Good luck with this. Your concerns are valid and need to be listened to, however, I think and hope that you can be reassured by speaking with someone about this. Take care.