[aged2324]

Oh seroquel xr...I have gained 10 pounds and diet coke doesn't help...so frustrating. ..any thoughts?

[letsgogh]

I haven't been put on seroquel but on zyprexa I gained about 15lbs in two months before I switched, I hear you!

I'm currently on geodon and it's too early to tell how I'll react to it because it's only been a week.

[Blue_Bird]

Maybe try completely cutting out the diet sodas, I know that may be hard for some (I love soda, regular not diet, yuck) but they're not healthy for you either even if they are diet. Crystal Light is a good option. I would start doing maybe a half a mile to a mile walk everyday or every other day. I'm not trying to say you don't exercise enough or something, I just understand that it is noticeably more difficult to lose weight on certain medications.

[butterflypower]

I went from 117lbs-156lbs in two months on Zyprexa. Now I'm off of it.

[Resident Bipolar]

A little light exercise can help with the weight gain issue whilst also being positive for your mental and physical health. It doesn't have to be intensive exercise - just add in an extra half an hour of fast walking a day. Also try to avoid over eating. You may not be consciously doing it but the most common reason for weight gain on these meds is that they increase appetite which leads to consuming more calories. Keep your hands busy and mind distracted when hunger strikes.

You can also fill up on veg (frozen mixed vegetables are great, easy to cook and still healthy).

[Mrs. Mania]

Originally Posted by aged2324

Oh seroquel xr...I have gained 10 pounds and diet coke doesn't help...so frustrating. ..any thoughts?

I was eating everything!!! I ran out and haven't had any for about a week. Now I don't want to eat anything at all. It worked wonders though, I'm hoping to get my script Friday.

[Moogieotter]

I am underweight usually. I like the healthy weight gain from AAPs (abilify and latuda).

Walking is great for me as well.

moogs

[Hexagram]

Originally Posted by aged2324

Oh seroquel xr...I have gained 10 pounds and diet coke doesn't help...so frustrating. ..any thoughts?

Would it help if you took the seroquel before you went to sleep at night? Artificial sweetners like the one in Diet Coke are rumored to sabotage weight loss; if you're not satisfied with straight water, you could try making unsweetened ice tea; if there's a Japanese or Korean foods store near you, try making roasted barley tea, which steeps in the refrigerator. Someday they'll discover that Fukushima contaminated all the barley fields and we'll all pay a dear price for our roasted barley tea, but in the meantime, it's a delicious zero-calorie alternative to Diet Coke.

[Ruftin]

I went from 104 lbs to 140 on Seroquel within 2 months. I begged the Dr. to change my med to something else. He refused. I told him I was always a tiny person and that I was basically living on breadcrumbs to control the weight gain.. You know what he said to me? EAT LESS BREAD CRUMBS!! How insensitive. Whats the point of an antidepressant if you hate your image everytime you look into a mirror?? It's just adding insult to injury. I dropped him ASAP. He was tall, handsome and thin. THE NERVE!!! My next Dr. listened to me and now I'm on a med that works just as well without the weight gain. I'm back to 108lbs and I feel good in my skin again!!! Take control over your life.

I've just had to get off weight gainers for the long run. Seroquel, risperdal, zyprexa. I'm on zyprexa now but it's only temporary, until I'm sleeping regularly. I'm supposed to slowly cut down.

But what has helped while being on them is lots of veggies/fruit and lots of water. It's tough...

[cmorales]

Abilify, though for me a wonderful drug to deal with my symptoms, made me so lethargic that I ended up gaining like 20 lbs in the last year. My pdoc recently has begun lowering the dosage and so far I am finding I have more energy while still having my symptoms under control. The reason the dose was so high earlier is bc I have a history of psychosis so she (pdoc) was taking precautionary measures, but now that I have been psychosis free for a while, we are lowering the dose to mood stabilization level as opposed to using it for both mood stabilizing and psychosis. Though I still haven't exercises in about 6 mos (which is rare for me) I feel that once we reach our target dose I will be able to return to exercising regularly and lose this extra weight.

[aged2324]

Thanks for the insights it helps to know others struggle with these meds

[~Christina]

Most psych meds are notorious for weight gain , Cut out ALL carbs, yep carbs and sugar will send your scale zooming, Of course that is the stuff people on psych meds crave.

I gained weight and wanted to eat my sofa. I have anorexia so that weight gain? nope I was a wreck. We found weight neutral meds that worked for me.

Yes being strict with a diet and exercise is important and good for you anyway ,. But Psych meds can and will put weight on some people regardless of diet and exercise. Metabolism can be altered when taking psych meds and sometimes it never returns to what your "normal" was.

Have a talk with your Pdoc about how the weight gain is not acceptable and work together to find a solution that you both agree will be the best for you.

If your Pdoc is unwilling to work on changes and doesn't take your weight gain seriously, well you need a new Pdoc.

There is no health benefit to gaining weight... it will only put you at risk for Diabetes, heart diease, joint pain and the list goes on.

Be your own best advocate

[furiousfever]

Seroquel chubbed me up a little and zyprexa added ten pounds in two weeks!!!
It evens over time if you can eat as close to paleo as possible, I've found. No processed food whatsoever.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pjcjr77]

10 pounds in 2 weeks? That would be almost impossible to gai in actual body fat. Most likely it was a largely fluid retention.

I've been a fat guy all of my life. From adolescents forward, I was between 300 to 250 lbs.

My only longer term weightloss success has been when I finally got proper treatment for my bipolar. Having the stability of my mood has given me the ability to make better choices both eating and excersize.

I think the key to success with the exercise is to almost be neurotic about it. I treat it like a medication, so I have to do it. The alarm clock goes off in the morning..I eat breakfast...I get ready and go to the gym. It's not an option, just like not taking my meds isn't an option. I know if I don't take my meds things go off the rails pretty quickly, and I take the same mentality to working out.

Once you can do that, a lot of other things just sort of fall into place. You start to feel better physically, you start to feel a little better mentally. Since you are making the effort to exercise it leads you to have stronger will power to make better eating decisions. Basically, "Is this donut worth negating everything I did in the gym this morning?"

Find little goals to motivate and challenge yourself with. For me a huge one was just being able to run a mile continuously. Once I could do that, it changed to 1.5 miles, or the time to do the mile, etc. What's crazy for me is that I now challenge myself for faster 5k and 10k times. Two years ago I couldn't jog a mile.

Anyhow, the biggest key is the exercise. If you can get that into your life it can also compensate for the times you fall of the wagon eating wise.

Sorry for the rant!

[furiousfever]

Exercise is a life saver. It's a mood lifter when you're depressed, an energy burner when you're manic and great for weight control. I couldn't live without it!

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[violet66]

I refuse to take therapeutic doses of APs because they all make me gain. That is the main reason, anyway. Also I always get horrible akathesia and dry mouth.

[BlackSheep79]

I gained 40 lbs on Depakote and then went on Seroquel at that time i changed my diet, a complete 180. My weight would not budge. Then I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, got on meds lost 30 lbs, weight would not budge. I then came off of Seroquel because it caused me to be pre-diabetic and high triglycerides, I instantly dropped 30 lbs. Well I had to go back on Seroquel and I was scared of weight gain so my pdoc added topamax. I didn't lose weight but I didn't gain either, that insane craving for food was not there, just a little but no weight gain. Topamax made me stupid, so I recently came off of it. Well I started finding food wrappers on my nightstand. I freaked out, pdoc put me on a low dose of topamax and I seem to be doing better so far, but it's only been a week, so we'll see. Good luck, with the good comes the bad with these drugs.

[~Christina]

Originally Posted by pjcjr77

10 pounds in 2 weeks? That would be almost impossible to gai in actual body fat. Most likely it was a largely fluid retention.

I've been a fat guy all of my life. From adolescents forward, I was between 300 to 250 lbs.

My only longer term weightloss success has been when I finally got proper treatment for my bipolar. Having the stability of my mood has given me the ability to make better choices both eating and excersize.

I think the key to success with the exercise is to almost be neurotic about it. I treat it like a medication, so I have to do it. The alarm clock goes off in the morning..I eat breakfast...I get ready and go to the gym. It's not an option, just like not taking my meds isn't an option. I know if I don't take my meds things go off the rails pretty quickly, and I take the same mentality to working out.

Once you can do that, a lot of other things just sort of fall into place. You start to feel better physically, you start to feel a little better mentally. Since you are making the effort to exercise it leads you to have stronger will power to make better eating decisions. Basically, "Is this donut worth negating everything I did in the gym this morning?"

Find little goals to motivate and challenge yourself with. For me a huge one was just being able to run a mile continuously. Once I could do that, it changed to 1.5 miles, or the time to do the mile, etc. What's crazy for me is that I now challenge myself for faster 5k and 10k times. Two years ago I couldn't jog a mile.

Anyhow, the biggest key is the exercise. If you can get that into your life it can also compensate for the times you fall of the wagon eating wise.

Sorry for the rant!

I politely disagree, there are well documented studies that AP's and Atypical AP's can pile on 10-40 lbs in a months time despite diet and exercise, Psych meds can and will change a bodies metabolism.

I am anorexic and often consume less that 250 calories a day , the only way to explain my weight gain of 35lbs in a month ? Yeah Psych med . Not my intake of food and exercising schedule.