Pdoc appt: Still on Zyprexa :(

Saw my pdoc this morning and she's not willing to take me off Zyprexa (yet). She thinks I haven't been stable long enough to mess with what we know works, even though I've gained at least 40lbs since starting it, probably more.

She is taking me off seroquel though which combined with the zyprexa might have contributed to my weight gain, but I don't think that it itself made me gain weight because I've been on up to 800mg of seroquel daily with absolutely no weight gain.

I'm also being taken off buspar which seems to have run its course and pooped out on me.

And she's adding Lyrica, off label for anxiety. Just a small dose twice a day. Technically I'm not supposed to start it until I'm off both the buspar and seroquel, but in my mind, I'm thinking how in the world am I supposed to go off anti-anxiety medications and not have anything to step in for them, so I'm starting it now.

I'm upset that she wouldn't talk about alternatives to zyprexa, especially since she said she'd look into it at my last appointment, but I will keep hounding her until we come up with something else because I weigh too much and it's not my fault or within my control.

Oh, and I've been on the following: Seroquel, Geodon, Latuda, and Abilify so those are not contenders in the came of pick a med for sing...so I'm thinking vraylar, saphris, invega or rexulti next.

And thus ends my recap/rant.

I don't understand why your pdoc won't find a different med for you. If I tell my new pdoc that I don't want to take a certain medication, he lets me change to a different one. I mean, if a patient doesn't want to take something, then there's a chance they won't take it at all even if the pdoc wants them to take it.

Sorry your pdoc is stubborn. What if you say you absolutely refuse to take it anymore? Will that get the point across? Sometimes you have to over exaggerate with doctors in order to make them budge

I can't disagree that I'm stable which is her argument as to why I shouldn't change it now. I mean, if I said flat out that I wouldn't take it anymore she'd give me something else, but I'm afraid to say that because what if that something else sends me into a depression or hypomania? I know zyprexa won't do that! In fact, I know it will prevent that from happening under normal circumstances.

geodon is weight neutral and keeps me sane.
bizi

Can't do Geodon. It gave me a horrible tremor! Not only that, but it knocked me the fck out so I had to take it all at night because if I took it in the morning not more than an hour or so later I'd be asleep somewhere, anywhere.

What about Abilify or Latuda? Both are weight neutral. It's just that Latuda makes some people drowsy like seroquel, but that drowsiness doesn't happen to everyone.. Abilify is nice, but it gives me vision issues (which is a rare side effect).

Been on both. Abilify made me more depressed than I had ever been up to that point. Latuda worked for awhile and then pooped out on me at 40mg and messed me up at any dose above that which is why I'm back on zyprexa.

I suppose you could try seeing a nutritionist if no non-weight-gain AP works for you.

I saw a nutritionist and she worked with me on my diet to help reduce cholesterol. We came up with a lot of healthy ideas. We basically picked out a lot of healthy foods that taste good and are very filling. It really helped to eat organic stuff, as it has less calories than processed foods.

It's also good to eat nuts and sunflower seeds. They take a while to eat and give you something to do so that you're not eating too much. Gum is good too

So yeah, there are certain ways to combat or cope with increased hunger, especially with low calorie foods that taste good. I highly recommend a nutritionist because they can help a lot and motivate you to eat healthy.

I hope you can lose weight!

I've never had increased hunger, just increased weight. Hell, even in the past few weeks when I've been restricting I've gained at least 5lbs!

I've seen a nutritionist fairly recently because of my ED so I have a healthy food plan, not that I always follow it...and she knows about the meds and the weight gain, but it seems that no matter what I do, zyprexa makes me gain.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

I would be PISSED if my doctor kept me on a med that made me gain 40 lbs!!! I would be complaining if I were you. Good luck!! I hope you can change meds soon.

That's so hard. I gained 40lbs on zyprexa too. I was taking it for sleep tho mainly. 15 mgs

If you're not taking it for that I really would try invega or something. Good luck!

I feel for you as I too gained many pounds on Zyprexa. Nothing seemed to help me lose. Now I have switched to Latuda and so far no more weight gain but it has only been a few weeks. Also I have had to take a few rescue doses of Zyprexa when I have bad insomnia and nothing else helped. I think it is like withdrawals from the Zyprexa.

It is difficult getting myself off it and maintaining stability. I really hope you find a way to do this soon as it is not something you want to live with.

You wouldn't be complaining because I've literally never been this stable...and isn't stability what we're all after? I understand my pdoc's position which is keep me stable and not mess with too much. It just sucks that I've gained so much weight.

I'm taking it for bipolar, not for sleep, so I can't really go off it unless I replace it which is what I want to do. Maybe next month.

I'm glad it's made you stable. I just suspect your pdoc could find a better alternative that will help with your weight, that's all. ((HUGS))

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I'm not so sure about that. We've tried almost everything. I think we're pretty much down to the new(er) drugs like Rexulti, Vraylar, Saphris and Invega, unless we wanna go old school. I've tried a million different things and none of them worked out...I mean,Geodon, Seroquel, Abilify, Latuda, lithium, depakote, lamictal (on right now, second try and it's going much better than the first -- no rash!)...and probably some more that I'm forgetting at the moment. NOTHING can even hold a candle to Zyprexa. At least nothing I've tried. That's why I keep going back on it. The weight gain sucks, but it works super well.

Have you tried Risperdal yet? I know it's a weight-gainer for some people, but for me in smaller doses (I take 1 mg), it's pretty neutral and it stabilizes my hypomania better than anything else. Best wishes to you!!

How about damitol? I believe it's weight-neutral and helps with anger management issues...

I have not, bur I've heard it's a big weight gainer...and I don't even want to try something that's known for weight gain. I just can't risk it. I've already gained over 40lbs which is 40lbs too much. Even my weight before meds blew me up could've benefited from some weight loss. Now I'm just a whale.

I gained 30 kg (about 65 lbs) on Zyprexa, going from a BMI of 16.4 to one of 26.3. While tapering off I lost about 15 kg of that, so now I have a healthy BMI.

I got put on Clozapine and I have no weight gain, even though clozapine is know for its weight gain (maybe even more than Zyprexa).

Is it possible to go on topamax or zonegran in addition to the zyprexa? I was starting to gain a lot of weight on my clozapine and we added topamax and I haven't gained anymore weight since.

I will not go on another medication known for weight gain. Not risking that. I also don't want to add in any more medications. 5 (what I'll be on after getting off seroquel and buspar) is more than enough!