[Moose72]

Im exercising like a fiend but only losing a minimal amout of weight. This is so frustrating.

[Crook32]

I have gained 80 pounds on Seroquel. I did ok on Metformin when I was on Seroquel ER but when I switched to regular Seroquel I gained back everything I had lost. Just increased the Metformin and am hoping it helps.

[violetgreen]

I gained a lot of weight on Seroquel, too. I rejoined Weight Watchers and slowly lost 10 pounds so far. It’s a slog for me, but my cholesterol has lowered to a better level. I’m working on it, but gaining weight is no fun, losing it is so hard. No advice but just to say it sucks!

[zijax]

It has taken me 2 months of under a thousand calories a day to begin losing weight. If you stick with diet and exercize the weight will come off, but it's frustrating because it's a slow turn around. Don't give up, you can do it.

Seroquel XR is not particularly weight unfriendly for me. It has seemed to be friendlier than regular Seroquel. Is it a weight loss med for me? No, but I am 90% sure any weight gain I've had on Seroquel XR has been primarily related to moods (not medications), genetics, general love of eating, and too little exercise. I could stand to lose 18-20 lbs, but I was in a similar position about 16 years ago before I ever put a bipolar med in my mouth.

I know we all have different experiences with medications. I just wanted to share a story that puts Seroquel XR in a good light, which it has been for me.

I'm not dieting right now or exercising as I should. I know I can, especially the former. I can lose weight when I try.

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

Seroquel XR is not particularly weight unfriendly for me. It has seemed to be friendlier than regular Seroquel. Is it a weight loss med for me? No, but I am 90% sure any weight gain I've had on Seroquel XR has been primarily related to moods (not medications), genetics, general love of eating, and too little exercise. I could stand to lose 18-20 lbs, but I was in a similar position about 16 years ago before I ever put a bipolar med in my mouth.

I know we all have different experiences with medications. I just wanted to share a story that puts Seroquel XR in a good light, which it has been for me.

I'm not dieting right now or exercising as I should. I know I can, especially the former. I can lose weight when I try.

My experience was the complete opposite. Also Seroquel XR made me too sleepy to function all day, and I didn't have the energy to exercise.

If I recall correctly, you're exercising a lot and your clothes size is going down. You're probably building muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. So you're losing fat and gaining muscle, hence your weight either goes up or stays the same, but it's not traditional "weight gain" in the sense that your body is storing fat. Your body is just storing muscle instead. For example, some bodybuilders are 300+ lbs and they would normally be considered "obese" for their height, but they have minimal body fat, so they're actually not obese. Yet, someone who is the same height as a 300 lb body builder but weighs 200 lbs could easily be considered obese because of their body fat percentage.

But anyway, even if Seroquel is legitimately making you store fat, there are ways (besides Metformin) to prevent (or at least mitigate) that side effect. I'm not saying you SHOULDN'T try Metformin, but I'm just giving examples of what you could do in addition to or besides Metformin:

Try reading this:
7 habits to help you lose weight and keep it off - Harvard Health

Also, while Seroquel and Seroquel XR did NOT make me gain weight, it did increase my appetite. I counteracted the effect by drinking more water to quell the hunger levels. I also exercised before every meal (at the time I took it). I work a 9-7 job and I'm able to fit in exercise in the middle of the day at work if I really want to. I just take a walk outside, making circles around the outside of the building.

There are lots of indoor exercises you can do if you don't want to workout outside. You can find some awesome stuff on YouTube, especially quiet indoor exercises that don't bother your neighbors if you live in an apartment building (like me). So do about 10-15 mins of those exercises before a meal and that should help reduce hunger -- I promise. Even if you go out to Starbucks to eat food or drink coffee, you can still exercise beforehand. OR you can exercise afterwards if you don't have a food coma.

[pjwilly]

This is my first post, but I have been reading learning for a while. For me, Seroquel is a medicine that I hate to love. It works really well for my various symptoms, which I love, but I hate the side effects of weight gain, sedation, etc.

[Fuzzybear]

Seroquel did increase my appetite. I did gain some weight, but not very much... I found drinking a lot of water helped (which I didn’t do on a previous med and gained a lot of weight.. - which I have now lost)

[*Laurie*]

Seroquel has been a nightmare for me. It was prescribed to me about 5 years ago. The only positive thing Seroquel did for me was help me sleep. Nothing else. Over 3 years I gained 125 lbs. Yes, shocking.

I saw a nutritionist last week; she agreed that my eating habits are healthy. She didn't say this, but I know I need to exercise more. However, doing anything more than a very short walk outside this summer has been impossible because of the wildfire smoke. I do yoga and stretches indoors.
Bottom line...the nutritionist told me that the weight gain came from Seroquel. So, I'm in the process of going off the poison, but it's a very slow process.

[Moose72]

Thanks everybody. I see pdoc in 2 weeks. I hope i go off seroquel then.

[99fairies]

I'm still IP and they give me 200mg a night. It makes me super hungry but I'm not eating meals and dumping the boost down the drain oh and walking close to 3 miles a day, so I haven't gained weight on it...yet.