[Anatta]

I've been on three different atypical antipsychotics (Abilify, Latuda, and Rexulti), and each time they substantially increased my binging and purging.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

It would seem to make sense considering the strong correlation in the increase in appetite and weight gain associated with antipsychotics.

[Blueberrybook]

I've only taken one atypical AP long-term: Seroquel. I haven't had an increase in appetite with it, but a lot of people do. My doctor actually had me on the extended release version of Seroquel, and that made me want to sleep all the time and not have energy to exercise.

But I am lucky in that meds that tend to cause weight gain in a lot of people like Seroquel, Effexor, Abilify don't seem to cause me weight gain.

Only one med ever made me gain weight uncontrollably: Remeron (mirtazapine). All I wanted to do on that stuff was sleep & eat (never felt full). It is notorious for increasing appetite & causing weight gain. I think it is even sometimes used by vets on cats & dogs to needing to gain weight to increase their appetites. There must be exceptions out there, but I have never had a single person tell me they didn't gain weight on Remeron. Remeron led to me purging through throwing up. I'd been diagnosed with anorexia, purging type, but the purging previously had been through excessive exercise. Anyway, for the better, I was never good at making myself throw up, which resulted in my throwing away all my Remeron and going off it cold turkey because the weight gain was so stressful. I did need to gain weight then, but I also needed to be able to do it in a state where I felt I had some control over the situation and not be controlled by a medication.

I have now flat-out told my pdoc's that if a medication is making me gain weight uncontrollably, especially if I never feel full while taking it, they could be 100% certain I would not be taking the prescription. Especially when recovering from an eating disorder, I think it is important to be able to distinguish when you are truly full.

[LucyD]

I am on a low dose of risperdal and it doesn't make me want to eat more.

[Blue_Bird]

I was on the highest dose of the shot Invega sustenna for 5 years and it drastically increased my appetite which of course resulted in me purging even more than I already had been

[LucyD]

Come to think of it when I took Rexulti it made me eat too much. Not taking it any more because I gained weight from it.

[Gr3tta_0]

Mirtazapine had zero effect on my appetite, or anything else.
I used to take 400mg extended release seroquel, and this did not make me hungry, but i did gain weight. I trialed several other ap's but I'm not sure how much they effected purging, because i was too engaged in it already.
I no longer take psych meds.
Do you tell your pdoc when this happens? Do they help? I hope so.

[AlittleBITofCrazy]

When i first started on Seroquel I would binge eat in my sleep. But after about two years on it I stopped that. Then when I stopped taking all my meds in January I started binge eating again.

[mwaxy]

No med has made me put on weight. Not even remeron. That being said I take very little, smallest dose, sometimes half of that, purely for sleep.

[sarahsweets]

Many antipsychotics affect your hunger- I do not know why. IME lower doses are more sedating (usually prescribed this way for sleep) and higher doses are better for controlling psychosis. I know seroquel when taken in higher doses can be better for psychosis then the low level prescribed for sleep. It also depends on the drug. I take Geodon and my doctor told me to eat a few crackers when I take it because it sort of "activates" it through digestion. Sure enough if I do not eat something with it, it definitely does not seem to work as well.

[MickeyCheeky]

Yes, some meds can definitely increare our appetite, Anatta. Although I also think it depends on the person. But it's a very common side-effect. If it's bothering you or causing you trouble, I'd suggest to talk to your Pdoc about this and see how it goes from there. Hopefully you'll be able to find the right meds combination. Wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes. Sending many hugs to you