Coming off of Seroquel and losing weight

I'm down to 250 and am begining to be frightened and paranoid, But I think that might be for good reason. I don't want to stop going down if this is just a blip caused by stressful circumstances. But it might be that the circumstances only seem stressufl because I'm coming down. what do you think?

You know, i had so many situations going on when i was coming off of Seroquel, plus right after, that there were quite a few times that I didn't know if it was the 'coming off of the meds" or the actual stress/situation, that was messing with my mind.

Now that I've been off of it for a couple of months, got my sleep in order and still have stressful situations, the dr and I realized that a lot of it is the situation and how I react to things.

my personl belief is if that you take a benzo well coming off of seroqual it gets rid of a lot mental problems from withdrawel i also seem more driven being off so much seroquel at once

melatonin helps a lot when taking less and less

I've actually been doing a lot of yoga and i think that helps wih my sleep and other stressors.
The weight is not "pouring" off of me like others have said, but I have lost about 8 pounds - I really watch what I eat plus the yoga, so i think that helps.

Hi Jadedmoonbeam, good to see you're on the forum again!

It's really a coincidence for me that you came back only a few weeks ago. I've been reading your posts about getting off seroquel & losing weight. I'm myself still struggling with the insomnia that the coming off it is giving me and it has made life very difficult, I feel I'm back where I started two years ago before starting quetiapine.

How did your sleep evolve in the months/years after you stopped seroquel? You said that it became better, but now that it has been a while, how do oyu look at the whole thing in retrospect?

So for my question to you .

The difficulty for me is solely due to the lack off sleep/shallow sleep. I'm not hypomanic or depressed, not even dysphoric, even though the tiredness does affect my mood and I'm quite lethargic. The latter I already had the last five months of my normal quetiapine dose (400mg.), the reason I wanted to get rid of it since it had lost it's value.

I'm continuing my lamictal (200mg) and so far I feel it is effective as a monotherapy.

It took me four months to get to the dose I'm now taking (12,5mg) and I feel I can finaly try 0mg. without getting extremely nauseated. I'm afraid though that the waking up and shallow sleep will stay with me for a long time, considering it took so long to get from 150 mg to 12,5 (from 400 to 150 went much, much quicker).

Anyway, I found a lot of comfort in reading that I'm not alone and there is a lot to read on forums about people trying to quit this drug. For me it has been very informative, much more so than all the research articles I downloaded. So my thanks to all those people!

If anyone, - now or years from now! - has any questions about how I went about it (and how it's going), just ask here or sent me a PM.

I know a lot about this drug and psychopharmacology in general (partly because of my background in neuroscience, and partly because I studied this drug for the 2 years I've been on it extensively). Maybe I can provide people with some answers when their psychiatrists can't or don't want to...

I stopped taking it a few weeks back after I'd only been on it for about 2 months and the weight gain was too much for me, plus I was just too tired. I tried to take 50mg at night every other night, but on the night I didn't take it, I had bad insomnia.
My weight is now coming back down again, and I can only hope my depression doesn't come back with a vengeance

Oh yes, I didn't even mention it, but the weight gain was an issue too. I was on 400mg., but you can get it with doses as low as 25mg. At the time I thought I could handle it, since I work out a hell of a lot (and intensive too). I did have to resort to eating superhealthy and all, but I would never get back to my normal level. And eat a bit too much for a few days, or not work out, and boom - weight back on (with interest).

If it's for depression you're taking it, I'd say ask for different meds first, because when you're stuck with this for a while and you're sensitive to it... ...you're not going to get rid of it easily. Good thing you stopped.

So far I haven't become depressed, even thought I'm tired as hell every day from sleeping badly. Might be that lamotrigine (Lamictal) is acting very well as a monotherapy. If it is, than thumbs up for that stuff because it is much milder and, at least for most, easy to get rid of.

I've tried a few SSRIs and now take Wellbutrin after the SSRIs weren't too effective. I am also on Sodium Valproate. I have started the 25mg Seroquel at night again.
Last night I had vivid dreams and woke my boyfriend up twice because I was grinding my teeth. I'm not sure that this med really gets on well with me.
I was prescribed Seroquel after I hit a serious downer and my pdoc wanted to try something new.

Well, 25mg isn't that much, so coming off it shouldn't be a problem if you need to stop. However, if you're going up to the official dose for depression (300mg) you're going to get the whole wheight issue and daytime drowsiness issue again.

I did read an article about five case-studies of middle aged women that got stable and were free of depression with a dose of 50 - 75 mg. So a low dose could work after all.

I got restless legs with this med, althoug it finaly dissapeared after a year. I was in a sort of artificial hybernation every night, but according to my wife I did seem a bit restless in my sleep and I snored. So I guess like you I woke my significant other up too .

Good thread. Made me register.

This isn't my first time with an anti psychotic so I'm aware of what weight gain can happen (zyprexia)

Lost a ton of weight after coming off all meds and kept it off.

Insomnia became an issue for me and I found seroquel to be the only thing to work. ..
200mg at night, a year later vane the weight. .

SO SICK of hearing people say it makes you hungry and eat....
I do not eat not eat any different than I did when ok was thin...

I am a fim beliver in this drug causing TERRIBLE metabolic syndrome.
Ive since started cardio and cutting down on my dose, and calorie counting my already reasonable food intake...

Don't know what's going to happen but the weight has gotten out of control regardless of actually getting sleep at night........

Hey Everyone,

Talking about my use with seroquel, well before that...My PCM thought I just had generalize
. Anxiet, so he prescribed me zoloft and xanax that was Sept 2013. I weighed 138 pounds. Holidays came up, so I ate a little more. Feb. Had a grade two ankle sprain from running stopped running, weighed 155 pounds in March 2014, which i didn't care, I was comfortable. And all of the sudden April 2014 had an emotional breakdown, badly. Wanted to call 911 for no reason, felt like I wanted to scream in class, I drove on the edge (wanted to flip my car, just to see if I would actually fo it, had very intrusive thoughts (i cannot watch the news at all).

Finally say my doctor, right away I got a refferal. Had my first appointment with my psychiatris. Later then told her habits, how much sleep i get, how i feel, and so forth. I'm diagnosed with bipolar, generalized anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD, but not full blown. Im not going to put my past on here. So she prescribed Trileptal, Seroquel and Vistaril (to sleep), Klonopi . ( which is better than xanax), and xanax for emergencies. So I began my trial...Im really weight consciou . If i go above 160. Well guess what I was gaining a pound and a half a week. As of two days I go I weighed 195 pounds, every month i would have to buy new pants. So from April 2014-Sept 2014 I gained 40 pounds, and mind you I was running even though my joints hurt so bad.

So I said I was going to do an experiment. I'm going on a low carb diet and going to right down my weight and see if it is the holy grail (i lost 30 pounds on a low carb diet before any meds) so thw first week I lost 10 pounds, weighed myself everyday so I was 185. Then guess what the weight ceased and no matter what I did I was gaining half of a pound and on the same.diet.

So seroquel does make u gain weight that cannot be explained.

Me being pissed off, i go back to my psychiatrist. (She knows my weight bothered me). Says okay lets taje you off seroquel on Sept 23, 2014. Now I begin my journey and will share with you the results, if it is true about seroquel. I got prescribe ambien to sleep now, which ia not as good as seroquel (i wake up at 2am wide awake). Im going to weigh myself every month to see if weight comes off a little.

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How are you doing? Have you been able to stop the Seroquel and sleep well and loose the weight? I started tapering down, and my pdoc said that he would prescribe a sleep medication to bridge the tapering/sleep issues. I got scared that it wouldn't work so I haven't done it yet.
Seroquel and other atypical antipsychotics are guilty of causing 'metabolic syndrome symptoms, weight gain, especially around abdomen, increased blood pressure, increase blood sugar/diabetes.

How is this going for you? successes, setbacks, side effects that you've experienced?
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Did anyone notice weight loss while tapering down to a lower dose or not at all until discontinued?

I don't know that being on any amount, however small, will help rid the weight, etc. I've studied and heard that small doses are still sedating and the histamine response is still triggered. I'm down to 50mg at night. I've not lost weight around my midsection, my B/P is still high.. metabolic syndrome symptoms. I hope to be off sooner or later, but then I almost expect to need time for all the ADME ( absorption, digestion, metabolism, excretion ) to take time and for my own body chemistry to adjust or correct.

I'm absolutely miserable thank you seroquel. I had gastric bypass surgery and lost about 100 pounds. I got down too low but then found a healthy weight of about 140. Maintained this weight for more than 7 years. Enter Depression / Anxiety / Stress / bi-polar etc -- Enter Seroquel XR Pristine and temazapam. I was feeling better but before I knew it BAM 40 pounds. Doctor finally admits seroquel could be part of my problem but -- I'm also mid 50's so my metabolism is probably slowing anyway. Hmmm Try losing weight with diet and exercise - no dice. Get a referral to gastric bypass doc. Start seeing doc and nutritionist monthly. Doc prescribes protein shakes and vitamins for two weeks -- do what I'm told - plus exercise - eh - about 2 pounds in a month -- several more months and finally 10 pounds -- I was like "YES!!" Yeah -- well that was more than a year ago and I can't lose weight. I bought a fitbit - increased exercise. Followed strict diet - low carb / lots of salads and lean meat - turkey -- but still not much because I am a gastric bypass person. Nothing. No weight coming off. Talk to doctor and ask -- Can I get off the Seroquel and he says - well -- your anxiety is good so lets keep things like they are. I wanted to scream "Really?" If I was depressed before add 50 pounds and see how I feel. Can't lose the weight. Don't know what will happen if I quit taking it. Or maybe cut it down to 1/2 dose which would be 200 mg. Anyone else tried going off of it? --

Great Thread!! been really nice to read and see that I'm not alone. I've been taking Seroquel to treat bipolar 2 for the last 4 years now. I was initially prescribed 300mg and took that for over 3 years. The weight gain was immediate. I went from weighing 155lbs and currently am at 200. I eat very healthy and exercise at least 5 times a week, strength and cardio. Still cant lose any weight. 3 months ago I told my Doc I wanted to stop due to some bad blood test results... High sugar and cholesterol not so great. He started with 100mg Topamax at night and wellbutrin in the morning. My moods were great and I was feeling fine...until it was time to sleep. Absolutely couldn't get any sleep without the Seroquel, so after 1 month of terror I went back to Seroquel and only 100mg at night without the other meds... I have gained 10lbs in the last 2 months and I'm headed back to the Doc this week to figure out a new plan. This drug did such great things for me and really turned my life around, but now I feel terrible about the weight and it is just not healthy for me to continue. Hopefully I can get something to help me sleep and avoid this drug and all the baggage it brings.

I'm so glad I found this thread of posts! I have taken myself off Seroquel - bet you can't guess why! Yep - 60 pounds up and counting! I have been off for two days, no problems sleeping was on 100mg per night. I want to start a 28 day diet to jump start my weight loss with my co-workers but how long does it take before your metabolism goes back to normal? I don't want to do all that "dieting" and I understand a diet is just a tool , but don't want to take make the effort with them until I know my body will likely respond as theirs does. Does anyone know how long it takes for the body to go back to normal - as far as losing weight like a normal person would if they had never been on Seroquel?

Good Day,

I am a new here, and this thread made me register because it was so useful, because I feel that I am not alone, which is how I feel right now in my life.

I took the last Seroquel pill 6 weeks ago, and to my utter disappointment, I have not lost weight. I suspect that I have been losing and gaining water because the scale goes up and down from 93kgs to 96kgs. It was when I reached that 90s (kgs) that I decided to stop taking these pills especially because it was given to me in rehab merely to help me sleep, and for no other reason.

What I find most saddening is that, my partner seems to think that this weight gain has to do with how I eat, when I eat very little, and also, I am getting married in October, so my wedding pictures will not be how I desire.

I just want to know whether this weight will eventually come off and whether I am setting myself up for disappointment for expecting results in 6 weeks.

Thank you,
Basiliska.

Baliska. Hang onto hope, and if you can now sleep without the seroquel, and feel rested after a good amount and refreshed. You are on the right track. I don't know exactly how long it takes. I am seeing a difference in improved body shape , weight / muscle replacing fat, and the swelling going down as I ensure a lifestyle with minimal stress in environment, enjoyment of hobbies. Picking the right friends.. etc.
It sounds like your partner needs education and understanding of the illness, meds, skills, symptoms and being compassionate and supportive.
Loving someone with bipolar disorder (2ND EDITION). Author Julie Fast. Understanding and helping your partner. This is a book I highly recommend for your partner and overall relationshp.

Hi everyone,
I am an 18 year old female and have been on almost every antipsychotic/antidepressant imaginable over the last 4 years. Diagnosed with schizo-affective bipolar 1 disorder. Before I was put on any meds I was underweight at 45kg due to underlying eating disorders. Whilst being on seroquel my weight went up to 75kg! This was completely distressing to me and I developed bulimia and still lost no weight with an extremely restrictive diet (similar to pre-seroquel). 6 months ago I was taken off the meds I was on which was seroquel 500mg along with lamictal. Since then I have dropped back to 60kg with minimal effort. I have not been doing any extra exercise but have been eating fairly healthily. I have found that seroquel will completely stop you from being able to lose the weight you want to NO MATTER what you do be it starving or overexcercing nothing worked for me! Weight loss has slowed now as I feel as if I am reaching my natural weight and I am going to start an exercise plan to tone up as seroquel seems to have left me with a lot of flab!

Good luck to everyone going through this horrible experience of a drug!

How long did it take?

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I was medically hospitalized with anorexia just before being put on Seroquel after going through a trauma. Pdoc gave it to me so I could sleep without the nightmares. Used the high dose 600mg on & off a few years until I moved & got a new life. Interesting because it had no effect on my weight though I was finally able to gain back to a healthy weight it took 2 years. Interesting how it didn't effect my weight in the way it does to others....maybe my whole body condition at the time wouldn't allow that effect.

In early December of last year I came off of taking seroquel and have lost a great deal of weight so far. Before that I was taking 300 mg of seroquel for about a year and a half, and during that time I packed on a significant amount of weight. In addition to the seroquel, I also take celexa at 40 mg and wellbutrin at 400 mg.

Shortly after stopping the seroquel, I had more energy than normal, so I started exercising regularly, but only for about a month before I went back to my usual routine. Within that time frame of a month I lost about 9 pounds. I gradually began to stop exercising as much, but since then my weight has continued to decrease without much effort on my part. I started to notice that my clothes were becoming much looser and had to start wearing a belt! Last week I saw my pdoc, and she was surprised to see the amount of weight I lost since I last saw here - a total of 22 pounds so far.

For me, the tough part was getting off of the seroquel. Gradually tapering it down over time was the key. Each time I tapered it to a lower level, I could definitely feel it, but the worst was about 3 days after I completely stopped it altogether. What made it difficult was mainly physical symptoms as opposed to anything emotional. My hands and feet were very itchy - and this feeling wasn't just a normal itch, it felt very tingly and strange. Moreover, nausea, feeling lightheaded, sweating, and dizziness were definitely there, but it was doable.

I went up to a size 16 on risp.i am now a size 8 again (u.s 6) it took me about two months,I changed to an all organic plant based diet and really don't eat much else,I eat small amt of carbs.
I will never go on meds again the weight gain and other changes to your brain is horrible.