Abilify weight gain?

I finally am weaned from Cymbalta, which over the years I gained 30 lbs. while taking the drug. I am losing weight now, having lost 15 lbs. in two months. Today I was prescribed Abilify and as I am researching, I see that weight gain could be a side effect. Has this been a problem for anyone? By the way, I also take prozac, wellbutrin, and klonopin.
Thanks,
Bluemountains

your lucky to be looseing weight when on prozac , thats a weight gain med

Yes, I was on prozac before the cymbalta and the weight gain did start then. The cymbalta just added 30 more pounds. I take 8 medications in all, and I would like to get off of some of these, but the extra weight does not help the chances for this to happen.

Talk to your Pdoc ...
I gained 40lbs trying differant med combos .. I had ENOUGH and told my Pdoc Im willing to try meds but they have to be weight neutral ... I refuse to become diabetic to treat my bipolar diease.
My pdoc didnt really notice how much I had gained as I was " anorexic" before starting treatment so im sure to him I looked better. but 40 lbs is tooooooo much .

I think when patients tell there Pdoc they have gained enough most pdocs will listen..

Good luck and there are weight neutral medications out there.

I read that aripiprazole (abilify) is mostly weight neutral, although that obviously varies from person to person. I did gain about 10lbs on it, which is very upsetting for me, but I was on other meds which could've caused it so I can't specifically say which one caused the weight gain.

My pdoc was useless - just told me to eat less and do more! Yes, obviously, but when I don't have the motivation to leave my bed all week, I'm hardly going to be able to summon the energy to go on a healthy eating kick and go to the gym every day. As she is so unsupportive about weight gain, which is really triggering for me, I just sort it out myself. If it causes too much weight, I stop it; with or without her support. At the end of the day, it's MY body!

I guess, in summary, what I'm saying is: try it. If you put on weight, try keeping your lifestyle as healthy as you can manage to control it. If it gets too much, tell your pdoc. If they don't listen, tell them you are coming off it with or without their help.

Good luck,

*Willow*

I never got any weight gain with abilify. I didn't get any side effects from abilify at all really. the pdoc I had at the time said that that was the beauty of abilify - minimal side effects.

I have gained 30lbs with abilify. And hate every lb! But the med seams to be working for me other then that.

My experience.....
Abilify made me gain weight. I have had two go arounds with it and it made me gain both times. I was on a low dose... 2mg for 7 months and gained 10 lbs.

BUT... Recently I increased my Wellbutrin to 225mg and decreased my Abilify to 1.5mg and I have been able (w strict diet) to lose 8 lbs. I'm SO Happy!

I think the weight loss effect of Wellbutrin is what's made this possible. It kills my cravings. Abilify made me crave carbs/sugar bad. So now with no cravings I've been able to diet.

In regards to the Prozac making u gain. My Pdoc wants me to consider prozac in replace of Abilify. She said the weight gain risk is MUCH greater on Abilify for sure.

My Pdoc has seen everyone on Abilify gain weight.

That was enough for me to refuse this medication.

(unless something changes in my recovery)
G

I was on Abilify for quite some time and I did notice fluctuations in my weight. When I noticed that I was gaining weight, my pdoc told me that B12 regulates your metabolism which will help kind of counter-act the weight gain caused by Abilify. Now, this ISN'T going to be a drastic difference, but B12 did something positive for me so I hope that it'll do that same for you.

But check with your pdoc first!!!!!!

At least now the MHC is finally admitting the weight gain and withdrawal symptoms if meds are discontinued. For the longest time, their main role was to deny, deny, deny. A damn disgrace if you ask me. Maybe it was several class action lawsuits that the pharmaceutical companies were losing that finally made them accountable. i don't know. At any rate, I'm glad to finally see it.

I developed serious vision problems and mentioned it to my psychiatrist who casually asked could I wait until she got back from her 2 week cruise she was about to go on. I was livid, hell no I won't wait and you can take me off your calendar when you get back.

Thankfully I had a psychologist who listened and supported me in coming off immediately as well as a pharmacist who went over what to expect as far as discontinuation (withdrawal) symptoms.

That was three years ago, my vision has cleared up and I'm thankful no permanent damage was done because I drive for a living.

Oh, I also have lost 55 lbs. since coming off those meds. I admit I needed them when I first started my recovery process, but (and my psychologist agrees) I should have been taken off of them a long time ago.

Good Luck & Best Wishes!

I was on Abilify for about two years, and in that time my weight went from my average of 135 lbs to 205. I am 5'2". I look like a giant sausage busting out if it's casing, rippling fat on every part of my body, even forearms; cannot even wear my wedding ring now.

So now that I'm off the drug, I've been swimming five days a week and using a calorie checker for months with barely a budge in inches.

Now never mind how I felt before Abilify, this weight gain is unacceptable, very depressed about it. On new weight-neutral meds now, but Abilify really worked better. Unfortunately, Abilify worked so well that I hardly thought at all about my weight gain as it was happening. (I didn't care too much one way or the other about anything while on it - my art, and wanting sex to begin with - but it allowed me to work.) So at about 200 lbs, pdoc woke up and took me off, fearing potential physical effects like diabetes.

I found this article in the NYT from 2009 detailing a study which says young adults on Abilify gained on average one lb per week. (Google weight gain + Abilify).

I also came across a three-page Abilify magazine ad from 2011 that not once mentions weight gain as a potential side effect, two years after the study had concluded. Unfortunately, the manufacturer prescribing information is what pdocs often look at when prescribing - they don't always have time to read up on indepent studies.

I hope you have better luck!

WEIGHT GAIN is written on the leaflet of your Abilify med . It is well known for weight gain has most antphycotics are, Also a quick google can tell you anything you want about any med you take.

All of the atypical antipsychotics cause weight gain. Of them abilify is the lowest. I gained ten pounds....this is compared to the eighty pounds people will gain on zyprexa. Depending on your dose you might not gain weight at all. When I went from ten to seven point five I lost five pounds.

A factor is how long your on the med and how much . Some symtoms are only controled by 30mg Abifify . Of course there are some people who may not put on weight but are few and far between. On most med leaflets it say,s MAY put on weight but it Abifify dont put MAY on its leaflet it goes straight for weight gain. The main weight gain starts a few months into the med, SSRI,S meds will say may put on or loose weight on the leaflet but 6 months in %90 gain weight.

Yeah I get that some people need more meds I was just giving a personal example. Some people are on abilify 2 or 5 for depression. I think they are less likely to gain weight given my experience of dose dependence.

Of course lower the better for weight, before meds i was 11 stone now 15 stone but i never gained weight before because anxiety burned it off, im older now but im guessing my normal weight without meds would be 13 stone .