[InfiniteSadness]

Hungry most of the time.
More than usual.
is this a common side effect?
i have fast metabolism but I notice my hunger is worse on certain meds.

[Guiness187055]

yup perfectly normal

[InfiniteSadness]

Anyone else?

[skiguy18]

Meds definitely cause this. Zyprexa did for me.

[Mountaindewed]

Yeah, a lot of meds cause hunger and rapid weight gain. There are some weight neutral meds like Geodon and Lamictal. Or you can try topamax which is supposed to help with hunger.

[InfiniteSadness]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

Yeah, a lot of meds cause hunger and rapid weight gain. There are some weight neutral meds like Geodon and Lamictal. Or you can try topamax which is supposed to help with hunger.

What is Topamax used for again, off label?

[still_crazy]

i read a couple small studies that used high dose, high potency antioxidants with zyprexa and/or seroquel to combat weight gain and metabolic nastiness...with good results. green tea extract and alpha lipoic acid, I think.

metformin is sometimes used, more so with zyprexa and I think (hope...) clozapine. wellbutrin might help a bit, and of course...stimulants can help some people, some times, with some psych issues and also with hunger (for a while, anyway...).

sorry this is happening. is it a low mood from the psych drugs (dysphoria) driving the hunger? that happened to me for a short time on risperidone. it'd hit and I'd feel so blah and over tranquilized and...I ate.

I"m now on Abilify, which seems to be less problematic overall, but I have trouble realizing when I'm genuinely, truly full...so its very easy to overeat and then seriously regret it later.

sorry about all this.

[Mountaindewed]

Originally Posted by InfiniteSadness

What is Topamax used for again, off label?

Yeah, I think it’s used off label for hunger control. I think it’s actually supposed to be for migraines. I find it to be very helpful. I’m on 100 milligrams and most doctors only prescribe 50 milligrams. But 100 works best.

It’s like benzos though. Some doctors are dead against prescribing it. I don’t know why though. I’ve found it to be helpful with my moods as well. I’ve lost about 20 pounds on it, but I’m not sure how much of that is the topamax or switching from Ativan (which caused bad hunger) to Xanax which decreases my hunger too.

[downandlonely]

I get hungry a lot and have to eat every few hours. But I am not sure which medication is causing this. I have changed meds a lot and it has always been like this. I never had an appetite before I started meds, but maybe that was because of the depression.

I try to eat snacks with protein (usually nuts) throughout the day.

[Mountaindewed]

The only thing I absolutely hate about topamax is that I can’t drink carbonated beverages on it. I can’t taste the carbonation. So it just tastes like I’m drinking flat soda. People say they feel so much healthier after giving up soda and that they don’t crave it after awhile. It’s been almost 3 months and I’d pretty much give anything to be able to actually enjoy a regular coke from McDonald’s. Gaining weight is one of my worst fears though. So I’m sticking with the topamax and sacrificing the soda.

[AspiringAuthor]

I am very hungry on Zyprexa, with hunger pangs. I drink a Metamucil drink with my breakfast to help me survive till lunch. I also drink a Metamucil drink before bedtime, as otherwise I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. I am gaining weight rapidly. I have just started taking Wellbutrin in hopes of stalling this weight gain. Some people also take Naltrexone but I could not tolerate it since it was making me depressed. Also, Naltrexone is for cravings and I do not experience cravings - I experience physical hunger in my stomach.

[-jimi-]

I had uncontrolled hunger on Geodon. It was nuts. I'm strict so I just ate what I was supposed to. Once I decided I'd get full, so I started to cook a lot of food. I never got full. I just ate as much as my stomach could hold, and still felt hungry. That is a weird kind of torture.

But I would still say, skip all sugars and simple carbs, they will just make you hungrier.

[-jimi-]

Although in some cases they allow for injecting Victoza, if you are obese and have a bit of high sugar. It takes away hunger.

[Guiness187055]

Originally Posted by -jimi-

Although in some cases they allow for injecting Victoza, if you are obese and have a bit of high sugar. It takes away hunger.

I am diabetic and my doctor put me on victoza. It is great for curbing hunger. In the beginning though it gave me awful nausea.

[Rive1976]

Very common. Drink lots of water. Fills you up and eat 4 small meals a day and healthy snacks throughout the day.

[SlumberKitty]

My anti-psychotic meds made me very hungry, even if I had just ate, my stomach would hurt from hunger. As a result I gained weight on it. Not cool. But it's helped me be more stable and the hunger side effect did wear off. Now I just have to get the extra weight off. UGH. Kit

[Blue_Bird]

Trileptal seemed to decrease my appetite a ton. But I'm on seroquel in addition to it now and I'm hungry very often

[AspiringAuthor]

I started drinking SmartWater throughout the day and it helps.

[susannahsays]

Mirtazapine aka Remeron has been the worst for me. It's actually an appetite stimulant as well as an antidepressant. They use it to help people on chemo. It really helped my depression, but created a bottomless hunger. I never felt satiated. At best, I felt physically full. However, as soon as the physical sensation of being full - caused by my stomach being stuffed - would fade as food started to break down and move out of my stomach - the hunger would come creeping back. My roommate even complained to me because I was waking her up multiple times a night to feed. I gained a lot of weight. After seeing a particularly unflattering picture of myself in all my fat glory, I knew I had to come off the Remeron.

I also have experience with quetiapine aka seroquel. This medication also makes me really hungry, though it is not the mindless hunger of Remeron. On Remeron, I had absolutely no self control and not only did I never lose or maintain weight on Remeron, I consistently gained. On Seroquel, I have at times gained, but I have also been able to successfully lose weight. That would have been impossible on the Remeron. For me, the worst hunger from the Seroquel is at night after I take it, and in the morning. I also take adderall, and I think this arrests the hunger side effect when I take it after breakfast. My method for not gaining weight on the seroquel is to confine the majority of my calorie consumption to those times when the seroquel hunger hits. So I really don't eat much at all during the day. The first sign the seroquel has hit my bloodstream is always the unique hunger. I wait to have dinner until I feel this hunger - so I have dinner pretty late. My dinner isn't especially large, though, I don't think. And I'm able to go to bed without feeling ravenous. I usually eat a rather large breakfast. When I am done, I feel satisfied. Even if I don't take my adderall, I find the day to be easier to manage without food, or with low calorie stuff, than post-seroquel and first thing in the morning, so that's how I manage it.

I have also been on topamax, but it lost effectiveness for me. Still take it, though, just in case. I also sometimes take metformin, but it has an unpleasant side effect for me. That side effect is that it sometimes causes extremely intense nausea if I eat something sweet. I don't even have to have eaten a high number of grams of sugar for this to happen. The last time it did was when my sister made a cake. I licked the batter covered spoon, and scraped a bit off the bowl. It was a very small amount. But half an hour later I was prostrate with nausea (and it wasn't from ecoli or something from the eggs as we used egg whites from an unopened bottle, which are pasteurized). It can also happen if you eat a large number of carbs in general. Took me a while to make the connection.

[88Butterfly88]

I have hunger from Geodon. Am on multiple meds but know it's from that because when the doc upped it it got worse. I took Seroquel before and that was even worse. Topomax can actually cause weight loss, maybe they want to add that to counteract other drugs.

[AspiringAuthor]

Seeds in water have been recommended for me, and yes, they work. This is how: pour a quart of tap water into a large measuring cup that has a spout. Add 2 Tbsp each of chia seeds, hemp seeds and flax seeds (hemp and flax need to be refrigerated). Mix. Leave on the counter overnight. Next day it would be a gelatinous solution. Mix it again and pour into icecube trays. Freeze.

To use, boil water, put a couple of ice cubes in a cup and pour boiling water on it. The mix will be nice and warm and ready to drink in a few minutes. Add a hint of honey if desired.

This gelatinous mixture will stay in the stomach, causing satiety, and is low cal.

[Mountaindewed]

I still experience hunger even with the topamax, but I do find it manageable. I do intermittent fasting. I don’t eat after 5:30 and I don’t eat before 9:30AM. It really works. Also diet drinks (not soda) can really help. I like Gold Peak diet tea. It’s completely diet. It tastes like regular sweet tea. It will fill you up. Also diet juice exists that only has 40 calories per bottle. I also don’t eat with my meds. I find that I get hungry and will overeat If if eat immediately after taking them. So I usually wait 30 minutes to an hour. Distracting yourself helps too. Knowing it’s ok to be hungry.

Intermittent fasting, and diet drinks are the main things for me. Topamax does help some. I do wonder if it was the switching benzos that helped more though.

[pat86]

Metformin helps decrease cravings.

[InfiniteSadness]

Originally Posted by pat86

Metformin helps decrease cravings.

Isnt that for diabetes only?

[AspiringAuthor]

Originally Posted by InfiniteSadness

Isnt that for diabetes only?

It is used off label for a lot of things, including cholesterol reduction and even boosting fertility. There are even "bio hackers" who take a small dose for general health.

***

My internist does not want me on it at the moment, though. I have cholesterol = 240, fasting glucose =99, but she still does not recommend it. I asked if I should take it to counteract the weight gain from olanzapine. But the thing is, I tried Metformin for this purpose in the past and it was useless.