I don't understand how meds make people gain and lose weight?

Jun 21, 2013 at 02:58 PM

Is it the fact that they make you eat more or some make you eat less or it it because the meds make the metabolism lower or higher or both? thanks.

dizzyqueen · Jun 21, 2013 at 03:27 PM

Hi Seroquel done it for me i am on 300mg , and do i get the munchies x

onionknight · Jun 21, 2013 at 09:27 PM

It is that they make you constantly hungry, but also psychiatric medicines affect the metabolism and disrupt hormones.

Sometimes psychotic · Jun 21, 2013 at 09:32 PM

There is a protein which is a central regulator of metabolism called AMPK, when it gets phosphorylated in the brain it increases appetite. Some of the antipsychotics can induce phosphorylation of AMPK. So basically antipsychotics make you hungry more so you gain weight.

I don't know how the losing weight works.

Rose76 · Jun 21, 2013 at 10:35 PM

Mainly, they make you more hungry.

I used to take Neurontin in the evening after I thought I was through eating for the day. An hour after taking the med, I'ld have an irresistible urge to hit the kitchen looking for something hearty to eat.

I tried waiting and only taking it just as I was getting into bed. Always, I would end up getting back out of bed to go eat something.

I went off this med because of the excessive eating. Then my appetite went back to normal.

Odee · Jun 23, 2013 at 08:19 AM

Plenty of meds, especially anti-psychotics, strait up mess with your blood sugar level. The spikes in blood sugar will trigger fat storage and decrease insulin sensitivity. I've read before that Serotonin is also involved in alerting the brain at certain receptors to begin storing fat, which is why SSRIs will have the side effect of weight gain. So yes, it can strait up screw your metabolism without you changing your habits.

Jun 23, 2013 at 12:16 PM

well my advice is that instead of trying to gain weight through medications and dieting, why not eat less and exercise more?

sewerrats · Jun 23, 2013 at 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyitsme7

well my advice is that instead of trying to gain weight through medications and dieting, why not eat less and exercise more?

it wont matter how much you diet and exercise you still gain weight on meds didn't you read the posts before yours, maybe not quite so much but you will gain weight, you only have to look at a box of Remeron and you will put on 5lb

joke/// but its close enough. People who loose weight are usually starting a med when you feel ill from side effects, plus if anxierty is still there you wont gain weight it burns straight off you. Plus wellbutrin helps lose weight its compound is like amfetemin

Jun 23, 2013 at 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerrats

it wont matter how much you diet and exercise you still gain weight on meds didn't you read the posts before yours, maybe not quite so much but you will gain weight, you only have to look at a box of Remeron and you will put on 5lb

joke/// but its close enough. People who loose weight are usually starting a med when you feel ill from side effects, plus if anxierty is still there you wont gain weight it burns straight off you. Plus wellbutrin helps lose weight its compound is like amfetemin

has it been proven to be effective?

Sometimes psychotic · Jun 23, 2013 at 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyitsme7

well my advice is that instead of trying to gain weight through medications and dieting, why not eat less and exercise more?

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here an assume you've never been on an antipsychotic. If you were hungry would you eat to sate that hunger? My guess is yes. It's something powerful in your brain and if you don't eat you will feel hungry indefinitely. I walk two miles a day and I still gained ten pounds on antipsychotics. They make you hungry beyond whatever caloric need that you have. Some people gain 80 pounds in a couple of months...these are powerful drugs that people take to avoid constant torment.

-jimi- · Jun 23, 2013 at 01:02 PM

I've gained on Risperdal during an involuntary fasting.... I bet you get fat by breathing.

-jimi- · Jun 23, 2013 at 01:08 PM

Oh yea... Geodon gave me an appetite (extreme hunger) at first but I resisted food. But then it started to give me extreme panic attacks which I had almost non stop (ranging from extreme anxiety to full blown panic). I stopped the med but it took quite a long time for things to turn to somewhat normal. In that time I couldn't eat. I even could not drink water for five days (people say you die from that.. I'm pretty sure I didn't). When I felt somewhat better I started force feeding myself a cup of thin soup a day. It could have been say 200 calories. So I had maybe 2800 calories in over a month. I just lost a few pounds. I assume because the med was still in my system.

I sometimes wonder if those pills aren't superfood! And every pill is really 3000 calories! That would explain it!

Travelinglady · Jun 23, 2013 at 08:54 PM

I read somewhere that some of these meds affect how the body deals with the calories or such--I didn't understand all the details. I DO know that I gained a great deal of weight in a short period of time when I was on Remeron, and I don't recall feeling hungrier or eating more. That's the upsetting part. I felt no control over the process at all.

Jun 24, 2013 at 12:18 AM

"And every pill is really 3000 calories!"

Yeah lol i think ill go with that one

sewerrats · Jun 24, 2013 at 03:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyitsme7

has it been proven to be effective?

of course it has, it cures depression but boosts the anxierty on most hence the weight loss.

sewerrats · Jun 24, 2013 at 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimi...

Oh yea... Geodon gave me an appetite (extreme hunger) at first but I resisted food. But then it started to give me extreme panic attacks which I had almost non stop (ranging from extreme anxiety to full blown panic). I stopped the med but it took quite a long time for things to turn to somewhat normal. In that time I couldn't eat. I even could not drink water for five days (people say you die from that.. I'm pretty sure I didn't). When I felt somewhat better I started force feeding myself a cup of thin soup a day. It could have been say 200 calories. So I had maybe 2800 calories in over a month. I just lost a few pounds. I assume because the med was still in my system.

I sometimes wonder if those pills aren't superfood! And every pill is really 3000 calories! That would explain it!

You could say every phycotic med is 8000 calories and ssri 3000 you could be near on spot on in the way they work on most people. You don't see many log term med user,s going to the gp because they are loosing weight do you ,unless they have cancer.

sewerrats · Jun 24, 2013 at 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAYNE1

I read somewhere that some of these meds affect how the body deals with the calories or such--I didn't understand all the details. I DO know that I gained a great deal of weight in a short period of time when I was on Remeron, and I don't recall feeling hungrier or eating more. That's the upsetting part. I felt no control over the process at all.

REMERON 3 jean sizes in 1 month, that's not a lie , and going from a skinny guy I was then , they soon found there way in the bin.

sewerrats · Jun 24, 2013 at 04:11 AM

I bought a exercise machine that just consentrated on my mid section, I was bloated and fat with meds. I worked my butt off on this machine for weeks, I gained even more weight, I put muscle on top of fat , I donated the machine to the trash.

Laina M. · Jun 25, 2013 at 02:22 AM

Mirtazapine/remeron made me so miserable because of this, I felt a constant craving for fats and sugar no matter how much I'd eaten! I had to go off of it after a few days becaus e I also have an ED and I was totally breaking down going crazy.

Seroquel is what I'm on now and thankfully I haven't noticed much of a change. I make sure to exercise a lot though.

possum220 · Jun 25, 2013 at 02:36 AM

Some meds decrease your angst and make you sleepy. Therefore some people's activity level drops because they sleep. Ergo the weight gain.

Menu

My Support Forums - Mental Health Support Groups

Get emotional support and friendship from others like you!

I don't understand how meds make people gain and lose weight?

My Support Forums

Anonymous33445 Guest Posts: n/a	Jun 21, 2013 at 02:58 PM #1 Is it the fact that they make you eat more or some make you eat less or it it because the meds make the metabolism lower or higher or both? thanks.
	Reply With Quote

dizzyqueen Member Member Since Jun 2012 Location: Outside of London Posts: 37 11 18 hugs given	Jun 21, 2013 at 03:27 PM #2 Hi Seroquel done it for me i am on 300mg , and do i get the munchies x
	Reply With Quote

onionknight Grand Member Member Since Aug 2012 Location: Grad school =_= Posts: 803 11 309 hugs given	Jun 21, 2013 at 09:27 PM #3 It is that they make you constantly hungry, but also psychiatric medicines affect the metabolism and disrupt hormones. __________________ "What you risk reveals what you value"
	Reply With Quote

Sometimes psychotic Legendary Wise Elder Member Since May 2013 Location: Chicago Posts: 26,410 (SuperPoster!) 11 22.8k hugs given	Jun 21, 2013 at 09:32 PM #4 There is a protein which is a central regulator of metabolism called AMPK, when it gets phosphorylated in the brain it increases appetite. Some of the antipsychotics can induce phosphorylation of AMPK. So basically antipsychotics make you hungry more so you gain weight. I don't know how the losing weight works. __________________ Hugs!
	Reply With Quote

Anonymous32433 Guest Posts: n/a	Jun 23, 2013 at 12:16 PM #7 well my advice is that instead of trying to gain weight through medications and dieting, why not eat less and exercise more?
	Reply With Quote

-jimi- Jimi the rat Member Since Dec 2008 Location: Northern Europe Posts: 6,265 15	Jun 23, 2013 at 01:02 PM #11 I've gained on Risperdal during an involuntary fasting.... I bet you get fat by breathing. __________________
	Reply With Quote

Travelinglady Legendary Wise Elder Member Since Sep 2010 Location: North Carolina Posts: 48,213 (SuperPoster!) 13 22.9k hugs given	Jun 23, 2013 at 08:54 PM #13 I read somewhere that some of these meds affect how the body deals with the calories or such--I didn't understand all the details. I DO know that I gained a great deal of weight in a short period of time when I was on Remeron, and I don't recall feeling hungrier or eating more. That's the upsetting part. I felt no control over the process at all.
	Reply With Quote

Anonymous33445 Guest Posts: n/a	Jun 24, 2013 at 12:18 AM #14 "And every pill is really 3000 calories!" Yeah lol i think ill go with that one
	Reply With Quote

sewerrats Account Suspended Member Since Nov 2010 Location: ENGLAND Posts: 2,609 13 8 hugs given	Jun 24, 2013 at 04:11 AM #18 I bought a exercise machine that just consentrated on my mid section, I was bloated and fat with meds. I worked my butt off on this machine for weeks, I gained even more weight, I put muscle on top of fat , I donated the machine to the trash.
	Reply With Quote

Laina M. Member Member Since Jul 2012 Posts: 88 11 7 hugs given	Jun 25, 2013 at 02:22 AM #19 Mirtazapine/remeron made me so miserable because of this, I felt a constant craving for fats and sugar no matter how much I'd eaten! I had to go off of it after a few days becaus e I also have an ED and I was totally breaking down going crazy. Seroquel is what I'm on now and thankfully I haven't noticed much of a change. I make sure to exercise a lot though.
	Reply With Quote

possum220 Legendary Member Since Jan 2009 Location: Uppa Gumtree West Posts: 19,397 (SuperPoster!) 15 7,984 hugs given	Jun 25, 2013 at 02:36 AM #20 Some meds decrease your angst and make you sleepy. Therefore some people's activity level drops because they sleep. Ergo the weight gain.
	Reply With Quote