[ElephantWarrior]

Hi, I was wondering if, how, and when to get off clozapine. I have been gaining a lot of weight off of it. I want to be able to get off these fattening meds, how do I get off it? My doctor suggested switching me to abilify? Should I find another doctor if my current one thinks i need it forever?

[Travelinglady]

Hi, elephant warrior. I would think there would be antipsychotics that don't cause weight gain in you, since I have taken some that didn't cause weight gain in me. I would certainly talk to the doctor who gives you clozapine to see about switching. And see where it goes from there. Surely he/she would be willing to put you on something else.

[still_crazy]

Abilify doesn't cause weight gain as often, or as great an extent, as clozapine. If you need an antipsychotic, Abilify is easier to tolerate for some people (me, for instance) than a lot of the other options.

If you don't want any antipsychotic, I'd personally suggest going to a doctor who will help you taper very slowly. Very, very slow tapers and dosage reductions are much more successful than rapid tapers or sudden discontinuation.

[Wonderfalls]

Clozapine is considered to be the strongest medicine to treat psychosis. It's usually prescribed as a last resort because it has so many downsides (including bad weight gain). The FDA considered banning it but changed its mind because of its effectiveness.

For a lot of people Zyprexa is the next strongest and has just the usual atypical antipsychotic problems including weight gain.

I don't find Latuda a weight gainer and lots of people don't have problems with that on geodon or Abilify.

If your doctor thought your problems were severe enough to justify clozapine, however, then it's probably a good idea to be on some antipsychotic. (Assuming your doctor knows what he's doing.)