Weight Gain with meds

Hi I have taken all different types of psychiatric medications and they have caused me to gain alot of weight. Especially when I was taking zyprexa. Right now I am taking effexor and risperdal and I am unable to lose any weight though I am exercising and eating healthy. So I was wondering whether anyone has any ideas on how to counteract the effects of the medication and successfully lose weight.

no.........ive been on just about every anti-depressant and over the years gained all kinds of weight.......plus I take high blood pressure and cholesterol meds......i dont have any secrets although I know its harder for women to lose it than us men

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A similar situation was recently posed in the schizophrenia and psychosis topic. If you've not yet read it, there may be some insights or ideas there for you: Weight gain and Meds

I gained like 70 pounds and I am convinced it is medication related. I exercise, eat well, etc. I take mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics.

Did you know that Zyprexa and Seroquel were in class-action lawsuit because of the weight gain issue? The weight gain has led to Type 2 diabetes....

Sucks.......

With meds. its fat and happy or skinny and sad everyone i know who takes meds. will put on weight.I was a roofer and was always in Great shape so it sucks to put on so much weight .What i doing now is cutting down meds. that i take that will make me gain the most weight something you need to talk to your doctor about. Im going to start working out again once all the Piece. to my god dam work out bench comes hopefully the 3rd. time they get it right .If I lose half the weight i gained I will ,be very happy with those results!

i know for me i didn't gain weight on lexapro until my med doc increased the dose up to the max... so i switched to wellbutrine... that one was ok... i was on it for a couple years and got the weight back off... i had to switch to effexor because i had a really bad reaction when the insurance switched me to the generic... i was told that effexor is pretty much weight neutral... i lost 130 lbs about 6 years ago... so when my doc said maybe a few pounds is the price you have to pay to stop the panic attacks... i told him it wasn't a price i was willing to pay... hope the effexor is the answer for both of us...lyn

I'm on effexor, and haven't had any weight gain with it. If anything I've had the opposite effect, it's really messed up my appetite so that I have to force myself to eat.

--splitimage

yeah so far my appetite is pretty much gone... i have tried to forced myself to hit 900 calories a day... and sometimes i can't even do that...this is my 3rd week...lyn

Des anyone know any pain relievers that do not cause weight gain?

Thanks in advance,
Nightbird

I swear, every med I need to take all has a side effect of weight gain and acne problems. Yucky!

I am at my wits end with medication and weight gain! I finally found a medication that works for my anxiety and I've gained another 20ish lbs.

Since my breakdown, I've been on a variety of antidepressants and steroids (for medical problems) and I have put on a total of 100 lbs now! I put on 20 lbs with Effexor.

My doctor wants to add another antidepressant to my treatment, I agree that I need the antidepressant, but I can't afford to put on another ounce. They treat me as if I've had a weight problem my whole life, which I have not! This problem is three years old. The only time I was to thin was after a bout of mono at 23. Other than that I was 10 lbs over my ideal weight. It drove me crazy at the time, I wish I could go back to that!

i know that when my son was on steroids... i was told that they cause weight gain... lyn

I KNEW that the steroids would make me gain weight, I just thought since I put it on so fast it had to be water weight and when I quit taking them that the weight would come off. I didn't expect it to come off as fast or easily as it went on, but I did expect the majority of it to come off. It didn't. I can honestly say that if I had known that it wouldn't come back off or how much I would pack on, I wouldn't have taken them at all, let alone for 6 months.

i am sorry that it's so hard... i understand how you feel... i lost 130 lbs 6 years ago and when i was on lexapro i started to gain... so i switched to wellbutrine... was on it for a couple years and then had a really bad reaction to the generic... so now i am on effexor too... i was told it didn't have the issues with weight gain...but i was told that about the lexapro... my son didn't gain on the steroids... but a friend of mine did ... it was really hard for her to take it off too... but it did come off and it stayed off... much easier then it has been for me to keep the weight off...lyn

Has your doc checked your thyroid to make sure there isn't something out of balance?

I gained weight on Zoloft, but probably only because I wasn't eating much before because of my depression.

I lost a huge amount of weight (well, huge for me anyway) on Wellbutrin. But it was kind of like speed for me. It made me really shaky.

I'm on Cymbalta and Xanax XR now. Pdoc just upped my Cymbalta to 90mg from 60mg. Those two meds certainly affect my appetite a lot. I forget to eat or don't want to eat. But that just happens to be how those meds affect me. With the extra 30 mg of Cymbalta, I am back to force-feeding myself.

Different meds affect people differently.

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bchlyn said:
i am sorry that it's so hard... i understand how you feel... i lost 130 lbs 6 years ago

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Wow lyn! How'd you do it? Naturally or surgery?

Congrats on losing the weight! PLEASE share your secret! I've started walking in an effort to get some of the weight off. My doc checked my thyroid right after the initial massive gain. It's just so frustrating. I've been on so many antidepressants in the last few years I don't remember the names, each added a little more to the total.

well... i just started counting calories ... it took me about 18months to get it all off... i ate a lot of whole grain and fruits and veggies... i don't eat much red meat ... so the fish and chicken were easy... i try and eat 1300 calories a day... but i am on effexor right now and am having a hard time eating 900... when i was young i had a tendency towards anorexia... and i si... when i stopped si... i just replaced it with food and went on a 5 year binge... i have kept the weight of about 6 years now...lyn

Well congrats again with the weight loss, that's awesome. I don't really over eat, in fact one of my problems is that I only eat once a day and my metabolism shuts down. I did however drink several cans of Mountain Dew a day. I've cut that out of my diet and I'd better lose some weight because I LOVE Mt. Dew.

Hey lyn.

That's awesome, especially since you did it "the natural way"..healthy diet and exercise.

Since I turned 30 my weight just kept creeping up. Now, I don't know where to start to get it off. I was bulimic for years....but still binge.

You are an inspiration.

I just went off Seroquel because of weight gain. My T even told me it was probably causing my weight gain. Yesterday, he made a comment about me going off all my meds...

Neurontin is next! I am not going to be fat so they can feel comfortable in my presence...I have a major issue with how I look and being on meds like this will only make me WORSE

Yeah, seroquel was part of a lawsuit dealing with weight gain and increased glucose causing type 2 diabetes. Zyprexa is the other one.

It totally sucks. The weight just keeps creeping up and up and next thing you know you are 70-100 pounds overweight. And the docs keep you on the meds?

Its a no-win situation.....fat and "happy" or skinny and "sad."

Major weight gain--55 lbs. in 8 yrs. while on Abilify for bp 1. Now have high blood pressure, high cholesterol & insulin resistance. Finally, getting off Abilify--now down to 5 mg vs 25 mg & hope to get off it completely--and adding Topamax which is supposed to promote weight loss (lost 8 lbs. since been on it for 4 weeks) & also sleep--which I don't do much of. Also take several other meds--Lamictal, Trazodone, Klonopin, Concerta & Provigil.--Suzy

I blew up when I went on Zyprexa. I was only on it for a short time.
I also took Lithium which caused me to gain weight. I gained about 60 pounds. After too much depression over the weight gaine, my doctor put me on Topamax and I weaned off the Lithium. Topamax works great for my moods and does wonders for my weight. I quickly lost 25 pounds and continually lost with the help of Slim Fast. I'm now a size 3/4. I love my Topamax. Have you given that one a try?

Yeah, I tried topamax, but it made me feel so dopey. (Nicknamed = Dopamax! )

I need the Lithium because I am Bipolar 1 and it is the only thing that has helped the mania. But the seroquel, I don't even know why I am on it anymore!

I often wonder what would happen if I just went off all these meds and let nature run its course. I mean there had to be people with Bipolar, etc way back in the early days. Did they all kill themselves without meds or just ride the tides of emotion....