Medication and Weight Gain, Any ideas?

VintageFeline

Found the info, it can raise blood sugar thus leading to type 2. This in itself wouldn't hamper weight loss though and could be managed with diet I imagine (and probably the advice you got).

It can cause metabolic syndrome (part of the above) so totally manageable as long as you are aware. Took me what, 5 minutes to find that info. As I said, I was on it, gained weight on it, lost weight on it, lost weight at the same rate off it. I appreciate I'm one person but I'm not a special snowflake, no matter what my friends tell me.

I really think people need to take some responsibility, yes our doctors should make us aware but I have always been encouraged to go off and do my own research too so that I am totally comfortable with the decisions being made in regards to my health. I have to take some responsibility, even if that feels impossible at times due to my health.

Shells918

VintageFeline wrote: »

darlswife wrote: »

Christine_72 wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

Seroquel is what I was on when I started losing. And zopiclone for sleep. I still sometimes take the zop and the med hangover is killer.

As for the seroquel, it is indeed a funny drug and notorious for munchies and sedation. Well, sedation is the modus operandi of a lot of psychoactive meds. At a low dose it is indeed super sedating and used as a sleep aid. At 300mg it hits the "therapeutic" dose as an a-typical anti-psychotic (also used as a mood stabiliser, as it was for me). It can be increased up to I think 1200mg or something, pretty high. The sedating effects do ease off when you get up to the therapeutic levels but it still wiped me out significantly. Like with everything though it finds a level.

And it's why I was never aggressive with my weight loss goal, given I was still on it when I started losing, spending my time hangry while I adjusted to controlling my appetite was not an option.

And this also reiterated that medication isn't causing the weight loss, it is always and forever and increase in calories, knowing or unknowing (super easy to forgetfully have an extra bite here and there when you're hungry if not tracking).

Definitely, it wasn't the seroquel that would have magically made me gain weight, had i taken it regularly. It was the crazy upsurge in hunger and lack of energy that would have made me gain. I have decent amounts of willpower (most of the time), but fighting the hunger monster day in day out would have done my head in and it would have beat me in the end.

There were multiple class action lawsuits filed against Astra Zeneca, the creator of seroquel for hiding clinical trial evidence regarding weight gain, linkage to the development of Type 2 Diabetes, as well as metabolic syndrome. It can change how the body processes food, making it easier to gain and more difficult to lose.

http://product-liability.laws.com/seroquel-lawsuit

It is extremely sedating, I take 500 mg at night, and 100 mg in the morning. I can function in the morning with several cups of coffee.
I spent years dieting with dr's and dietitian /nutritionists telling me I was their toughest patient, eating less than 1000 calories day and working out religiously with no results, until last year when I finally found someone who understood how the drug worked, and got me on the right path.

I know that you have to eat more to gain weight. But when you take Seroquel, eating less does not always get you weight loss.

I would be interested to know what changes you made, they could be useful tips to pass on to others on the same med. I find it extremely odd that your net intake must have been as low as 700 calories and you still didn't lose. That would be metabolic damage of unheard of proportions.

I'm on LCHF with a lot of exercise and patience. It's taken me a year to lose 21 pounds. However I've also lost 26 inches so I don't only live and die by the scale.

When I went to the diet dr originally I was on a very strict diet. He didn't give calories but there were bars and shakes and salads. Usually around 800 calories. I barely lost anything.
Then I went to the PhD nutritionist. Great recipes, primarily vegetables and lean meats, plus a personal trainer. Still lost less than 1 lb in a month. Both professionals said I was an anomaly. This was in 2009-2010.

The dr I go to now specializes in metabolic medicine. He tested me for diabetes, and I'm prediabetic. Also found out I was hypothyroid and am now on medication for that. That's where the LCHF diet came in and the weight loss started. I also see a registered dietitian who has helped me with meal planning and moving me from a lifetime of thinking low fat and weight watchers to this new way of eating.

I don't get the hungry feeling so much from seroquel anymore, but it's been a lot of work to keep myself occupied in the evening, and to just go to bed.


In 2011, after being off of seroquel for a year, my bloodwork was perfect. No thyroid issues, no sugar issues. I've been back on it for 2.5 years and now have all of these problems. Coincidence?


ETA more info.

ObsidianMist

darlswife wrote: »

There were multiple class action lawsuits filed against Astra Zeneca, the creator of seroquel for hiding clinical trial evidence regarding weight gain, linkage to the development of Type 2 Diabetes, as well as metabolic syndrome. It can change how the body processes food, making it easier to gain and more difficult to lose.

http://product-liability.laws.com/seroquel-lawsuit

It is extremely sedating, I take 500 mg at night, and 100 mg in the morning. I can function in the morning with several cups of coffee.
I spent years dieting with dr's and dietitian /nutritionists telling me I was their toughest patient, eating less than 1000 calories day and working out religiously with no results, until last year when I finally found someone who understood how the drug worked, and got me on the right path.

I know that you have to eat more to gain weight. But when you take Seroquel, eating less does not always get you weight loss.

why are you taking the more sedating dose in the morning? You'd probably find you function much better and need less caffiene if you take the 500mg in the morning and the 100mg at night.

ObsidianMist

Christine_72 wrote: »

It still really bugs me that my husbands doctor prescribed him an anti psychotic for a simple sleeping problem. He stopped using it after he found out what it was mainly used for, he has zero mental health issues.

as others have said, seroquel is commonly prescribed at a low dose as a sleeping pill. the antipsychotic effect doesn't happen until a much higher dose. at such a low dose seroquel is essentially an antihistamine.

a lot of psychotropic medications are prescribed for multiple conditions/purposes at varying doses. it's actually pretty rare for medications like this to only have one purpose. so there's honestly zero reason for him to not take the low dose of seroquel as a sleeping pill.