Olanzapine, Seroquel and weight gain.

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lindamtuck2018
lindamtuck2018 Posts: 9,487 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have bipolar and for the past 3.5 weeks have been very manic. My psychiatrist wanted to admit me to hospital but he agreed to trying to change my meds as on out patient. So the first change he made was to add olanzapine. I swore I would never take it again because I gained 30 pounds in a very short time when I took it 19 years ago. It makes me ravenous but I guess my health comes first. Next he adds Seroquel. Another drug I swore you couldn’t pay me enough to take. With Seroquel, I would get up in the middle of the night and eat. In the morning I would have no recollection of the incident. My doctors hands are tied because these are the best he can use right now.

So after all that, has anyone else have experience with these drugs? Can be yourself or someone you know. How do you stop the cravings and the dopey mindless eating? I have worked so hard to lose the 53 pounds. I want to be working on the next 70, not gaining weight cause a stupid medication.

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  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    In 2004 I had to be on Olanzapine for ~ 6 weeks. Devil's own concoction, truly. I would literally rip open boxes of Captain Crunch at 2 a.m. and shovel then into my mouth with both hands until the box was complete empty, like a starving, mad beast; or I would grab a loaf of bread and eat the entire thing, without even taking the time to butter the slices or put anything on them. It was completely insane. I gained a lot of weight.

    My advice is to get all of the carbs out of the house. Just throw them all out and have a carb-free zone for your crib while you are on Zyprexa. Based on my n=1 experience, I believe the insane craving is not for food in general but for carbs. If they're not available, you will do much, much better on the gorging / weight gaining front, maybe even sidestep it.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    lindamtuck2018 wrote: »
    I have bipolar and for the past 3.5 weeks have been very manic. My psychiatrist wanted to admit me to hospital but he agreed to trying to change my meds as on out patient. So the first change he made was to add olanzapine. I swore I would never take it again because I gained 30 pounds in a very short time when I took it 19 years ago. It makes me ravenous but I guess my health comes first. Next he adds Seroquel. Another drug I swore you couldn’t pay me enough to take. With Seroquel, I would get up in the middle of the night and eat. In the morning I would have no recollection of the incident. My doctors hands are tied because these are the best he can use right now.

    So after all that, has anyone else have experience with these drugs? Can be yourself or someone you know. How do you stop the cravings and the dopey mindless eating? I have worked so hard to lose the 53 pounds. I want to be working on the next 70, not gaining weight cause a stupid medication.

    My poor brother might have been on all the antipsychotics (and mood stabilizers) over the years. I'd get a second opinion about what drugs to try.
  • Devil_Dawg
    Devil_Dawg Posts: 167 Member
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    I would definitely get a 2nd opinion. Also have you tried other homeopathic remedies? There are alot of various remedies and techniques that can help stabilize your diagnosis if Bipolar.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    lindamtuck2018 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    lindamtuck2018 wrote: »
    I have bipolar and for the past 3.5 weeks have been very manic. My psychiatrist wanted to admit me to hospital but he agreed to trying to change my meds as on out patient. So the first change he made was to add olanzapine. I swore I would never take it again because I gained 30 pounds in a very short time when I took it 19 years ago. It makes me ravenous but I guess my health comes first. Next he adds Seroquel. Another drug I swore you couldn’t pay me enough to take. With Seroquel, I would get up in the middle of the night and eat. In the morning I would have no recollection of the incident. My doctors hands are tied because these are the best he can use right now.

    So after all that, has anyone else have experience with these drugs? Can be yourself or someone you know. How do you stop the cravings and the dopey mindless eating? I have worked so hard to lose the 53 pounds. I want to be working on the next 70, not gaining weight cause a stupid medication.

    My poor brother might have been on all the antipsychotics (and mood stabilizers) over the years. I'd get a second opinion about what drugs to try.

    Getting a second opinion would be next to impossible as there’s a real shortage of psychiatrists here. I should have been clearer in that I have had adverse reactions to some antipsychotics, so he can’t give me anything related to those meds.

    It may be easier for my brother to get medication changes because 1. he is male and 2. is a danger to others when not properly medicated.

    My perception is that your doctor is not taking your weight gain concerns seriously enough. In your position, I would work on that, or get another doctor.

    However, if you feel stuck with your current medication (which I think is a mis-perception on your part), then do get rid of all the hyper-palatable food in your house and I am happy to share my recipe for my low-palatable kale smoothie.
  • michael1976_ca
    michael1976_ca Posts: 3,488 Member
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    I'm on olanzapin. I'm just coming off of it. I don't know if it's related but I'm always hungry. My doctor is slowly taking me off. She admitted that the one med is bad for type two diabetes. Because it puts on weight. That other med is horrible. I was a bottomless pit on that. If i had to do it again. I'd move out of the city. Like i am now. I'm 45 minutes away from fast food places and stores. And living in the country it's expensive
  • CrazyMermaid1
    CrazyMermaid1 Posts: 339 Member
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    I have had good luck with Geodon as an antipsychotic. Weight gain isn't an issue for most people. You're right about the shortage of psychiatrists. The entire mental health system in Washington state is a mess.
  • HollyPFlax
    HollyPFlax Posts: 79 Member
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    koalathebear wrote: »
    Bedazzled35 wrote: »
    Devil_Dawg wrote: »
    I would definitely get a 2nd opinion. Also have you tried other homeopathic remedies? There are alot of various remedies and techniques that can help stabilize your diagnosis if Bipolar.

    This advice worries me, I'd be very cautious of using 'remedies and techniques' in place of antipsychotics prescribed by a psychiatrist.

    Same. My mother has bipolar schizophrenia and her medication is incredibly important and sensitive. When she's off it, the consequences have been very serious and have sometimes almost led to death. The weight gain is a serious issue but we have had to balance it with the consequences of not taking it if there aren't other alternatives... I really don't think that they have found a suitable homeopathic remedy for serious mental illness yet. I wish they had.

    They won't find a homeopathic remedy for anything. The way that homeopathy "works" is that real medication is diluted with water again and again until you end up with a concoction that contains such a small amount of it that a single molecule of the medication may not be present in the entire box/ bottle of the pills. Proponents of homeopathy believe that the water used to create the pills can remember the medication somehow. The concept of water having a memory is an outdated belief that is not supported by science. No part of homeopathy is supported by science.

    According to Wikipedia: "Homeopathic preparations are not effective for treating any condition; large-scale studies have found homeopathy to be no more effective than a placebo, indicating that any positive effects that follow treatment are not due to the treatment itself but instead to factors such as normal recovery from illness, or regression toward the mean."

    Homeopathy should not be sold the way it is. It is usually located next to real medication, which fools people into thinking that they may be able to cure or improve a medical condition or illness. I think the FDA should put warning labels on all homeopathic "drugs" to explain that it is just a placebo. Don't take homeopathic pills for anything. Not only will they have no effect, but buying them supports a scam industry.
  • ama3387
    ama3387 Posts: 242 Member
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    Maybe going inpatient would be a good idea. Then the physician can monitor the side effects with the increased appetite and help you figure out a way to combat that.
  • lindamtuck2018
    lindamtuck2018 Posts: 9,487 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies. I saw my psychiatrist yesterday and he increased the drugs again. He reminded me yesterday that mental health is as important as physical health. Funny thing is, I was doing so well for so long, I thought I was “cured”. Silly me! I am going to write down some of these other meds and ask about them when he calls me Friday. I can’t take any of the older antipsychotics due to physical side effects.

    @CrazyMermaid1 the mental health system here in Ontario is broke.

    @ama3387 I really don’t want to go in hospital. I don’t do well there.

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