Antipsychotic / Antidepressants Meds and Weight Loss

joanneelizabethmarshall

Looking for experience from other members who take meds for mental illness and their weight loss journey.
I recently started on Seroquel which is reknownd for weight gain. I have been trying to stick to my daily calorie intake and haven’t gained but also haven’t loss. Looking for advice thanks

Chef_Barbell

I took Seroquel when I was admitted in the mental hospital back in 2007. It gave me tremendous munchies... I would maybe look into low calorie snacks to munch on if that is your issue.

I currently take Zoloft and have zero problems with increased appetite.

joanneelizabethmarshall

i only take a small dose of seroquel so hopefully I start to lose weight soon. Thanks for your experience

cyaneverfat

I got put on metformin to have alongside my meds and it has prevented me from gaining weight.

cowsanddogsarecute

I've been taking seroquel for over a year so that I can sleep. I also take metformin and was on that before the seroquel. I've lost weight. I've gained weight. But overall it hasn't effected me because sometimes I eat more than I need to and once I reign it in I start losing weight again.

I second finding low calorie foods to eat and also finding out what fulls you up. Whether its protein, fiber, fat etc.

mom23mangos

My son was on Abilify and Zoloft and gained a LOT of weight. The zoloft especially caused him to get up in the night and search for food. We've recently weaned him off of both and he appears stable, so we are hoping to be able to keep him off.

He does take Trileptal for absence seizures, but I've heard that it and Lamictal are good for mood stabilization as well without too many side effects (except sleepiness).

JAC581

I've been on a variety of antidepressants since I was 17/18, and I've been on celexa, trazodone, and Abilify for the last 8-9 years. I've managed to both lose weight and gain weight while on these. The only one I can remember that made me hungry all the time was nortriptyline, which I took for a few months and gained around 30 pounds because I was eating ALL the time. With that one exception, I haven't really noticed a correlation between my medications and weight/hunger. My psychiatrist is also careful to try to avoid medications that can potentially have weight gain as a side effect unless it's a last resort because he knows I've had concerns about my weight.

PapillonNoire

When I started Zoloft I had zero appetite and lost a bit of weight (many people report the opposite effect though). I also had terrible insomnia, headaches, brain fog, increase in sweat, and dizziness. After about 4-6 weeks all of the side effects dissipated, including the appetite returning to normal; I'm glad I stuck it out through the initial period because it's been incredibly helpful for my anxiety and depression.

Fflpnari

Im on zoloft and because its made my depression so much better ive lost weight. When Im depressed I dont give a F$$$ about nutrition, counting calories, or exercising

AnnPT77

I'm not on anything psychoactive (now), but I'd make this observation: It can be helpful to understand that most drugs affect weight loss by one of 3 mechanisms.

1. Appetite increase.
2. Water retention.
3. Fatigue, subtle or obvious, but leading to down-regulation of calorie expenditure.

Are there exceptions? I don't know. But those are key mechanisms underlying a large number of instances.

#1 can make loss very difficult, but can be seen via calorie counting, and *may* be able to be managed with changes in timing of eating or specific food choices.

#2 is a red herring. It makes it look like fat loss isn't happening, when it is. There isn't a big solution, except to look to very, very long term results, or the relatively more accurate body composition techniques (like DEXA).

#3 may be perceived or not, but can be countered (with extreme difficulty, in some cases) by intentional attention to daily life activity levels and/or exercise . . . the latter carefully, so as to avoid increasing fatigue. Still calorie counting may work, but sadly at a lower than average calorie level.

I'm not discounting the difficulty of fighting any of these effects. It's hard; really, really hard.

I'm sorry you're having difficulty, and hope you find a solution.

joanneelizabethmarshall

Thanks for all your advice. I was taking Metformin and then stopped after blood work but since I’m now on Seroquel I am going to ask doctor if I can restart it

Speakeasy76

I've been taking Lexapro (for the 2nd time) since beginning of August. I was able to reach my goal weight, then the scale started fluctuating more so than normal. I hadn't changed my eating or tracking, and even though I felt hungrier initially, I really tried to not eat more than normal. I know that people do gain weight despite still eating and exercising the same while taking it, or have a really difficult time losing weight. I now have really committed to not eating past a certain time because even though I had planned out to eat my usual snack in the evening, I believe it may have been impacting my weight loss. I'm now within a pound of my original goal (and am due to start my period soon). In any case, from what I've been reading various antidepressants can have a really varied affect on people's weight.

Mellouk89

I have to say it is much easier to maintain low body fat now that i'm off anti-depressants. It is doable while on AS but it is much harder I find. I was on them for almost a decade, there were highs and lows. I had binge-eating episodes, there are gone now.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I've had issues with my medications and food, but appetite suppression is a well-known side effect, and it's not actually always helpful. I need to space my calories out through the day and eat on time so I don't get hungry and then proceed to EAT THE WORLD in an effort to stave off the anxiety attack that results. The meds interfere with that unless I'm VERY regimented about when I eat versus when I take the meds. But other than that, they don't "make" me lose weight. They let me hold a thought in my head long enough to act on it, and often that results in me getting off my butt and doing stuff, which of course is better than sitting around, but that's not the meds, that's me.

(Also dry mouth and eyes, so getting the water in every day is not a problem.)

asthesoapturns

I have taken Seroquel for 10 yrs. I have easily lost seventy pounds in the last year. As soon as I committed to doing it. It's not that Seroquel causes weight gain like steroids do but they can cause food cravings. Log your food. Everything. Stick to your calories. You'll be okay.

lgfrie

I don't want to get into my own personal experiences on this topic online, where data is forever. I would just like to try to help you out by providing two simple pieces of advice. One, don't slip on logging your calories, stick with it through thick and thin, and don't neglect the scale even if it starts to bump up. Two, if you find yourself craving 'mindless' carbs like breakfast cereal, crackers, cake, cookies, etc., get them out of the house. There is a very weird thing going on with the anti-psychotics and carbs, it can be overwhelming, more than I think the average human can handle. I am not a low-carb person in general and not a fan of keto and the like, but when it comes to those drugs, I urge you to become carb-conscious in your meal planning.