Bipolar Meds make you gain weight?

Certain medications have made me gain weight -- Seroquel and Paxil made me huge, augh -- but I was still able to lose weight (modestly) through diet and exercise. Some meds made/make me too tired to exercise, so I just do gentle stuff when I'm fatigued.

I'm on five medications, and most of them do not make me gain weight. Frankly, I told my doctors that since I had a history of eating disorders, that if they put me on something that would put on the pounds, I was guaranteed to go off it. They've been really respectful of that, and since there are a nice variety of meds out there, you could always mention your concern to your doctor if something is making you uncomfortable.

I'm slowly losing weight, and so far, my meds don't seem to affect things. I honor my brain as much as my body

That is wonderful that your doctors listen to you and that you are actively seeking a treatment to work for you. KUDOS!

Thank you so much! Usually psychiatric problems make me feel ashamed, but I'm getting over that

I have clinical depression and I was on Lamotrigine and I had no weight gain whatsoever. I'm off that now and on a mix of citalopram and a small amount of bupropion. When I wasn't medicated I was on a sugar binge fest, so I'm much more under control now.

I was once on high levels of bupropion and it made me a little manic and bingey. Once they lowered the levels, it helped greatly -- but that took THREE psychiatrists.

Yes - my (former) best friend had this problem, big time.

However, I'm having the same problem with the BC I'm on (and have changed several times). My OBGYN says, "the meds don't make you gain weight, YOU are the one who controls what YOU put in your mouth". Not the answer I was looking for.

To that end, can you keep some fresh, healthy snacks around? Maybe some greens, nuts, carrot sticks? If you know you're hungry and have the propensity to gain, maybe keeping healthy good-for-you foods around will help - and that way, when you binge, it won't be on a sleeve of cookies, but on a head of kale. Just a thought. Good luck to you

Hi there!

I suffer from bipolar and have been on many different combinations of mood stabilisers, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. I found that, while being on Depakote (sodium valproate, also called Epilem), I gained about three stone. I don't know whether it was the drugs themselves, or because my habits/moods were suddenly different and so I was behaving differently. Now that I think about it, I did feel a lot more sluggish and prone to comfort-eat while my pdoc was tinkering with the dose and I was feeling sorry for myself. I eventually stopped Depakote because of the weight gain and also because my hair was falling out in hanks.

Quetiapine (Seroquel) and Lamotrigine (Lamictal) didn't have any noticeable effect on my weight - I didn't gain, but I didn't lose anything either, leading me to think that perhaps the Depakote wasn't wholly to blame for my weight gain. I am now on olanzapine along with venlafaxine, and I am able to shift my weight through diet (thankfully!).

I read somewhere that if even one person in trials of a drug experiences weight gain, they HAVE to mention it in the patient information leaflet - I read that typically these weight gains could be as 'little' as 3-7lbs.

Long post for a short reply - I just want to echo what a few posters have said. I think that if you are monitoring your diet, counting your cals and trying to fit a wee bit of exercise in, you can pretty much counteract the weight side effects of some of the drugs. That seems to have been my experience, but then everyone is different, and everyone might have different experiences with different drugs. I find keeping a mood journal keeps me on point not just with monitoring the ups and downs of my condition, but it can make me aware of when I am down specifically (I'm a big comfort eater, and sometimes just knowing I'm feeling down is enough to make me aware of the possibility of eating out of comfort, so I can avert it!)

I hope you find a combination that gives you some peace of mind and allows you to lose weight while being sensible about diet etc.

Nat x

I've been on most of the bipolar meds; if I list them I'll be typing until morning. Depakote and Seroquel are the worst for weight gain. I was always skinny, went through rounds of different bipolar meds and didn't have trouble with weight until I started taking Depakote and Seroquel 10 years ago. Then I stopped taking them because both the doctor and I wanted to see if I really had bipolar disorder-I lost the weight (through healthy eating and exercise). Unfortunately, I became severely ill again (confirming the diagnosis), and I did not want to go back on the meds that made me fat, but nothing else worked for me. I'm back on them, and I blew up again--this time I put on nearly 50 pounds in 4 months, it was utterly ridiculous how fast the weight poured onto me and I was devastated. Anyone who says that it's your fault you are gaining weight while you are on these meds can suck it-they don't have a clue. If anyone can keep their weight down through sheer willpower of healthy eating and exercise, it's me-.and I haven't been able to drop one pound, despite 8 months of hard work exercising. I literally could not stop eating, the meds made it impossible. My family doctor, in coordination with my shrink, has put me on a daily half-dose of Phentermine, as I now have pre-diabetes and thyroid issues due to these miserable meds. I cannot stop taking Depakote and Seroquel-stopping bipolar meds is a no-no, and you can't manage bipolar through diet and exercise, I tried that route and made myself so sick I nearly ended up in the hospital. I resisted taking Phen for many months, I DO NOT LIKE the idea of a pill, but the doctor was adamant that I need a diet aid, I have too many evils against me to lose weight on my own. So far, the Phen is not killing my appetite, but it's making it normal, so I don't want to eat an elephant every 5 minutes! I get hungry when I should get hungry, and I'm able to eat healthy foods and stop after one serving. I am losing weight, but I worry about when I have to go off the Phen, I'm afraid the Depakote and Seroquel will sabotage me and I'll just gain it all back again. It's really a vicious circle.

i was on anti depressants. i gained 30lbs in a very short period of time, it wasnt so much that the meds were making it hard to lose weight but rather that they made me feel like i was starving all the time. Perhaps monitor your food intake and hunger levels and if you find your medication is not working for you, talk to your doctor about an alternative medication, there are many to choose from. I am currently on Zoloft now (dont remember what the fat pills were called) and i find that they have no bearing on my weight whatsoever unfortunately i have experienced an insane loss of sensitivity. So it is a toss up but atleast ill be a thin zombie! Im curious to know what anti depressant drugs have worked for other people without these two side effects.

I'm sure that this is not the advice that you are looking for but here goes....

You can cure Bipolar with diet. I did. Plus binge eating disorder, severe anxiety, and a long list of very serious phsyical illnesses. Malnutrition, which can occur even when one is eating too much, has many effects on our body. The brain is especially impacted by poor nutrition and inadequate healthy dietary fat.

(Yes, I have been on a bunch of meds and suffered many effects from them. I also just "toughed" it out for years and years and don't know how I survived.)

Oh, the weight loss issue (but I'm not on meds)-please see my ticker below. Lost the weight, and still losing, without craving or struggling with hunger. If you are curious about what I am up to feel free to read my profile and food diary.

There is so much wrong in this response. Bipolar cannot be cured through diet There are different severity levels of mental health diagnosis and it is irresponsible and potentially dangerous to make such a suggestion to the OP. This may be your approach, but something tells me there must be more to the story if you "toughed" it out for years and now magically experience no more symptoms.

I hate this argument, too! If bipolar was that easy to cure, it would be awesome. However, it's not. I've always eaten well. My brother had also always eaten well. We just passed the 4th anniversary of his suicide, so you can take your "diet is the cure" advice and shove it.

I'm on one of the bipolar meds that make you gain, but it hasn't affected me that much. I just pressed on, stuck to the plan and lost. You can get over drug interactions just by exercising and eating according to the 1 lb per week plan. It did affect me gaining so much in the first place, I think. And I get these awful plateaus like the one I am at now, but I only have 14 lbs until goal weight achieved, so I am still keeping on.

I have Bipolar Disorder and currently take Lithium,Seroquel, Lamictal and Depakote. It has been a great combo for me and I am currently stable with almost no side effects.. except for weight gain! The culprit for me is Depakote, since it is the most recent addition. I have put on almost 15lbs. in just a few months. I hate to give it up because it got rid of my mixed states.

The Depakote just makes me hungry all the time. I keep thinking that if I white knuckle it and keep track of every calorie then that hunger/ increased appetite will go away.

I am happy to read about those of you that have lost weight on this drug. It's not easy.

Wanted to add that I tried Topamax for a couple of months. It didn't work and I had way too many side effects.

I have to say:

I have had Bipolar disorder my entire life, I was diagnosed at 18

After trying several different combinations of meds, (abilify, depakote, wellbutrin and several others) I realized that I hated the Zombie feeling I got from them. I had small children at the time and I never wanted to play with them or spend time with them; I just wanted to sleep.
My doctor's advice:
more meds

No. I put my foot down and I went off my meds after a long talk with my doc. For the last 6 years, I have been unmedicated successfully and monitored closely by my psych doctor.

I spent a year on meds while I was pregnant with my son 3 years ago (the pregnancy did a doozy on me and my doc recommended I resume medication until after birth) and havent had anything since.

Do I recommend this for anyone else? No. It may not work for others, but it definitely works for me.

I learned to recognize cues and I work with my psych doctor and my therapist and I havent needed the meds. I know that if my condition worsens or if I feel too "out of sorts" that I will need to be medicated again until I regain control.

Diet and exercise have definitely helped me throughout this process.

I always recommend that if you have a doctor that is willing to work with you, then be open, honest with them and make sure that the method of treatment (medication or otherwise) will be sufficient.