Bipolar Meds make you gain weight?

nichi123
nichi123 Posts: 244
in Health and Weight Loss
I take meds because of my condition. I previously lost 3 stone (2 years ago) but gained it back. Since then, I have been diagnosed as Bipolar and I'm on medication that can apparently make you gain weight.

My question is, is there anyone else out there in the same boat? What are your experiences? If the meds do affect you then how quickly did you lose the lbs? I have been on meds for a while now but have just started back on MFP and was wondering if this is going to make a big difference since the last time I lost.

I hope this makes sense!

Thanks :)
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Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    The meds didn't make me gain weight, I made me gain weight. The meds made me kind of sleepy and without manic episodes where I didn't really eat much of days it was really easy to put weight on. It have nothing to do with the chemicals of the drugs, just the effect on my eating habits.

    Once I had gained 20 lbs and freaked out about it I starting taking a good look at how I gained it and figured out how to get it back off. That was eating less and doing more!
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
    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.
  • twentytwentythree
    twentytwentythree Posts: 22 Member
    Yes, I think that the meds contribute to weight gain due to the increase in appetite and lethargy which makes you lazy and hungry all the time. However, I also believe that some of the meds can contribute to a lot of water retention, and there are some meds that can have an adverse effect on your thyroid and metabolism over the long term. There are a few options for weight neutral medications but you should discuss it with your doctor, nonetheless. I gained a ridiculous amount of weight after being put on a bunch of meds including anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and mood stabilizers. Once I became a little more informed, I did my own research, discussed my concerns with my doctor, and tried out a few weight neutral options, and adjusted the dosages where I could take the least amount possible but still stabilize my moods. I eventually lost about 130 lbs.

    I think it's definitely possible to maintain your weight or even lose weight while taking meds, just explore your options and learn about the medications you're taking. Good Luck!
  • wendygjc
    wendygjc Posts: 45 Member
    I took medication for Bi-Polar that did make me super hungry and I did gain weight, I talked to my doctor and he changed my meds and they work fine, and I am losing weight and not so hungry I could eat leather...lol
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I was going to mention that I am also off meds now with some strategic planning and self imposed restrictions but I don't want to encourage anyone to go off meds unless they are sure that they won't be making the situation worse. Weight gain or loss is not a good reason to ditch medication.
  • Roxanne_Hennessy
    Roxanne_Hennessy Posts: 130 Member
    I was on Seroquel and I gained weight, it also messed with my blood sugar level, so I was hypo glycemic for a while
  • Xoe4
    Xoe4 Posts: 38 Member
    I'm not bipolar, but I have a family history so I can't take anti-depressants so I take Lamotrigine which is commonly used for treating bipolar disorders. I didn't find any weight gain, in fact the opposite. Since my mood was stabilized I could control my eating.
  • nichi123
    nichi123 Posts: 244
    Thanks everyone, this helps a lot :)
  • madworld1
    madworld1 Posts: 524
    I workout and watch what I eat. I don't gain weight when I eat healthier and workout consistently. Some of those meds can cause metabolism changes & I suggest you talk to your pdoc about that. My pdoc weighs me at each appt. so she can keep an eye on it.
  • marx4
    marx4 Posts: 236 Member
    Weight gain/water retention is a major side effect with these types of meds. There is NO cure for bipolar disease, it's related to chemical imbalances in the brain....so going off the meds, especially without tapering the dosages can have serious consequences. I don't advise it, speak with your MD/therapist and see if there are other meds that you can be put on, explain your concerns. Sometimes exercise can boost one's self esteem, so maybe starting to do some planned events can help you lose some of the weight. Good luck with your health and on MFP!!
  • anaconda469
    anaconda469 Posts: 3,479 Member
    I take Lamictal (Lamotrigine) for my Bi-Polar II condition. I have not gained any weight on this drug, as a matter of fact I lost some weight. But I regained 12 lbs belly fat through my own fault, eating big yummy Jumbo Drumsticks and McDonald's Oreo McFlurrys. My Shrink who controls my meds told me I have an incurable disease due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, he also told me I was born this way, but I can live a good life on a stable medication and vitamin regimen plus exercise to help with my self esteem. I attempted suicide and damn near succeeded, and that can't be fixed by diet. I was miss diagnosed for 15 years with simple depression and I went the entire cycle of anti depressants 5 different times. After 6 months they would stop working so my doctors (internist) would change it up to another one. After the 5th go around, I was referred to a shrink, who saw it for what it was and once on Lamotrigine and tweaking the dosage to where I am now my bi-polar is under control. I do have a motivation problems though, but I make myself go out of the house, exercise, and do things to keep me active. Exercise and activity is good for this. ,Just keep you chin up, things will get better.
  • keelerangela
    keelerangela Posts: 88 Member
    I am gonna start out by saying I am a nurse>> I am also a member of a family where there are quite a few bi-polar individuals. YOU CAN NOT CURE BIOLOAR WITH DIET!!! YOU CAN'T Bi-polar is a condition of a chemical imbalance. No amount of this food vs that food will fix that chemical imbalance. Meds are essential.. without them you WILL CYCLE! A side effect of depakote is weight gain just an fyi.

    If you go off the meds you will 100% cycle.. guarenteed! There is no cure for bi-polor but it can be managed by taking your meds.

    While I am no expert in the medical field, I do considered myself an expert in bi0polar. I have taken many many seminars on it because my mother is bi-polar and I'd like to understand the disease as much as I can

    Also the lady who said that these types of drugs make you retain water is absolutely 100% correct. I think that the reason most people gain weight on these meds is because they stabilize your mood and lift the depression. When you are depressed you tend not to eat. And when you are manic most people tend not to eat so when your mood is stabilized, its only natural that you are going to eat more. I pray every single day that I am not bi-polar. IT is an awful, awful disease and the family of the person is affected so very much.
  • ChapinaGrande
    ChapinaGrande Posts: 289 Member
    I'm not bipolar, but I have a family history so I can't take anti-depressants so I take Lamotrigine which is commonly used for treating bipolar disorders. I didn't find any weight gain, in fact the opposite. Since my mood was stabilized I could control my eating.

    I'm with this person. I don't have bipolar disorder, but I take lamotrigine/lamictal for a seizure disorder. It has made my appetite go totally away and I've lost weight just from not wanting to eat. Food?! GAG! I have to choke down whatever nutrition I can get. On the other hand, this also means that I have no energy whatsoever, so I am pretty lethargic. I realize my weight loss has been unhealthy, but my doc says this side-effect will even out in a few months and seems unconcerned.

    Edited for clarity.
  • ezziepug
    ezziepug Posts: 57
    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.

    Please qualify your statement -- it worked for YOU. I have been bipolar since I was a teenager, and I would be dead without my medications. One size does NOT fit all.
  • nichi123
    nichi123 Posts: 244
    I have been on 1600mg of Lithium (Priadel) for well over a year now. It suits me just fine with no side effects. I never noticed if the weight gain was due to the medication or me bingeing again. I saw my pdoc today as I have started to cycle again. He wants to add a medication. Another mood stabilser or something like Quetiapine (which I took before and made me worse). He is sending me info on both so I can decide for myself. I just needed to hear that although some meds may make you hungrier it can be managed by healthy eating and exercise - which is what I am doing! Thanks a lot! :)
  • ezziepug
    ezziepug Posts: 57
    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 :)
  • theoriginaljayne
    theoriginaljayne Posts: 559 Member
    You can cure Bipolar with diet

    ... No.

    Changes in diet (and exercise) may help alleviate symptoms and improve overall health, but it's not a cure.
  • keelerangela
    keelerangela Posts: 88 Member
    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!
  • nichi123
    nichi123 Posts: 244
    I'm not bipolar, but I have a family history so I can't take anti-depressants so I take Lamotrigine which is commonly used for treating bipolar disorders. I didn't find any weight gain, in fact the opposite. Since my mood was stabilized I could control my eating.

    I'm with this person. I don't have bipolar disorder, but I take lamotrigine/lamictal for a seizure disorder. It has made my appetite go totally away and I've lost weight just from not wanting to eat. Food?! GAG! I have to choke down whatever nutrition I can get. On the other hand, this also means that I have no energy whatsoever, so I am pretty lethargic. I realize my weight loss has been unhealthy, but my doc says this side-effect will even out in a few months and seems unconcerned.

    Edited for clarity.
    I know that when I have had periods of a few days where I couldn't afford my meds I started to go on a downward spiral. I am glad it worked for you but I doubt very much it would work for me.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    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.

    Please qualify your statement -- it worked for YOU. I have been bipolar since I was a teenager, and I would be dead without my medications. One size does NOT fit all.

    Agreed 100%. Making this sort of a claim is irresponsible and dangerous. Yes, I do believe proper diet and exercise can greatly help when it comes to managing mental disorders. I have struggled with Bipolar II since my early teens and have definitely noticed a decrease in the frequency and duration of my lows since I have established healthy habits, but no way in hell would I ever tell someone who is struggling to give up their physician prescribed meds without some serious discussion with said physician.
  • ezziepug
    ezziepug Posts: 57
    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 :)
  • laylaness
    laylaness Posts: 262 Member
    The meds didn't make me gain weight, I made me gain weight. The meds made me kind of sleepy and without manic episodes where I didn't really eat much of days it was really easy to put weight on. It have nothing to do with the chemicals of the drugs, just the effect on my eating habits.

    Once I had gained 20 lbs and freaked out about it I starting taking a good look at how I gained it and figured out how to get it back off. That was eating less and doing more!

    This, exactly.
  • candylilacs
    candylilacs Posts: 614 Member
    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.
  • MirandaMilan
    MirandaMilan Posts: 3 Member
    I took abilify (and a few other meds that popped in and out of the cocktail). I gained so much weight. I know it started out being the abilify, but then I got discouraged having to work so hard not to gain, that I gave up. This was in part, because the meds made me not care about my weight as much - or anything else for that matter. Anti-depressants can contribute to bipolar disorder, and can even be the trigger that causes it. After a psychologist put me onto some research, I followed it, and then some. People say that bipolar is caused by a chemical imbalance - There is no evidence for that. Psychiatrists don't know what causes it. They've tried to prove it in hundreds of studies. All meds do is mask one possible imbalance with a certain imbalance caused by the meds. The pharmaceutical industry basically owns the psychiatric industry. Most psychotropic drugs have little more effect than placebos, and have a host of side effects. Many of the drug studies are rigged, or incomplete. I have been diagnosed with bipolar type 2, and have been off meds for a year. I never plan to go back. I'm starting to eat a plant-based gluten-free diet, with lots of omega 3's and 6's as recommended by my new naturapathic doctor. I can't afford to be in the mentally compromised state that resulted from the meds. Maybe I'll have more ups and downs, but at least I'm me. Not some chemically induced zombie. Good luck to any other Bipolar II's out there. I suggest you read "Anatomy of an Epidemic," or "Unhinged."
  • ash8184
    ash8184 Posts: 701 Member
    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 :)
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    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.
  • tannadine
    tannadine Posts: 115 Member
    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
  • Mel2626
    Mel2626 Posts: 342 Member
    You can cure Bipolar with diet. I did.

    No no no a million times NO! There are few things in life that irk me more than someone telling people with mental illness that it's okay to go off meds and that they can cure themselves. It's awesome that you were able to control some of your SYMPTOMS but you have NOT cured your bi-polar disorder just from eating better. I'll bite my tongue on the rest of what I'm thinking and just leave it as NO.
    Just No.... :noway: :noway:
  • Sophierulez
    Sophierulez Posts: 1 Member
    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.
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
    It really depends on the medication. It's not just bipolar medications either. Lots of different kinds of drugs can stimulate hunger, make you more tired and less likely to exercise. There are generally alternatives though to most of them. I'd suggest looking the ones you are on up, and talk to your doctor about them.

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