Pizotifen

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1horselover
1horselover Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I have just started taking pizotifen to try and prevent migraines, one of the most common side effects of it is weight gain:( anyone else on here taking it and has it made you gain weight?

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  • nazish17
    nazish17 Posts: 61 Member
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    I have just been prescribed them Friday - haven't taken any yet.

    have you seen a difference they make in terms of appetite digestion etc.

    I am in two minds weather to take them or not!!

    feel free to add me, because if I do at least we can discuss any changes we notice.


    I am feeling very vary and conscious about this tablet some people have piled on up to two stones in 2 months....
  • 1horselover
    1horselover Posts: 17 Member
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    Hi, I took my third one last night, tbh I don't like the side effects at all, I feel so sleepy and spaced out. Also I woke with a migraine this morning:( I'm really debating whether to carry on or not!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    I took them off and on for a period of 10 years or more (a few months at a time, depending on need).
    You have to take them for an extended period to be effective so just a few days isn't enough to gauge how they work for you so just because you got a migraine soon after starting a course of treatment doesn't mean it won't be effective long term.
    CAUTION! If you feel that they don't suit you you really should go back to your Doctor.

    They did work in breaking cycles of migraines and I didn't any notice any side effects at the time....

    But..... I did feel over a period of time my hunger signals were messed up. Not so much I was more hungry but more like I never seemed to be full and even after a big meal I would carry on eating just for the taste.
    Remember that weight gain doesn't come from taking the tablets, it comes from eating more.

    My migraines were so frequent and debilitating I would still have accepted that as a trade off.

    The thing with side effects is that they are not universal, you also have the benefit of already using a calorie counting website!
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    Pizotifen is not uncommon for those who are suffering from depressive disorder. Understand that depression increases the probability of a whole host of other medical conditions, including diabetes, stroke, heart disease as well as other problems loss of appetite or even weight gain, loss of energy (also understand that these things are causes of depression and this is a two-way system). All of these problems may increase the likelihood of migraines.

    Please talk to your doctor about the feelings and concerns you are having. S/he will want to know about these problems in order to provide you with the best possible service.
  • nazish17
    nazish17 Posts: 61 Member
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    Pizotifen is not uncommon for those who are suffering from depressive disorder. Understand that depression increases the probability of a whole host of other medical conditions, including diabetes, stroke, heart disease as well as other problems loss of appetite or even weight gain, loss of energy (also understand that these things are causes of depression and this is a two-way system). All of these problems may increase the likelihood of migraines.

    Please talk to your doctor about the feelings and concerns you are having. S/he will want to know about these problems in order to provide you with the best possible service.
    > in all the mentioned cases they have been prescribed for migraines Dr.Haroon.

    According to the BNF - the British National formulary Pizotifen is used for 'prevention of vascular headaches - i.e. when the veins/ capillaries in the brain have become narrow and it is causing pressure on the brain resulting in a headache so the tablet controls the diameter of these capillaries/arteries/veins.

    Classical migraines, common migraines and cluster headache.


    Side effects - Dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, increased appetite, weight gain - common

    Less common - constipation, aggression, anxiety, hallucination and depression.

    Source - My BNF - used by doctors, Dentists, Nurses and Pharmacists!

    Please refrain from giving out incorrect information due the compliance issues that arise due to this.

    thank you - NO DISRESPECT or OFFENCE intended.
  • aneesto
    aneesto Posts: 7 Member
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    I am taking pizotifen for migraine prevention and it actually helps quite a lot. Sometimes after increasing the dose, the effect was immediate - the next day no sign of migraine.

    But the weight gain is a real thing. I went off the medication last year and lost all the kilos i put on while taking the medication in about 2-3 weeks, with absolutely no effort or calorie counting. Now i was put back on the medicine and Ive regained all the weight and put on some more. I am now 6kg heavier and i can't lose it. I count calories and am training now for a half-marathon and this is barely enough to prevent my further weight gain. That is also true that you never feel full. Its very upsetting and nerve-wracking since GPs and others tell you just drink water when you're hungry (or tell you just eat less) - but this thing is soo much stronger than reason or willpower. I kind of accepted the fact that I am fat and that's how its going to be, but it makes me miserable and sucks fun out of life.

    Other medicines have other crazy side -effects like constraining your heart rate which made me unable to walk upstairs, others made me high in the wrong way, and others promise to screw up even more.

    So i counted my calories based on this: my BMR is about 1350, and to lose 0.5 kg per week I would have to eat 1200. I calculated all I ate in the week and put it against the target calorie consumption to lose weight and it gave me about 1000 kcl per week over the 1200/day target. Which means I would be a little above the BMR which means I shouldn't be putting weight at all or maybe 0.5 kg in a month. But I would put on 2 kgs in one week at times, and then maintain the weight for the next 2 weeks while being meticulous about my food intake.

    I am pretty sure that there is another mechanism that makes people put on weight very quickly, that is not listed elsewhere. With Nortriptyline, (which i used to take for migraine prevention) the leaflet didn't mention anything about cystic acne. Then a got a case of that and ended up with 3cm wide bulb on my face, and was told by the GP that it is a cyst and will go away, while it kept growing. Left me with a nasty scar. Then I went to this website where patients can report side effects not listed in the leaflet and cystic acne WAS ALL OVER THERE. I felt that this was a price too high to pay for a failing medicine - didn't help with my migraines at all. On that basis I think there is something more to pizotifen that is claimed.

    Hopefully my story will make other sufferers feel less alone and a little bit more understood. I feel I can't talk to people about this all the time as they just get fed up and don't understand.

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