Medication and weight gain?

I only took depakote for a very short period of time (had a nasty allergic reaction to it) but I am on prozac and lithium. I have lost weight taking them. In fact, Prozac actually suppressed my appetite when I first started it (been on it for years so that has worn off). As long as you stick to a calorie deficit, and not give in to the increased appetite (if you experience that side effect, not everyone does) you will lose weight.

While diet and exercise can help with mental illness symptoms, it is certainly not a cure all for everyone.

Just a tip-if your Prozac is once a day, try to take it in the morning. When I first started it, I find when I took it too late in the day I had trouble sleeping. Prozac "energized" me and I would have wicked insomnia (not something needed when already not well). Started taking it in the morning and the insomnia resolved.

Edit-typos.

You mentioned you're eating healthy but how many calories are you eating? Could you be eating more than you think? Do you weigh your weight? Perhaps you're not in a deficit.

trwww wrote: »

When they say a side effect of a medicine is weight gain, what they really mean is a side effect of the medicine is increased appetite. A little pill doesn't have any calories, so its not going to cause weight gain. Yes, medicine can affect your metabolism, but as long as you keep eating the same amount your weight is only going to drift a couple pounds. Theres no such thing as a medicine that makes someone gain 100 pounds.

If you count your calories, perhaps with an app like MFP, it can help make sure you don't start to over consume food due to increased appetite.

"They" say the side effect of weight gain is due to increased appetite but that's not always the case. I think you are underestimating the possible impact on metabolism (the CO part of the CICO formula). I agree it isn't going to cause you to gain 100 lbs, but it can be substantial.

I have a special needs son that only eats what we give him. He had a feeding tube until he was 7 and doesn't enjoy eating at all... he eats what we ask him to eat and that's it. A few years ago we started him on one of these sort of drugs that can cause weight gain. He ate EXACTLY the same number of calories before and after starting the drug. Exactly. He is very picky and autistic so he eats the exact same things in the exact same amounts every day. He gained roughly 10 lbs (10% of his body weight since he's tiny) within a month or so of starting the drug. It wasn't increased appetite, it wasn't that he was eating more, it was 100% because the pill caused his calories burned to decrease substantially.

The bright side is that we decreased his calories and the weight came off. When he eventually was taken off of the drug we were able to increase his calories again without the weight gain.

It's important to take those drugs if you need them. If weight gain is worrying you just pay close attention and eat less (or move more) if it starts creeping up. I know that isn't what you probably want to hear, but at least there is a solution. Good luck!