Pizotifen

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.

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.