Has anyone successfully lost weight while taking risperidone?

uroojjamilahmad
uroojjamilahmad Posts: 1 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Please share your diet and exercise plan if you successfully lost weight while on risperdal.

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Everybody loses weight in a calorie deficit. Can you share why you find it difficult to eat less/move more?
  • carlenebyrd
    carlenebyrd Posts: 23 Member
    I took it about 8 years ago I was able to maintain my weight. It did make me want snack at night. I think you just have to pay closer attention to your body and cues. Watch your calories and should be able to. Good luck
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    Buddy of mine lost 70lbs and has been maintaining it for a year on that med
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    MoveitlikeManda wrote: »
    I think OP is asking as one of its side effects is weight gain

    The solution is universal - reduce calorie intake and/or increase movement. That can be achieved with huge range of diet and exercise plans (or no exercise). Rather than follow someone else's lifestyle.. which may not fit.. it's better to create a plan based around personal preferences (and challenges).

    OP - the pinned post has great fat loss tips that apply to everyone. If you need more help, tell us what your biggest challenges are. :+1:
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Medication can affect your appetite but does not cause phantom fat gain. It can be challenging to manage appetite issues but not impossible. Some meds cause a few lbs of water retention, but you can still lose weight .
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    My dd has been taking a low dose for awhile now. She has not gained or had a huge appetite increase. She was on a different medication before that increased her appetite for awhile but leveled out after a few months.

    Track your food intake. Stock up on lower calorie foods.
  • Slowfaster
    Slowfaster Posts: 186 Member
    It can be a struggle. The appetite seems to be turned up to "starving," 24 hours a day and some people get up several times a night to eat because they can't get back to sleep until after they eat something. Add in the lower energy mentioned above and it can be very hard.

    Still, it's inspiring to know that some people manage to lose weight on it and maybe your side effects will go away or lessen over time. Remember the most important thing is your over all health and not that number on the scale.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    MoveitlikeManda wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Everybody loses weight in a calorie deficit. Can you share why you find it difficult to eat less/move more?

    I think OP is asking as one of its side effects is weight gain
    Yeah, but if the medicine causes weight gain, how could a diet and exercise plan solve the problem?
  • bubus05
    bubus05 Posts: 121 Member
    edited June 2020
    Switch to paleo/keto diet. Low carbohydrate intake is key meaning no bread no pasta no rice no potato lots of meat anything that contains fat, protein along with lots of veg and fruits. If you are a chocolate addict eat dark chocolate obviously not tons of it though. The medication in itself does not make you fat it makes you hungry so eat, just be mindful what you eat. Calculate you ideal daily calorie and stick to it, it should be in the range of a 1000-1200 depending on age/gender/weight, do some exercise daily anything really but don't over do it. It ain't easy or cheap to be fair but do this and you will lose weight guaranteed. I have seen it.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    I was on a similar drug in 2003 for a few months. I would sit on my couch in a daze with the TV on and eat entire boxes of Captain Crunch with my hands, just shoveling carbs into my mouth day and night. I was so ravagingly starving for carbs all the time. I would buy a loaf of bread and ... eat it. All of it. With nothing on it; just slices of bread. And then I'd eat whatever crackers or chips were around. And then go back to the store for more boxes of breakfast cereal. The craving was insane. I did gain a lot of weight, around 40 pounds in three months. Only when I got the carbs completely out of the house and really applied myself to dealing with the issue did I get control over it and stop gaining. Please note that I am not normally a low carb dieter or an advocate of low-carb anything; in fact I eat a higher carb % than many people here and have never done keto, Atkins, etc. I am only speaking to the specific issue with that class of drug. I think the advice from a poster just above to go paleo/keto or something similar is not bad advice for that drug. Maybe not everyone has this reaction, but I was literally dreaming about carbs 24x7.

    Also you have to fight the lethargy or your NEAT will plummet, causing further weight gain. Get on a schedule to get regular physical activity. Doesn't have to be a "workout". Just be sure you're moving around.
  • divaGM
    divaGM Posts: 3 Member
    uroojjamilahmad wrote: »
    Please share your diet and exercise plan if you successfully lost weight while on risperdal.
    uroojjamilahmad wrote: »
    Please share your diet and exercise plan if you successfully lost weight while on risperdal.

  • divaGM
    divaGM Posts: 3 Member
    I’ve lost 12 of a needed 40 pounds thru a Keto low carb, higher fat, high protein plan. It gives me better mental clarity so I have become more active. This has happened in a month.
  • bubus05
    bubus05 Posts: 121 Member
    [
    bubus05 wrote: »
    Switch to paleo/keto diet. Low carbohydrate intake is key meaning no bread no pasta no rice no potato lots of meat anything that contains fat, protein along with lots of veg and fruits. If you are a chocolate addict eat dark chocolate obviously not tons of it though. The medication in itself does not make you fat it makes you hungry so eat, just be mindful what you eat. Calculate you ideal daily calorie and stick to it, it should be in the range of a 1000-1200 depending on age/gender/weight, do some exercise daily anything really but don't over do it. It ain't easy or cheap to be fair but do this and you will lose weight guaranteed. I have seen it.
    .
    Full paleo diet very little or sometimes no carbo at all lots of fat and protein, veg, fruit. Snack dark chocolate every second day.
    We have been on this diet for 5 weeks. The first week was tough but we resisted, I was literally dreaming about bread. The second week was better we have found some really good recipes online. We started to use almond and coconut flour, this has helped a lot. Now we actually enjoy our food. I guess our body adapted to a new diet, the craving for carbo has completely disappeared.
    We walk every other day with our Labrador 5-8 kms depending on weather and ride on our road bikes 25 kms three times a week, so that is our exercise. We also do a little bit of sit ups at home but nothing too extreme.
    I lost 8 kgs from 125. My partner who is on 6 mg risperdal a day lost 7 kgs from 95. If there is one thing we learnt from this 5 weeks is that it is definitely not impossible to lose weight while taking risperdal. But like I said above it ain't easy. Our target is losing 20% bodyweight, I will get back with the results. Good luck...
  • divaGM
    divaGM Posts: 3 Member
    Good work, keep it going.
  • robw1974
    robw1974 Posts: 19 Member
    uroojjamilahmad wrote: »
    Please share your diet and exercise plan if you successfully lost weight while on risperdal.

    I take risperdal, been my main med since 1996. I am losing.. Simply logging meals, drinking mostly just water, limiting snacks, and targetting 10,000 steps a day. I was 257 pounds in december, i am 242 now, i have lost 8 of those pounds in the past month when i started here again.
  • rosegreen12
    rosegreen12 Posts: 35 Member
    I was on it for a few years. It seemed to either cause or coincide with some more pounds. It didn't cause me to totally not want to move, but may have slowed me down. Plus I was on some heart drugs that that's what their purpose was, so I can't tell what caused what. I do know that I gained some during that time. Losing would probably have been even slower than it was (which it is at 64). I have seen that not only do I have to count calories carefully and be more active now, but I need to keep my carbs low. I wonder if psychoactive meds cause a change in insulin output.
  • sheena_shewell
    sheena_shewell Posts: 48 Member
    Yep have been on risperidone since I was 16yrs old...have lost over 20kgs.
  • bubus05
    bubus05 Posts: 121 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    bubus05 wrote: »
    Switch to paleo/keto diet. Low carbohydrate intake is key meaning no bread no pasta no rice no potato lots of meat anything that contains fat, protein along with lots of veg and fruits. If you are a chocolate addict eat dark chocolate obviously not tons of it though. The medication in itself does not make you fat it makes you hungry so eat, just be mindful what you eat. Calculate you ideal daily calorie and stick to it, it should be in the range of a 1000-1200 depending on age/gender/weight, do some exercise daily anything really but don't over do it. It ain't easy or cheap to be fair but do this and you will lose weight guaranteed. I have seen it.

    No one should eat only 1000 to 1200, eat more than that! What a terrible comment.

    Look, based on my experience, if you follow a relatively strict paleo diet your appetite will automatically decrease.
    I dont know the scientific answer why, but you simply dont wish to eat more. Before the diet my intake was 2500-3000 a day now I am quite happy with 1000-1200 hence I wrote what experienced, my app suggested intake is 1510/day and at times I struggle to make it my partner is very similar she struggles to reach her suggested 1300/day. She says quote 'I am just not hungry I am fine'. But that's not the point. My point is I wanted disprove the idea that 'it is impossible to lose weight with risperdal' that seems to be the overwhelming opinion.
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