Antipsychotic / Antidepressants Meds and Weight Loss

I took Seroquel when I was admitted in the mental hospital back in 2007. It gave me tremendous munchies... I would maybe look into low calorie snacks to munch on if that is your issue.

I currently take Zoloft and have zero problems with increased appetite.

I got put on metformin to have alongside my meds and it has prevented me from gaining weight.

My son was on Abilify and Zoloft and gained a LOT of weight. The zoloft especially caused him to get up in the night and search for food. We've recently weaned him off of both and he appears stable, so we are hoping to be able to keep him off.

He does take Trileptal for absence seizures, but I've heard that it and Lamictal are good for mood stabilization as well without too many side effects (except sleepiness).

When I started Zoloft I had zero appetite and lost a bit of weight (many people report the opposite effect though). I also had terrible insomnia, headaches, brain fog, increase in sweat, and dizziness. After about 4-6 weeks all of the side effects dissipated, including the appetite returning to normal; I'm glad I stuck it out through the initial period because it's been incredibly helpful for my anxiety and depression.

I'm not on anything psychoactive (now), but I'd make this observation: It can be helpful to understand that most drugs affect weight loss by one of 3 mechanisms.

1. Appetite increase.
2. Water retention.
3. Fatigue, subtle or obvious, but leading to down-regulation of calorie expenditure.

Are there exceptions? I don't know. But those are key mechanisms underlying a large number of instances.

#1 can make loss very difficult, but can be seen via calorie counting, and *may* be able to be managed with changes in timing of eating or specific food choices.

#2 is a red herring. It makes it look like fat loss isn't happening, when it is. There isn't a big solution, except to look to very, very long term results, or the relatively more accurate body composition techniques (like DEXA).

#3 may be perceived or not, but can be countered (with extreme difficulty, in some cases) by intentional attention to daily life activity levels and/or exercise . . . the latter carefully, so as to avoid increasing fatigue. Still calorie counting may work, but sadly at a lower than average calorie level.

I'm not discounting the difficulty of fighting any of these effects. It's hard; really, really hard.

I'm sorry you're having difficulty, and hope you find a solution.

I've been taking Lexapro (for the 2nd time) since beginning of August. I was able to reach my goal weight, then the scale started fluctuating more so than normal. I hadn't changed my eating or tracking, and even though I felt hungrier initially, I really tried to not eat more than normal. I know that people do gain weight despite still eating and exercising the same while taking it, or have a really difficult time losing weight. I now have really committed to not eating past a certain time because even though I had planned out to eat my usual snack in the evening, I believe it may have been impacting my weight loss. I'm now within a pound of my original goal (and am due to start my period soon). In any case, from what I've been reading various antidepressants can have a really varied affect on people's weight.

I've had issues with my medications and food, but appetite suppression is a well-known side effect, and it's not actually always helpful. I need to space my calories out through the day and eat on time so I don't get hungry and then proceed to EAT THE WORLD in an effort to stave off the anxiety attack that results. The meds interfere with that unless I'm VERY regimented about when I eat versus when I take the meds. But other than that, they don't "make" me lose weight. They let me hold a thought in my head long enough to act on it, and often that results in me getting off my butt and doing stuff, which of course is better than sitting around, but that's not the meds, that's me.

(Also dry mouth and eyes, so getting the water in every day is not a problem.)

I don't want to get into my own personal experiences on this topic online, where data is forever. I would just like to try to help you out by providing two simple pieces of advice. One, don't slip on logging your calories, stick with it through thick and thin, and don't neglect the scale even if it starts to bump up. Two, if you find yourself craving 'mindless' carbs like breakfast cereal, crackers, cake, cookies, etc., get them out of the house. There is a very weird thing going on with the anti-psychotics and carbs, it can be overwhelming, more than I think the average human can handle. I am not a low-carb person in general and not a fan of keto and the like, but when it comes to those drugs, I urge you to become carb-conscious in your meal planning.