Putting On Weight Is It The Meds ?

[Sammyiam]

Hi if anyone out there has put on weight with there medication can you please tell me what you did to help fix it, and if you started to lose weight again.

I take Venlafaxine (Effexor) 225 mg in the morning, and I take quetapel (seroquel) 25 mg every 3 hours during the day and 100 mg at night before I go to sleep, I have put on 12 kilos since being on the seroquel, I am active and walk twice a day, my sleep is still not the best, but don't want to go on any more meds, maybe I should ask to change them ?.

I am coping with some fairly stressful times at the moment and don't know what to do, I hate asking to change anything as I don't want to be a nuisance to anyone and I hate being a problem so I never tend to ask anything so having to ask to change I will find really hard.

I'm thinking of just stopping the seroquel and see if that makes a difference, can you just stop seroquel ?

Thank you for reading and if anyone can come up with something to help I would be really grateful.

Thanks

 

[KwanYingirl]

Oh, did seroquel make me gain weight! 50 pounds. Then he switched me to risperal and then Geodon. I miss my skinny figure and I can't get the weight off. It gives me a huge benefit so I don't want to go without. I'm just learning to be chunky. I'm too depressed to work out I tried Pilates and treadmill and I never lost a pound.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Seroquel is known for packing on the pounds. Supposedly it can put you at risk for diabetes as well. Do you have the option of switching to another antipsychotic?

 

[Sammyiam]

Thanks for your reply, I have talked to a few people and they all seem to say the same, you think if they could put someone on the moon they could make something that doesn't put weight on wouldn't you !. I really don't know what to do, I lost like 23 kilos a year ago and have put half of that back on in a very short time I really don't want to put anymore on, but like you the benefits of being without it drive me absolutely crazy, like I think I'm going to die 50 to 100 times a day because it's all my fault, I just don't think I can go back to that again, man i still feel crazy just think what I would be like without it, I am really struggling as to what to do, I feel like a am lost either way, I don't think I have a way out anymore.[DOUBLEPOST=1405912727,1405912535][/DOUBLEPOST]Hi solara,
I don't know I have never been on anything different, I tried the herbal way for three years all that did was cost me an arm and leg and didn't help, will it did for a while and my herbalist was amazing I was just to bad.
I have never been on anything else in the medical terms just this.

 

[Seasounds]

Weight gain on lexapro, that is my story.
What is the most frustrating, are people's comments; if they only knew that my choice was to have flashbacks and lie frozen in bed, or take Lexapro and be able to work and actualize some of my dreams. I have not shared the reason for my weight gain, to the rude people.

But as I write this, I feel supported enough to IMAGINE slugging them. They are insensitive! Please tolerate my venting.

No, I do not know a solution. I walk 40 minutes 4x/week, don't eat after 7:00, vegetarian, etc.

Oh, I did once see an Internet page on preventing weight gain on SSRIs. You might google it.

 

[Friday]

There are some meds which are known to
- cause weight gain in most (but will cause weight loss in some)
- cause weight loss in most (but will cause weight gain in some)

You can just keep repeating this list with the symptom & the inverse (drowsiness, insomnia, etc.) ad naseam.

Our brains all have fairly unique chemical composition... Which is why there are hundreds and hundreds of medications / doses out there. Similarly, a high dose does not necessarily mean a worse problem.(I test off the charts for ADHD-c, for example. Which means I'm "slotted" for up to double the normal adult dose on meds. But some I'm extremely sensitive to. So Straterra, for example, I have amaaaaaazing results on half of a child's intro dose. 5mg instead of 160mg. The dose does not define my problem, it defines how my brain reacts to it.). There are trends, for sure (like most people who take this med get this, some get that, and a few get this other thing), but there is never any guarantee where you'll be in the 22% 74% 4% spectrum of how "most" people respond to it.

There's an added "problem" in that it costs bazillions (technical number) of dollars and typically 10+ years to "label" a medication. So even if a company invents a drug that is best. ever. for anxiety... If they were trying to develop an antidepressant (or antipsychotic, mood stabilizer, etc,) or already have a best selling antianxiety med? They don't get it labeled under its best use. Instead, they label it as the mediocre antidepressant/etc. and then doctors find out "Wow! Amazing anti anxiety med!" And start Rx'ing it "off label". ((Viagra, is one of those exceptions that almost never happens. It was a heart medication, with a very quirky side effect. It was worth it to the company to spend a bazillion dollars to relabel it. Most of the time, companies don't bother. Especially as, to greater or lesser extent, all psychiatric meds are exchangeable. It's when a thing comes out of the blue, like curing cancer, or raising expectations, that things are not a profit loss to rename.)).

=

- Finding the right medication is a trial and error process
- So is finding the right dose
- Never, ever, ever worry about what it's labeled "as" or "for". Find the right one or right combo (makes you feel like "you") and name it Fred. The rest is just politics.

=

- Talk with your doctor. A lot. It's an ongoing conversation.
-If the side effects are bothering you, there are dozens of other options (and knowing that this med, in this class, in this family causes XYZ side effects you don't like and ABC that you DO like... Means they can make a better educated guess on the next med. But this is a collaborative process. With a large dash of luck involved (in what order you try things).

 

[franciemarnie]

I was on Zyprexa. Ugh.

I was always slim, and actually didn't gain on Zyprexa for a while - and then BOOM! 40 pounds.

I worked out 2 hours a day - 70 minutes aerobic, 20 minutes boxing, 30 minutes weights and core. It took forever to lose 17 pounds. I got off the damn drug, which never did much for me anyway except make me sleep deeper. Lost the rest of the weight fast.

Definitely if you withdraw, do it supervised.

 

[joeylittle]

Seroquel does the weight gain thing for a lot of people. Definitely do not just stop cold; you're not on a huge dose but it's not insignificant. I'd say talk to your doc about other ways to manage whatever symptoms you are on the seroquel for.

Don't think of yourself as being a bother. You're allowed to talk to your doctor about changing meds if you find the side effects intolerable. And if your doctor doesn't want to hear you, find one who will.

Are you doing anything else to work with the stress in your life? CBT or DBT or some other set of tools? That can make a huge difference.

 

[Sammyiam]

Hi Joeylittle,
Thanks for the reply, I just hate being a nuisance to anyone.

I am seeing a psychologist once a week but am finding it really hard to talk to her. she is really nice I don't know why but I just carn't seem to sort all this stuff out.

 

[joeylittle]

I hate feeling like a nuisance too! (And I easily feel that way). Just remember: most of the time, doctors want to be able to do their jobs, which includes finding the right combination of meds for every individual.

I know every time I've apologized to my psych, she reminds me that one reason she's in psychiatry is for the challenge of it. Truly, talk to your doctor.

It can really help to write down your concerns and bring that, since the appointments are sometimes short.

 

[Sammyiam]

Hi Change,
Yes if only people were not so quick to judge, and people are so good at thinking they know everything, if they knew what was going on in our heads.

If only they could spend 1 day in our shoes then they might change their minds.

 

[Sammyiam]

Hi Fridayjones,

You never stop amazing me, you have so much knowledge about so much stuff you are truly amazing.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me, I am really at the point where I have no idea of what to do anymore it just all seems to be getting to much, I am so scared of meds I worry so much about the side effects and what they are doing to me, on the other hand I drive myself crazy to the point of I don't even know what. I really just don't know what to do anymore.[DOUBLEPOST=1405936582,1405936359][/DOUBLEPOST]Hi franciemarine,
Did you go on anything else after that or manage to stay of meds, I think I'm going to try and see if I can talk to some one. I carn't keep going like this it's driving me even more crazy