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  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

Have you ever gained weight from a med?

dilated_pupils

dilated_pupils

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Jan 13, 2006
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Have you ever gained weight from a med? It would be nice to have this made into a poll.

A) have taken medications and not gained weight
B) have taken medications and gained weight
C) have taken medications and gained a substantial amount of weight
D) have no taken medications period

I fall under C, as about 10 months back I start seroquel, on large doses might I add which were 400mg's daily (100mgs 4x daily) and I was an other bi polar med at the time. The seroquel however made me gain 25 pounds; I was on the seroquel for about 4-5 months and I stopped due to the weight gain. Lucky for me I was underweight at the time (only 120-125) and now I was at a normal healthy looking weight. However unfortunately after all was said and done I was now a lot heavier than before and attempted to lose the weight and still to this day I've lost only maybe 7 pounds of it at the most. Has this happened to anyone else?

I'm now on Abilify 10mgs/day
Suboxone 12mgs/day
Klonopin 2mgs/day
Amitriptlyine 25mgs/day

For some reason I have tried so many different meds (these ones working best for my bipolar/anxiety) and I can't lose the weight which sucks. I used be able to eat everything I wanted too (I'm only 20) and now I can't due to my medications.

So basically I'm asking whose been through this and whose had issues like me, or opposite issues making them too skinny?

Please add poll mods thanks.

-dp
 
I usually lose weight because they kill my appetite. If I'm stressed and I take something like tramadol, I'm just never hungry.

Antibiotics are even worse. I took Levaquin for a kidney infection and I'd eat 2 bites of food the entire day and was full. Codeine - same thing....never ever hungry even if I haven't eaten for days.

When my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, the doc gave her pain meds and some medication that made her hungry (I don't remember what it was). I guess if you are like me and you take drugs long term, you should take something to help you eat. For me, I will drop a lot of weight not because I'm trying, but just because I have no desire to eat.

I also think it has a lot to do with your predisposition to dealing with food and life. Some people overeat when they stress...others stress and stop eating. I am one of those people who don't eat when I'm stressed, so I think it carries over to medication habits as well.
 
Lysis, you should try some weight gainer protein, it works wonders and tastes really good if you make the shake right. I used to be on it but ever since I gained my weight off that seroquel I've stopped taking it.

-dp
 
Ive gained weight from amitriptyline, mirtazapine and seroquel. Also opiates make me gain weight too.

When im depressed and can't east no med can make me gain weight though.
 
I know a lot of people who gained a ton of weight on Seroquel and Zyprexa, but I never take my meds long enough to get the weight gain. I did notice Seroquel made me very hungry before bed when I would take it for sleep though.

I was told by the docs that Abilify and Geodon where the anti-psychotics that wouldn't make you gain weight.
 
xxkcxx said:
I know a lot of people who gained a ton of weight on Seroquel and Zyprexa, but I never take my meds long enough to get the weight gain. I did notice Seroquel made me very hungry before bed when I would take it for sleep though.

I was told by the docs that Abilify and Geodon where the anti-psychotics that wouldn't make you gain weight.
Click to expand...

I don't find seroquel that bad for weight gain. Havent taken zyprexa on a regular basis so i can't gain weight from that. The most weight i gained on a med was amitriptyline but i don't know if it was totally the med. I also gave up smoking around the same time. That put's weight on me too.

Mirtazapine is the very worst for causing hunger. I could and have come close to cleaning out a fridge on that stuff. I started to gain weight pretty quick on it but i went off it when i started lamictal and seroquel.
 
for the short time i was on the awful-mess-of-a-drug Zyprexa, i gained weight. i'm sure other meds have too but i've been on so many different ones for years....
 
I have actually lost weight on meds, when I first started on reboxetine.

I'm seeing my psychiatrist today and I'm going to ask to try something else because the reboxetine is obviously not working anymore :|

I have a sneaking suspiscion he's going to want to start me on mirtazapine, I will have to politely decline. Due to my history with eating disorders I would much rather die than have an increased appetite thank you very much...
 
Years ago I was on lithium and I went from being 130 pounds to 200 at my heaviest. I'm short, too, so I looked like a huge blob. It also sucked big time because I gained the weight from the medication, but jackasses obviously did not know this and they were pretty mean because I was so damned fat.

Now I'm a healthy 140. I have been on seroquel and trileptal since July 2008 and I have stayed 140 pounds. I guess I got pretty lucky to not gain any weight as a side effect from my medications. The meds also work very well for me.
 
paranoid android said:
Mirtazapine is the very worst for causing hunger. I could and have come close to cleaning out a fridge on that stuff. I started to gain weight pretty quick on it but i went off it when i started lamictal and seroquel.
Click to expand...

Seroquel is actually pretty well know for weight gain though and an increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes I've heard (I'm going to guess because of the increased appetite). Going in and out of mental wards for awhile, I have met several people who gained 30-50 lbs in very short periods of time while on Seroquel. Of course, it isn't going to happen to everyone though.

I was started on Remeron inside a mental hospital, but stopped taking it when I got out because I saw a possible side effect was RLS. I have had boughts of akathesia in the past (I'm very sensitive to it apparently) and I would rather be depressed than life with that.

I did however, in a sleep deprived, spur of the moment decision, decided to take 30 mg of the ones I had left over to get to bed. I fell asleep around 11:30 and had to wake up at 8:15 to go somewhere. I was so tired. I decided to take a "nap" when I got home at 6:30 and ended up sleeping until 9 am the next day :\ Still didn't feel quite normal for a day or two.

n3ophy7e said:
I have a sneaking suspiscion he's going to want to start me on mirtazapine, I will have to politely decline. Due to my history with eating disorders I would much rather die than have an increased appetite thank you very much...
Click to expand...

If your psychiatrist knows about your E.D. history he shouldn't prescribe you anything that would cause weight gain. He really shouldn't even give you anything that would cause weight loss cause that can get you in trouble as well.

Be honest with him--it really is the best policy :)
 
You're absolutely right hun, to be honest I don't think this psych is very good (in the exact words of my SO, he's a useless cunt lol :D). But it took me so long to get the courage to finally see someone about all this shit so I'm sticking with him for now.
But I will be honest with him, and we'll see what happens this afternoon :)
 
n3ophy7e said:
I have actually lost weight on meds, when I first started on reboxetine.

I'm seeing my psychiatrist today and I'm going to ask to try something else because the reboxetine is obviously not working anymore :|

I have a sneaking suspiscion he's going to want to start me on mirtazapine, I will have to politely decline. Due to my history with eating disorders I would much rather die than have an increased appetite thank you very much...
Click to expand...

Reboxetine is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Thats why it makes you lose weight. Im on wellbutrin (bupropion) and it's a dopamine norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. It's a sorta stimulating anti-depressant so your more likely to lose weight then gain it.

Personally i don't care if i gain a few pounds as long as the goddamn med works :!. Im on lamotrigine, wellbutrin, seroquel and zyprexa zydis for emergencies. The first 2 are weight neutral the last 2 are not.

Seroquel is actually pretty well know for weight gain though and an increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes I've heard (I'm going to guess because of the increased appetite). Going in and out of mental wards for awhile, I have met several people who gained 30-50 lbs in very short periods of time while on Seroquel. Of course, it isn't going to happen to everyone though.
Click to expand...

Seroquel does get a rep for weight gain but i don't think it's as bad as zyprexa and clozapine. I was on seroquel along with epival (divalproex just another valproate) which is another med that causes weight gain and i actually lost weight. I was not getting anything to help my depression though the seroquel was kinda helping so i was not eating. I went from 175lbs or so which is my usual weight to about 145lbs to 150lbs in few months or so. That sucked cause my clothes where falling off me. I looked anorexic.
 
n3ophy7e said:
You're absolutely right hun, to be honest I don't think this psych is very good (in the exact words of my SO, he's a useless cunt lol :D). But it took me so long to get the courage to finally see someone about all this shit so I'm sticking with him for now.
But I will be honest with him, and we'll see what happens this afternoon :)
Click to expand...

My psychiatrist has been very helpful in a lot of ways but also a douchebag in a lot of ways. The good outweighs the bad though.

IMO, if, in your case, the bad outweighs the good, you should switch cause like I said, they have a lot of good advice to give if they are good doctors.
 
xxkcxx said:
My psychiatrist has been very helpful in a lot of ways but also a douchebag in a lot of ways. The good outweighs the bad though.

IMO, if, in your case, the bad outweighs the good, you should switch cause like I said, they have a lot of good advice to give if they are good doctors.
Click to expand...

Same with my shrink. She really pissed me off last time i saw her but the good does outweight the bad.
 
i've taken testosterone propionate + stanozolol, plus hiper protein diet and lots of weight training (during three weeks), gained 20 pounds of muscle.
 
seroquel made me gain 60 lbs. thankfully I shed it all off. the local jail won't prescribe it anymore because too many people were getting diabetic from it.
 
I lost weight when I was on Adderall. I also lost weight when I quit smoking weed. Everything tasted like cardboard for 2 weeks, and I was eating rehab food so it might have really been cardboard.
 
I think I'd fall under D.

Unless you count suboxone, which made me gain a few pounds. Probably because I was barely eating anything except rice krispy treats, chocolate milkshakes, and frosted flakes when I was doing dope everyday.
 
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