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Misc Long term Problems after Zyprexa/Seroquel use?

M

missnlindsey

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Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
2
I am a 57 y/o female diagnosed over 25 years ago with bipolar disorder, major depressive episodes and complex grief syndrome; following the deaths of 17 family members within a couple of years. For the first 10+ years despite intensive therapy and many prescription drug cocktails, I was without the slightest improvement, I could not function or work and was actively planning or acting on the nearly constant thoughts of suicide much of the time. When Zyprexa first came on the market my Dr. decided to give it a try. I do not remember how long I took the Zyprexa for, but 2 years after being diagnosed suddenly as a brittle diabetic requiring large doses of insulin for those years, the literature about this being a side effect of Zyprexa had come out and I was taken off the Zyprexa. I was not concerned because I had no improvement of symptoms while taking it and had in fact gained over 150 pounds during the first year of its usage. The next med tried was Seroquel, within weeks of stopping Zyprexa and starting Seroquel my blood sugar dropped from 600-700 fasting to normal and I have not needed a drop of insulin in the ensuing several years. I had limited success with the Seroquel at first but as my dosage increased I saw marked improvement and 8 years ago was unbelievably able to return to work (something I believed I would never be able to do again). My question is about the weight gained. Prior to Zyprexa I never weighed more than 120 pounds, nor do any female family members going back 4 generations and no male family members have had obesity problems either. I was able to lose approx. 50 pounds over the last 8 or more years but have plateaued and cannot get below that no matter what I try. So is it the Seroquel that continues to keep the weight on or is it possible that I damaged something while taking Zyprexa and was on insulin and nothing I can do will fix the problem even though the drug was stopped as was the need for insulin? If it might be Seroquel what are my alternatives?
 
I don't know much about Seroquel but I was on Zyprexa from 2007 until the beginning of this year. I can say a lot of good things and bad things about it but about the WEIGHT gain. I weighed 135lbs prior to the Zyprexa. This time last year I was 230. I have been off for almost a year now. Maybe 3/4 of a year and am a steady 180-185 (perfect weight for me) but bottom line I did gain about 100lbs in the time I was on it and haven't lost it all (than again I'm not trying to lose it). Hope my insight helped at least a little bit. By the way I am a 25 year old male.
 
Lawsuit is a great idea in retrospect, but I think that ship has sailed because I have been off Zyprexa for about 10 years.
 
Are you sure it's not just your metabolism slowing down with age? No doubt seroquel can pack on the weight so i would say it's definitely playing a part. If you are concerned about weight gain maybe giving risperidone a try would help. It causes alot less weight gain then seroquel or zyprexa and it does work good for some people to stop mania and psychotic symptoms associated with bipolar disorder. However it has some nasty side effects such as a zombie effect once you get above 2mg's, it messes with your hormones way more then seroquel or zyprexa and it had the highest risk of causing tardive dyskinesia among the atypicals. I found it to work so so but not great and i found zyprexa to work the best in treating manic, mixed state and depressive episodes. But since my insurance doesn't cover it i am stuck with seroquel.

I assume you have already tried mood stabilizers and anti-manic drugs such as Lithium, lamotrigine, valproate (epival, epilem, depakote) and carbamazepine. Those drugs especially valproate can cause weight gain but they are nowhere near as bad as most atypicals.
 
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