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Seroquel and weight gain

M

Missykins

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I took 50-100mg of Seroquel for years w/o incident, but about 8-10 months ago, my doctor increased the dose to 300 mg in order to improve my sleep (which really hasn't worked--I don't fall asleep any faster but am really sedated the next day).

Since then, I have gained nearly 25 lbs, which is nearly 25% of my original body weight.
(I am short, and typically weigh 110, now weigh 133). Diet and exercise has not helped.

Anyone else out there ever have this issue?
 
Seroquel is notorious for weight gain. A lot of it is simply water weight BUT seroquel also gives us the munchies so we end up eating a bunch of garbage in large amounts :\

Are you one of the many that gets hit with the munchies when taking seroquel? If so, it may take some time to develop some new eating behaviors/patterns. It sucks but if we know that we are going to get voraciously 'snackie' we need to change what snacks we eat.

I haven't taken seroquel in a while but I have changed my snacking patterns. It takes some getting used to (like all change does) but results do materialize in time
 
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I really watch my diet, and if anything, my caloric intake has decreased. I think that Seroquel acts on levels that are not behavioural, such as insulin and thyroid hormone production.
 
Yep, I was on 500mg for 6 months after a hospital stay and gained 40 pounds. I could have stopped the drug at any time but going to sleep what more important than staying skinny. I'm 5'7" so I'm not really overweight, but I have never been this heavy ever.

Atypical antipsychotics are famous for extreme weight gain and like someone else said they can give you some severe psychological hunger (you're full but your brain says YOU MUST EAT NOOWWW) and I knew that and decided to stuff my face full of candy to relieve the cravings. I are dumb.
 
If you're not sleeping any better at 300mg than you were at 100mg then the obvious solution would involve simply going back to 100mg. Fuck your doctor, just reduce it if it's genuinely not helping you. Actually don't do that. But ask at the least.

As far as I know - and contrary to what someone else suggested - anti-psychotics do not cause people to gain weight by changing their bodies in any physiological sense. They simply make us more hungry.

I know how hard it is to avoid eating loads of unhealthy shit when you get the munchies. But I would suggest: 1) taking the seroquel immediately before bed time so that you can just fall asleep; 2) buying healthy shit like rice cakes or crackers that you can eat when you get super hungry; and 3) reducing your dose to 100mg. Oh, and drink any water that you need to drink several hours before bed-time, so that you won't wake up.
 
300mg's is in the anti-psychotic dose range not the just use as a sleep aid range. Why not try another drug as a sleep aid? If your getting unacceptable side effects from the seroquel and it's not even working that well then i would really suggest mentioning maybe trying something else to your doctor.

I have been lucky enough to not get any weight gain from seroquel even when i took it in the 400mg range with divalproex but there aren't many meds that cause me to gain weight thankfully.
 
I had this issue. They had me on Seroquel for a couple of months after my first opiate/benzo detox.

In 2 months I gained 20+ lbs. A new psych happened to ask about any recent weight gain, and then if there was a history of diabetes in my family.
He proceeded to do a couple blood tests, and realized my blood sugar levels had gone from low/normal to vastly approaching diabetic. It was discontinued immediately.

If you are gaining a lot of weight from Seroquel (often happens because they have to up the dose frequently so it continues to be sedative, if that is why you need it), it's worth checking out.

My $.02.
 
Shvibzik said:
I had this issue. They had me on Seroquel for a couple of months after my first opiate/benzo detox.

In 2 months I gained 20+ lbs. A new psych happened to ask about any recent weight gain, and then if there was a history of diabetes in my family.
He proceeded to do a couple blood tests, and realized my blood sugar levels had gone from low/normal to vastly approaching diabetic. It was discontinued immediately.

If you are gaining a lot of weight from Seroquel (often happens because they have to up the dose frequently so it continues to be sedative, if that is why you need it), it's worth checking out.

My $.02.
Click to expand...

Appreciate it. Diabetes runs rampant in my family (it killed my mother and her mother before her).
 
I would like to stop taking this medication all together. I feel like I'm being slowly poisoned by it.

I took 100 mg for two years and actually LOST weight, but at 300 mg, I blew up like a balloon.
 
I have been on Seroquel on two separate occasions. The first time it was combined with clonazepam and I started losing weight, I lost 20Lbs and that was bad because I was only 120Lbs.
Second time I was before pills 121Lbs and I went up to 150Lbs in 2mos. I was eating the same, fluid intake the same, nothing at all had changed. I am assuming that maybe something happened motabulism wise perhaps? I have been off them almost a month now because of adverse reaction (neurological) and so now I have lost weight and I am down to 140Lbs so far and I am hoping to stay that weight. I am no expert and all but I will never touch that "medicine" again EVER.
 
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