I am bipolar, and take both Depakote and Seroquel. I have gained 45 pounds in 3 years as a result.

Is anyone else out there taking either of these drugs? Anyone else had any success in losing the weight?

Let me know. Thanks.

I am not on any drugs but I just wanted you to know that is a hard place to be - needing to take the meds and yet gaining. Is there any way the doctor could adjust them so you do not continue gaining?

Keep smiling.
Take Accepting, Gentle Care of yourself.

Hi Meigg,

welcome to the forum! you'll love it here!

I am not on these medications either. I had a unipolar depression, and then was diagnosed as BPII by one doc because I became hypomanic on prozac (stopped sleeping, was working 16-18hrs per day). I did gain 40lbs on antidepressants, in 6 months, just like you, strange, because I actually was eating much less while on medication. I find the zone diet perfect for my health in every aspect. wishing you great success as well. If you continue fluctuating between the two poles of mood range, you could adjust your diet appropriately. Ultralowcarb Atkins brings my mood down and Zone up. are you taking your fish oil and vitaminE supplements already? I find higher doses of fish oil (up to 9g per day) superb for myself.

hugs,
Mila

Hi Mila,
What are you taking fish oil for? I am bipolar as well and havn't heard of that.

Meigg, I'm not sure about the meds you are on. But last year I went on Ativan (sp?) then to Zoloft . . . and in something slightly less than 1 year I gained 24 lbs.

While weight gain is not a listed side effect of Zoloft I emailed the pharmacist at Walgreens and he confirmed that it is a VERY common complaint. While less people complain of weight gain on Wellbutran, according to the pharmacist, I have had friends tell me of friends on anti-depressants and it continues to be the same story . . . . weight gain.

I always struggled w/my mood and sporadic depression. I wasn't at all surprised when I got my medical history a couple years ago (I was adopted and never had that info) . . . depression & alcoholism runs on both sides of my biological family, so severe that my birth father's father commit suicide in his 30s.

While other compounding issues finally drove me over the edge, requiring the drugs last year, I now know that I have a chemical imbalance that I need to monitor and try to control. I have been talking w/my doctor, my counselor, and the nurses about controlling it myself. Proper amounts of sleep, exercise, and well-balanced meals all help in battling depression. So I have weened myself off the Zoloft in the last couple months and am starting to lose the weight.

My heart goes out to you, because I know how I felt/feel . . . something that is supposed to make you all better is causing you to feel worse about yourself. If you don't like your doctor's answer, call a different one, ask the nurses, or email the pharmacist at Walgreens.com and see what they have to say. You can also research the drug info online, you can start at Yahoo and do a search . . . there is a Yahoo Drug Info where you can type in the name of the drug and pull up some info.

Good luck to you. I've been there and I hope I don't have to return. Hang in there.

I also gained weight on antidepressants (Celexa). I was only on for 6 months (had to stop because weight gain was making me more depressed!).

I know how you feel though.....when I was depressed I was miserable, when I went on Celexa, my mood was better but I gained weight. I finally reached a point where the Celexa was not needed (my depression was job-related and I'm done here in 5 weeks!) and I could concentrate on losing the weight.

Be sure and continue your meds until you can talk to your doctor....if you need to find one that's enlightened about the LC WOL then do that!

Hang in there!

-animaldoc

hmmm!

i wonder if my recent unexplained weight gain could be related to my antidepressants. Since going on wellbutrin back in the fall, i've gained several million pounds. it's only gotten worse since i've been taking zoloft and depakote too.

these medicines are supposed to make you lose your appetite and therefore lose weight, but they didn't have that effect on me. my appetite was completely obliterated, but that did NOT really keep me from eating. (i'm kind of screwed up about food, recovering from an eating disorder, blah blah.)

what the antidepressants DID do, however, was destroy any feelings of hunger and satiety that i may have had. so i think that, for me, ALL eating kind of became emotional eating. when you eat when you are not hungry, it's really hard to stop!

i don't know if there's another supplemental reason why i can't seem to lose weight since i've been on these drugs. i wonder if they're primarily screwing with our hunger signals, or with our metabolisms on a deeper level?

anyway, i'm scared of relapsing into depression if i stop the wellbutrin.

glad to know i'm not alone in this.

./su

It is hard - I know, been there - got the certificate

At the end of the day health is the most important issue. It can only be achieved when I get some kind of reasonable balance in my life and work at maintaining that balance constantly.

I found diet plays a major part. LCing made the most significant part in keeping my needle as near centre-point as possible for as much of the time as possible. I only wish I had discovered it many years earlier.

Diet is not the only factor though. Seasons; light; air (breathing deeply); movement (dance helps me a lot): exercise AND sufficient rest; emotional balance all help.

{capnsue: these medicines are supposed to make you lose your appetite and therefore lose weight} Perhaps. I think antedepressants make you lose everything that makes life worth living ... sort of puts you "on hold" ... and can be useful at a catastrophic time in your life. They can help you get past the calamity but only for a short time. Continued or long term use of them only makes one less able to cope and it then becomes a vicious cycle. That is my personal opinion and I am not recommending it to anyone.

{animaldoc: I went on Celexa, my mood was better but I gained weight.} Well done. You reached the point where it was not needed. Work on balance and hopefully you won't need to go back on them.

{usedtobe: ....depression & alcoholism runs on both sides of my biological family....} There is often a genetic factor in depression. Researching your family tree can be revealing and helpful, albeit not easy - most families would much rather not face up to suicides and find it hard to be open about it. Yet it would help them to deal with current issues if they examined the past in a balanced and open manner.

Love , Light, Healing, Peace to you all.
Take Gentle Accepting Care of yourself - you matter.

Capnsue- I think my doctor told me to let him know of weight changes (GAIN or LOSS) since both could be side effects of these meds......wish I could have been in the group that lost!!

Fiona- Thanks for the info....I hadn't been able to find anyone that was on Celexa that could comment!

-animaldoc

Hi there. Yes, I too, along with many others I've found have been gaining weight on SSRI's (Zoloft, paxil, Prozac,etc.) I've been on Zoloft for 2 years and gained 25 lbs. I've managed to maintain and gain anymore, but I'm also on the lowest dose and eat a low carb, low cal diet and exercise everyday too. But, still can not loose this weight. I'm going to wean off this and try a natural alternative, called SAM-e.

yep, add me to the ssri weight gain list!! i have been on zoloft for about 7 years and have gained about 50 pounds. i'm hoping that lc'ing will take it off, but i'm not sure. i've heard that it's really difficult to lose it if you're still taking ssri's. but who knows. i suspect that many different factors come into play. we'll see.

good luck!

Me too! It is a paradoxical, unhappy side effect. Painful and frustrating.

I went on Paxil in '99, and have since gained 50lbs....... I'm tall (5'10"), so I had been quite comfortable at my pre-Paxil weight of 170. A bit rubinesque, perhaps, but come on, I'm not trying to maintain birth weight....

While on Paxil, I didn't change my eating habits - kept eating my dear carbs - nachos, garlic bread, beer, you get the picture...

I've since switched to Celexa (last two months) and started LCing and exercising about a month or so ago. Didn't see much, so I went on strict Induction and I'm now on Day 11 with a 12lb loss so far.

IT IS POSSIBLE to lose weight doing LC while still on SSRIs, I'm just not sure how much yet!! But I'm hopeful!!!

PS> here's another bonus - my moods seem to be VERY STABLE since starting LC. Calmer, happier, more focused. I'm sure the exercise is helping too.

We can do it!!!

I took Depakote for several years, along with Wellbutrin. I needed the meds, I took them, they helped a lot. But I gained a lot of weight. It wasn't just the meds. I didn't exercise, I ate poorly. BUT it is true that Depakote makes it easier to put on weight.

These kinds of medications, like all meds, affect your liver, which is really where your metabolism is determined. On Depakote a person has to have regular blood tests to evaluate the level of the drug in the liver. It is hard on this vital organ.

After a move, I changed doctors and the new one suggested I replace Depakote with Lamictal (for clinical reason unrelated to weight gain). It works much better for me and I have lost weight slowly but steadily since that time.

Seroquel. It wiped me out. I am sure it is hard on your metabolism but I couldn't take it. I would take one pill and sleep for 20 hours. When I was awake, my whole body was stiff and achey and each movement hurt and I felt weighted down by thousands of pounds. Walking across a room wiped me out. Seroquel made me sick.

In the two years, I have lost 50 pounds, taking lots of meds. 16 days ago I started low carb and lost the last 15 (the total over two years is 50). I read something this week about how meds cause weight gain and I cried about it to my therapist. She pointed out to me that I AM on Wellbutrin and Lamictal AND I AM LOSING.

My point is that the meds can add to our struggle to lose weight -- and gosh, that's not fair -- but we can lose weight if we are determined to.

If you make healthy eating choices, add exercise to your life to the best of your ability and stay committed, you will lose weight even while you are on meds.

But I gotta tell you: I am so happy to be off Depakote.

Hang in there.

Hope you don't mind my joining in....
I am taking Effexor. Doc said I wouldn't gain weight, said most people lose on it. Not me. I've gained 15 lbs.
Tried to take myself off twice and had horrible side effects.
Thanks for the Yahoo site usetobe.
greentea

Hello. How long have you been Zoloft free? How did you do weaning off this? I've started slowly tapering down over the past 2 weeks and cut back alittle to much the past few days...and boy are the side effects ever bad: dizzy, headaches, nausea, fatigue, anxiety. Did you go through this? How are doing without Zoloft now? Did you try anything natural? How long did it take you to start losing weight ....once Zoloft free. Sorry about all these quesitions. I need to know though. Thanks. PAR


QUOTE]Originally posted by usedtobe
Meigg, I'm not sure about the meds you are on. But last year I went on Ativan (sp?) then to Zoloft . . . and in something slightly less than 1 year I gained 24 lbs.

While weight gain is not a listed side effect of Zoloft I emailed the pharmacist at Walgreens and he confirmed that it is a VERY common complaint. While less people complain of weight gain on Wellbutran, according to the pharmacist, I have had friends tell me of friends on anti-depressants and it continues to be the same story . . . . weight gain.

I always struggled w/my mood and sporadic depression. I wasn't at all surprised when I got my medical history a couple years ago (I was adopted and never had that info) . . . depression & alcoholism runs on both sides of my biological family, so severe that my birth father's father commit suicide in his 30s.

While other compounding issues finally drove me over the edge, requiring the drugs last year, I now know that I have a chemical imbalance that I need to monitor and try to control. I have been talking w/my doctor, my counselor, and the nurses about controlling it myself. Proper amounts of sleep, exercise, and well-balanced meals all help in battling depression. So I have weened myself off the Zoloft in the last couple months and am starting to lose the weight.

My heart goes out to you, because I know how I felt/feel . . . something that is supposed to make you all better is causing you to feel worse about yourself. If you don't like your doctor's answer, call a different one, ask the nurses, or email the pharmacist at Walgreens.com and see what they have to say. You can also research the drug info online, you can start at Yahoo and do a search . . . there is a Yahoo Drug Info where you can type in the name of the drug and pull up some info.

Good luck to you. I've been there and I hope I don't have to return. Hang in there. [/QUOTE]