help! gaining too much weight

Im bipolar, Presently taking lithobid 1500 mg daily and seroguel 900 mg at night. The problem?  I cant take my weight. I  exercise on a treadmill, universal home gym, and even weights its all mainly in my stomach area. Please tell me theres something that can help me lose weight. My calorie intake isnt alot Im beginning  to get myself sick over the weight.  Tell me theres something out there that can help besides lypo suction which to tell you the truth dosent seem like a bad alternative only I cant afford it. If my medication is the cause. Is there something out there to help boost my metabolism..thats safe to take??? ..

[Jikan]

Namaste,

There is a good probability that the Seroquel is the culprit in your situation. It is known to increase weight and from personal experience, I gained 40 pounds while taking it.

I went back to my psychiatrist and told him to take me off of it which we did and the weight came off after a period of reasonable dieting and exercise. I did not replace the Seroquel with another medication, although your doctor may want you to try something else.

There are other atypical anti-psychotics such as Abilify which allegedly do not cause significant weight gain.

Sometimes, unfortunately, it comes down to whether you want to have a better quality of life or a few extra pounds.

Best of luck!

Michael(Jikan)

[triedeverymed]

My doc took me off Seroquel because he said it can cause weight gain. I would ask your doc which drug is causing it. When weight gain is fast & sudden, my G.I. doctor said the #1 cause is medication. But Lithium can cause your thyroid to get out of whack and you can gain weight if it's sluggish. You may want to have the thyriod funtion checked as well.
If the thyroid is OK. then you have to decide if you are feeling good on these meds, do you want to switch of just learn to live with the extra weight. Many people do gain on antipsychotics and have to learn to live with it in the name of mental well being.
Talk to your doc!!

[Crystlas]

It is the Seroquel.  I did bookoos of research before I was put on meds and that is one I stay away from because of the weight gain.  It causes lower metabolism and keeps most patients pretty sedated most of the time.  I tired it, desperate for sleep when I was having sleeping problems, and it made me feel awful.  So I researched it and learned how bad it is at sedation and weight gain and told my PDoc, NO WAY!!  Hope this helps!  Good luck.

[determined2beatit]

I feel your frustration. I gained 70 pounds when I was taking Lithium and Seroquel. I dieted, ate hardly anything and exercised like crazy!! I still gained weight by the tens every couple of weeks. I almost threw the bathroom scale out the window one day!! My normal body weight is about 110lbs, so you could imagine what it was like being 170lbs! Finally, I realized back then that the meds can slow down your metabolism. I went to an Endocrinologist because I couldn't stop gaining weight. He told me the meds do this and we worked with my doc and cut way back. Yes, I finally after about 6 months started to drop the weight and today I weigh my normal weight. It does sometimes take time for your body to get jump started again. It's been about 8 years now but I am on a lower dose. I also lost my appetitie completely. Turns out the Lithium depressed my thyroid and I now have to take Synthroid.
I believe that quality of life is important and our moods so meds are needed however the weight gain was making me crazy! I'm sorry 70lbs is not just a small weight gain especially when I was climbing further up the scale.
Talk to your Doctor! Tell him how you feel. Compliance is important but major league weight gain is also UNHEALTHY! All Around! Try another med if possible and don't be discouraged if it takes a bit before you start to actually drop weight. It doesn't happen as soon as you swith meds, in all cases. Just make sure your not gaining!
Hope this helps...been there!

[bernie40]

I agree with the others, speak to your doc about your medications, seroquel and lithium are both known to cause weight gain, as is depakote.  I gained a stack load of weight on depakote which made me feel bad then about being overweight - ergo, it didn't help with my moods because i was down about my weight, catch 22.  I came off the depakote and I am slowly losing the weight.  I am going to speak to my doc about Topamax which is supposed to be good for bp, migraine and does not cause weight gain.

Good luck.

Helen