Has anyone been able to successfully lose fat while on seroquel or another anti-psychotic because my weight is sky-rocketing from it and I do not know what to do.
Or does anyone have any resources that they can share regarding this. Is there a special diet that one has to specifically follow in order for fat loss to occur on an anti-psychotic medication?
Thanks for the help
Hi
weight gain is a known side-effect of many second generation antipsychotics (and antipsychotics in general, really) like Quetiapin (Seroquel) and occurs in about 10% of patients.
Quetiapin interferes with H1 and 5-HT2C receptor function, so the weight gain is not your fault. Outside of very strict diet control (counting calories of every meal) there is little you can do about it.
You could try switching drugs
Ziprasidone (Geodon, Zeldox)
Lurasidone (Latuda, Sunovion)
Aripiprazole (Abilify, Aripiprex)
Asenapine (Saphris, Sycrest)
Haloperidol
typically have less or no weight gain associated with them
EDIT: further information Comparative efficacy and tolerability of 15 antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis - The Lancet
I wouldn’t recommend switching drugs just to fix the weight-gain problem.
I’ve taken like a million different antipsychotics. I was able to turn most of the weight-gain into muscle though with decent dieting and just lifting weights about 2 hours a day. I didn’t eat that much, but I did gain about 30lb in a month.
I used to take seroquel. The only time I started gaining a lot of fat was when I stopped lifting weights. I actually lost weight though because I lost my muscles so fast.
But yeah, as Petrichor said, there are some antipsychotics that don’t cause weight-gain. Abilify and Latuda are among them, but I found them to not work very well for treating my disorder(s).
Edit: I forgot to mention, I used to be on Risperdal, and that stuff normally made me gain lots of weight very quickly. However, when I was in a mental hospital, and they were giving me Risperdal every night, I somehow lost weight during my time there. I didn’t do any physical activity while I was there (besides a few dips between chairs every few days). I didn’t lose any muscle, and I lost quite a bit of fat. This was possible because of the food they gave us there; it was all pretty much fat-free/taste-free food. So conclusively, if you diet well, you won’t gain any fat (you can actually lose fat).
Seroquel and Remeron both made me gain a lot of fat. Risperdal made me lose fat.
I too have had massive weight gain with Quetiapine/Seroquel. I’m and ugly mess at about 285 now and god knows what body fat %. 3 years ago I was 185 and about 7% body fat. My specialist (not so special) said the drug causes weight gain mainly through increased appetite but I’ve seen some posts in and around the web stating it may alter thyroid function negatively.
I have also heard about blood sugar abnormalities/diabetes. I’m just fighting now with MOVING every day. I had about 10 months with little to no activity due to the severity of my panic disorder and depression. To boot, I had to have 2 eye surgeries which kept me flat on my back for way to long. I think dosage may be tied to the amount of weight gain amount. If I stumble across any more useful info, I’ll post again but for now, I feel your pain!
I have been off this god-awful drug for 1.5 years and I have not been able to get below 260. I was given the drug for a disease I didn’t have, which lead to a whole mess of other problems. I wish I could help you but I am struggling too. At my peak I was around 270 with little muscle and a lot of fat, about a 42" waist. I have since gotten down to 260 and built a lot of muscle and lost about 4" on my waist.
I know the doctors wont admit it because they are crooked bastards that should be put in jail, but I am sure it does things to your body that cause irreversible damage, including changing how your body metabolizes fat. Get of the drug, because it is a piece of garbage, and smoke a pack of cigarettes a day - Im convinced that is healthier for you. While your at it, shove the bottle down your doctors throat and ask him to prescribe it to someone again.