hi I've taken Seroquel, now 300mg but it was 600mg this summer. Yes. I gained weight. But not as badly as Xyprexa. I read that the average is 11. BUT BUT there was a new study that showed that Provigil can 1) decrease the amount of weight gained with Seroquel and 2) increase mental alertness. I had my doctor put me back on the Provigil (I have it for narcolepsy) pronto. Unfortunately to get it you need special approval. It's not a stimulant the way Ritalin is, but it does make you feel more evenly awake all day long. I don't get that Seroquel hung over feeling in the morning. Another drug that you probably know squelches the weight gain is Topamax (which incidentally also decreases cravings in early sobriety). The downside is that they've observed some cognitive problems with it. It's a mood stabilizer so it's not like you're getting away from psych med territory. But what I've had to face up to is the fact that with these drugs you simply can't consume as many calories as you could before you started them. If you don't adjust to that fact, you'll gain weight. And you'll gain it at what seems like lightening speed. And as you probably know, it takes a heck of a lot longer to lose weight than to gain it. It's the "I can't eat the way I could at twenty" syndrome collapsed into six months when you take these drugs. I've watched my weight swing within a twenty pound window just over the three years. One year I'll be X weight the next year I'll be X-20 weight and then back again to X. Good luck. You aren't alone. Doctors don't really understand what it does to your self-esteem when your pants suddenly don't fit anymore and you swear that you haven't been eating like a pig. EK |
. I talked to my doc at my last appointment about Seroquel and my cravings for chocolate particulary but I will settle for other sweets if the chocolate isn't there. He pretty much agreed with me that Seroquel does put on the pounds but he wasn't willing to change anything because I had been stable on my dosages for awhile and sleep was such an issue for me. Next appointment I am going to ask him about Geodon. Ellie, are there side effects with it and have you ever had problems sleeping. That is the only reason I would fear giving up Seroquel. During the summer when I was taking my grandsons to the park everyday and on the go more the weight didn't seem to be such an issue but I think when I get my metabolism up everything seems to fall into place better. And ladies, and Matt you can shut your ears, my shrink said chocolate substitues for something else I'm not getting much of either....Annie I had several docs tell me I wasn't on a therapeutic dosage of Seroquel whatever they mean by that so I suppose some people are on much higher dosages but not me. Thanks for starting this thread and I hope we get lots of input.