I have been taking zyprexa for 1,5 years. Can’t quit, but is it possible to lose weight while I’m still taking it?
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Depends on how severe are your negative symptoms.
I was on Zyprexa for 17 years, 40mg. I started gaining weight a month or two after starting it and plateaued at 240lbs about a year later. It didn’t matter what I did, exercise, diet, gym membership, I tried everything and didn’t lose a single pound. It’s a nasty drug when it comes to weight gain, at least it was for me.
But you can lose weight while being on an antipsychotic. I have been on Lurasidone for about 3 years and as I slowly reduced my Olanzapine and then quit I lost over 75lbs. Lurasidone doesn’t cause weight gain for me.
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I am on 6mg risperdal. I was 100lb less on Abilify eventhough I was eating more. The secret was that I was going to the gym almost everyday for 1-2hrs. 45min cardio, 30min elliptical and 15min running max speed on treadmill.
I also did weight lifting like dead lift, squats, etc
How easily you can lose weight depends somewhat on the antipsychotic. I have heard Zyprexa is one of the worst for weight gain.
That being said, it is possible. Zannah lost a ton of weight while on antipsychotics. I have lost a few pounds myself.
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There’s a forum member that lost over 90 pounds over the last year eating 1200 calories a day and 1400 calories once a week. She did a lot of exercise too. Really impressive.
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I lost 100 pounds (45 kg) in one year while taking an AP. I ate 1200 calories per day and exercised. But at 1200 calories, I would have lost weight without exercising. Exercise just speeds up how fast you lose and helps you tone up.
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Oh I also did biking for hrs outside.
Some times… You have to really work at it though and it’s very very hard, it takes good healthy food, counting calories, and working out
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I’m losing weight by calorie counting. I decided I’d lose weight slowly (0.5 pounds a week). So far I’ve lost 25 pounds.
Download a calorie counting app and get calorie counting.
It takes a bit of practice to calorie count so the earlier you start the better.
Edit: I don’t exercise at all.
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I had to change some antipsychotics to stop the eating cravings. Now I am on a diet and on amisulpride.
Thanks @LilyoftheValley I’m happy to hear that it is possible. I need to lose 15-20 kg to be healthy again. I once succeded in losing 2 kg while I was on zyprexa, but then I got depressed that I haven’t lost more and started eating as usually.
To be fair I’m only taking 5 mg zyprexa, usually 2,5 mg (but I had upped the dosage because I had visual hallucinations) Any way I’m not as hungry as I was the first months so maybe I can lose weight.
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You can. But just make sure to be ok with slower weight loss if you don’t exercise. It’ll still come off, just not as fast
I think I will start counting calories as you are and then wait until later with exercising. I used to run and also danced a lot, but its too Hard to run right now because of my overweight and I don’t feel like dancing at all.
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Yes the negative symptoms are really bad for my weightloss because I’m not interesting in exercising, I don’t have much energy and most of the time I don’t care at all. Maybe I should get something like an antidepressant.
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What should I change to if I don’t like Risperdal or Abilify?(I don’t like the meds which worsend my sleep)
I’m considering changing to Seroquel.
Seroquel is known for making people sleepy. My mom’s doctor prescribed it to her when she was having a bout of insomnia. I’ve never tried it myself.
I have. To begin with I was incrediably sleepy but next to olanzapine it is nothing and neither was the weight gain. I only took seroquel for 2 months but I hope I can try it once more.
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