Losing Weight on Olanzapine (Zyprexa)

Medications
1

There is a lot of negative information on the net in relation to Olanzapine and weight gain.

Here is my experience with the medication, which might just debunk some of the negativity.

It is true that Olanzapine causes excessive hunger, especially when you first go the medication. Probably because Dopamine is getting blocked by the medication, and the brain is craving for more dopamine to be released. Stay with me, I am not an expert on exactly what the brain is doing on this medication, but hunger is a side effect. At one stage I put on about 12 to 15kg of body fat, which put my weight at about 115kg.

For the past 2 weeks I have been limiting my calories by fasting intermittently. I am a 6 foot tall, 50 year old man, prior to introducing fasting to my lifestyle I was weighting 112kg. By reducing my calories via intermittent fasting (IF) I am now down to 105kg. During the IF for the past 2 x weeks I have still been taking 10mg of Olanzapine at night. So on 10mg of Olanzapine I have so far lost 7kg in 2 x weeks. This weight of 7kg that I have lost would not all be Fat, some of the weight loss would be water and muscle. When we lose weight it is not all fat, it is a combination of fat, muscle and water, muscle is mostly water.

So I just wanted to debunk the negativity around losing weight on Olanzapine, it is possible. I am proof of that so far losing 7kg. During my IF I am not craving carbohydrates anymore. My brain has adapted to the IF so I am going really well.

Previously, the Olanzapine controlled me. But now I control the olanzapine and I will not allow myself to give in to sugar and carbohydrate cravings.

Just remember that losing weight is a numbers game (even on olanzapine), if you create a caloric deficit you will lose weight on Olanzapine.

5 Likes
2

Welcome! That was a very well-written post, we are lucky to have you here! I was just talking about Olanzapine in another thread. It hasn’t been so bad for me. I’m actually gaining a little weight on purpose because my intermittent fasting worked so well. :grinning:

3

Hi Lcray, I’m so glad that you have also been able to lose some weight on Olanzapine.

I think I had this negative self-talk that some how olanzapine lowered a persons metabolism and that weight loss was impossible. But now we are both proof that weight loss is possible on the medication.

I see on PubMed that a study was done comparing the usual tablet of olanzapine compared to the dissolvable sublingual olanzapine. In this particular study more people lost weight on the sublingual dissolvable olanzapine.

There is so much negativity on the internet about olanzapine that it causes us to think that there is no hope on this medication.

But please know that whether on sublingual or normal tablet olanzapine, weight loss is possible, it is a numbers game regarding calories burned.

1 Like
4

I was on 20 mg zyprexa and weight loss was impossible.

2 Likes
5

I took Olanzapine for a little over two years starting in 2019 and lost from 270 to 152 pounds. Until I hit 200, all I did was track my calories, and then at 200 I added daily workouts.

Meds affect everyone differently, but I lost a large amount of weight on Zyprexa. I had to switch meds because I was burning through it too quickly and my symptoms came back too soon before the next dose. Now a lot more stable on Invega, but fighting my weight again a little over 200 pounds.

1 Like
6

You’re right about meds affect everyone differently. I don’t know much about Invega, but I read where it has a medium chance to gain weight whereas olanzapine and clozapine take the trophy for weight gain.

I think that if you lost all that weight on olanzapine, then you should be good to lose some pounds on Invega, try a lesser amount of calories each day, I really love intermittent fasting, I simply set time I wish to fast for on the ‘fast habit’ app and then it’s only water and black coffee or tea.

All the best with your future.

1 Like
7

How did you do it though im on Olanzapine 7.5 and hunger was terrible at first but it is slowly adusting it self

1 Like
8

Just checking in. So I have now been doing intermittent fasting (IF) for about 3 weeks, I am still on Olanzapine 10mg at night and Venlefaxine 150mg am.

To refresh, I am 50 years old male, 6 feet 1 tall and at the start of diet IF, I was close to 115kg.

I have also been doing weight training, which incidentally I had not done for 2 years mainly due to covid. I am starting to get stronger, but I only train at the gym for about 30. minutes, 4 to 5 days per week. Apart from the gym training I probably average about 5000 steps (walking) per day, which is only an average amount.

I weighed myself this morning at the gymnasium, I am now 103kg. Last week I was 105kg, so I have lost a further 2 kg this week.

I am not saying that losing weight on olanzapine is easy like 'a walk in the park.

By doing IF I have reduced my caloric intake. Before the diet I was consuming about 2500 calories per day (estimate only), but now I estimate that I am consuming 1200 calories per day on IF. That is a substantial deficit.

I know that there would be some people who would not have the discipline to create such a huge caloric deficit as I have done. Speak to your Doctor first and have a plan set out.

But this experiment has been to prove to myself that losing weight is possible on Olanzapine. Previously I thought that it was impossible whilst on the medication. Medications like Olanzapine and Clozapine (which my brother is on) are not the ‘monsters’ that some people portray them to be.

In about a weeks time, I am changing the IF diet up a bit, I will be incorporating KETO dieting to my regime. That is, I will be consuming about 5 to 10 percent only of my calories from sugars / carbohydrates.But I will keep my total calories about the same for each day (1200).

I have read a lot of good things about the Keto diet for people with mental health disorders, plus I think it will fast-track my goal of getting down to 90kg (times 2.2 for pounds).

I will check in again soon.

1 Like
9

I lost 20 kg on 20mg Zyprexa doing a low carb diet. It took me two years. I used to weight 86kg and went down to 66kg.

4 Likes
10

Progress still being made, all-be-it a little slower. Still taking 10mg olanzapine nightly. In the last two weeks I have lost 1kg. Weight loss was most rapid at the start, so I hit a bit of a plateau, however, I am now on a Keto diet, so far only 1 week on Keto. I am also doing intermittent fasting on some days, however I had to adjust to fat adaption Vs glucose on this Keto program. I have also ramped up cardio, HIT high-intensity-cardio about 5 days per week, getting my heart rate up to about 160 beats per minute during HIT cardio.
I know its harder losing weight on Olanzapine, but my results are showing its still possible.

11

I got fat on 40mg of olanzapine for 17 years. I weight 240lbs at my heaviest. I lost all that weight by losing the olanzapine. Once I quit olanzapine the weight melted away on its own quickly, which tells me olanzapine also affected my metabolism and slowed it down. No change to diet and exercise, buy my natural metabolism came back and now I’m a healthy normal weight. People even tell me I’m skinny.

I didn’t want to fast and change my diet, my diet before olanzapine was the same as when I was on it, which is the same now that I am off it. I like my diet, I don’t like olanzapine.

12

I had a similar experience last year when I briefly came off Olanzapine the weight melted away. I agree that this medication makes it harder to lose weight.

Can I ask, was your sleep severely impacted when you came off Olanzapine. That is my experience, the medication acts like a strong Benzo like alprazolem. When I come off Olanzapine I can’t sleep. How long does it take for normal sleep to be restored?

13

I heard that you could eat literally nothing and still develop diabetes on this medication. But yeah i’ve heard people say limit calorie intake and exercise. Everyone is different though and for me that doesn’t work. I’ve developed high blood pressure and probably even hypertension because of this med. Also gaining weight more and more as time goes by. I literally can’t control what I eat on this med. I drink soda all day too. I do exercise religiously but I get ZERO results from it witch drives me insane on that alone.

I also have other issues with this med after 5 and a half grueling years. I can’t even tolerate it anymore but am stuck with it because I cannot seem to switch to anything else. My hands are dried and cracked, like some sort of allergic reaction to it, everytime I stopped the olanzapine it miraculously goes away and comes back when I return to the drug. I HATE olanzapine lol

14

Olanzapine works really well for me too. I have lost weight on it as well. I gained a lot of weight on seroquel and I have lost all of that weight by switching to olanzapine. I take the melting in your mouth pill. It is a good medication.

1 Like
15

There’s a study that shows orally disintegrating tablet has a greater fat loss outcome for people on the olanzapine medication trying to lose weight.

I tried to put in the link to study but rejected because I’m a new user. Crazy!

16

It’s interesting how there seems to be two camps. Those who have gained crazy amounts of weight on Olanzapine Versus many who have lost weight on it. But certainly losing weight is possible on the medication so long as a caloric deficit is adhered to, and exercise to boost your metabolism, which incidentally maybe and only maybe Olanzapine reduces.

Also interesting that you gained weight on Seroquel. Perhaps you were not doing the low carb regime during that period.