I am on the boarder of overweight via bmi but do not look overweight. Most of my weight stores itself in my stomach.
However, ever since since starting medication, my stomach has gotten very big like a beer gut(40 inches around bel button). It is embarrassing, and I suck it in constantly to hide it.
I am currently on zoloft and abilify and have not had any weight changes since starting abilify. However, I fear I cannot loose the stomach due to abilify which worries me as it only seems to get larger. I don’t want to change my meds as the combination I take works for my mentality well. However, I fear I may gain weight later on in life and want to maintain a healthy weight as I grow older.
Any similar stories or suggestions? This topic kinda embarrasses me but concerns me more.
No need to feel embarrassed Sharpii, it’s natural to have body issues in this day and age.
First, you’re still young, your body will still change.
Then, if you want to lose the belly, you need to exercise. There are exercise sets on the web, but maybe @mortimermouse can help you out with that.
I don’t think this is a reason to change medications.
When I was your age I gained quite a bit of weight and then lost it the year after, I don’t think it’s a big reason to worry.
I’ve been trying to exercise but my knees have issues from several surgeries to fix deformities of sorts. I feel like the stomach is more stubborn due to meds…
No need to apologize :3 . Hopefully when college starts I will have more control over what I can eat. Also, I’ll have to walk every where so it would be some more exercise. Pray that the freshman 15 doesn’t hit me…I don’t think my body could handle that.
I’ve got a great big belly. I think it is the cause of my back trouble. I went on a diet and exercise routine not too long ago. I lost some weight, but I eventually gained it back. I need to shrink this great big belly of mine. It can cause me problems in a lot of different ways.
Hi,
I’m a mom here to a daughter with schizophrenia who was waif thin before she became ill over 13 years ago. It is known that medications can sometimes cause metabolic problems in some people and has been the case for her, so maybe this is what you are facing. You may want to get tested for insulin resistance or discuss the possibility of a different medications. A healthy diet and exercise are even more important now.
Stress makes people put on weight around the belly in a disproportionate way, that is, like it doesn’t go to the hips like we wish it always would. That and what was said earlier about meds causing sugar level problems and lipids (fats in the blood) problems is true- I would tell your doc about the way the weight is gaining, tell them your physical limits, and they should get you to a general doc for a complete blood count making sure your health isn’t being messed with by the meds…and if it is, then the docs both know what they can do about it.
In the meantime, diet and exercise is king and always will be. Everyone needs to get the two balanced as well as they can, it is huge for health. Also, getting in strict habits like exercise every day and avoiding certain foods in excess when you are young makes the habits easiest to keep up, even harder to break as you age. I have slightly torn, at least messed up knees myself and I still stay in shape and look aesthetic. I’m 23 and have had a history of extremely dangerous sports like powerlifting and mixed martial arts.
It’s easy for me to keep active and hard to not eat reasonably healthily after doing it religiously since I was like 13.
With bad knees, I would do an exercise bike, a stationary one, or a rowing machine. I box (standing up of course…easier on the knees) for cardio when I can. I can when the punching bag comes in the mail.
I plan to this tuesday. I’m going for a physical and evaluation of my blood sugar and stuff.
I get the cravings and have issues controlling how much I consume in each sitting as you can see via my other post…I also eat to reduce stress but that never really seems to work.
So I take it that you’re on zyprexa? I had quite the appetite on zyprexa. I was always hungry, it makes people always hungry, also lowers the metabolism at the same time.
What meds are you on, if you don’t mind me asking?
What I did was chew gum to lose weight when I had to drop about 35 lbs to get fit again. It really helped me a lot. That and portion control.
Yeah, probably due to all the beer and pizza 
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