I just weighed myself for the first time in nearly two years, and since being on Olanzapine, I have put on 51lbs in weight.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
More important, has anyone actually managed to lose the weight and still take the medication? I am seriously considering going cold turkey on the meds again. My BMI is .2 away from being classed as obese. I used to be really skinny, how this is making me ‘well’ is a bit questionable.
i’ve put on weight since starting meds 5 years ago. I’ve gained almost a hundred pounds. I’ve been on risperidone three times, fanapt, latuda, invega sustenna and invega pills and haldoperidol that’s just anti psychotics. I’ve lost some weight since switching to haloperidol. My psychiatrist said haloperidal is a weight neutral.i hope you don’t quit meds.
I gained about 15-20 lbs. on Haldol. Then a blood pressure med. caused me to gain about 40 lbs. more. I quit the bp med. and got put on Geodon and Seroquel. I think these drugs are supposed to be weight neutral. I’ve had some luck losing weight doing moderate exercise. I walk back and forth briskly in my room two hours a day - one hour in the morning and one in the evening. If you don’t have time for this you could maybe make time for a shorter workout. Exercise is the best way to lose weight.
I probably put on 150 because of Olanzapine. It gave me the appetite from hell and left me with diabetes. I generally don’t make a habit of telling people they should switch meds unless they’re on that one. It’s a med of last resort. Suggest talking to your doctor. Geodon has been fairly weight neutral for me.
I’ve lost about 100 of those lbs, still have some to go.
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Between my time on Clopixol and Inverga Sustenna depots, I’ve put on 170 pounds. Went from 150 lbs to 320 in 5 years. Since I quit smoking pot I haven’t gained anymore weight and that was almost a year ago. At the moment I don’t have the willpower to exercise, so I’ve come to accept being overweight with the limitations it comes… Clopixol was the worst, I literally couldn’t stop the pounds from piling on. Rapper Big Pun was 700 lbs when he died so I’m still a long way off from being morbidly obese!
Yes i gained 65pounds from meds havnt been able to get it off again 
Good to know that exercise will help. From tomorrow I am going to start training again I think.
Sorry to hear that you got diabetes from that med, that really sucks.
I was on 20mg of Olanzapine. I have been put on a higher and higher dose each time I have had problems. They put me on Abilify now on 30mg, is this a weight neutral drug? (It’s not controlling symptoms yet)
I might just stop taking the 10mg of Olanzapine I am on at the moment at night.
That’s a lot of weight to put on. I hope your new med will put a stop to that.
I won’t quit the Abilify as I think I should give it a chance, but I am never taking Olazapine again that’s for sure.
I gained 15 pounds while taking it but i have lost 10 of it in the last two months. I’ve noticed my weight goes up and down with my mood often times when i’m depressed i eat and drink more sugary things. I’ve always handled my depression with overeating and the meds just made it easier to gain weight. But i’ve been walking more and eating better lately. I feel kind of lethargic today since i haven’t walked anywhere today due to rain and thunder storms.
Risperdal made me gain 30pounds in just a couple of months,and then abilify made me gain another 10 pounds over the course of a year. I’m not sure it was the abilify as much as self control. I lost ten pounds taking an anti seizure medicine with it that is supposed to have weight loss as a side effect. I have gained back 5 pounds though, so I’m overall 35 pounds heavier at 155 pounds.
I was on it for a few months. It increased my appetite a bit, but nothing compared to Olanzapine. The drooling, fatigue, and the fact it didn’t punch my symptoms down as well as Geodon did were the issues for me. My doctor requested I switch because of concerns about Geodon in combination with a congenital heart defect I was born with, that is causing me a bit of trouble these days. I made the decision to change back as I felt the ability impaired me too much. I’m used to being pretty high functioning.
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Have you lost the weight you gained? If so, how long did it take?
nope havnt lost it, i started going to the gym for awhile but now im still a member but dont go
I take olanzapine and have stable weight. I go to the gym regularly and I think that’s what makes the difference. Moving around, making the heart stronger and circulation better keeps the weight from being affected by the meds. Better than taking the med and being a couch potato.
Zyprexa made me gain weight very rapidly, it was actually a little scary. I found it easy to lose weight on Risperdal, however I’ve read from several people/reviews that they had the opposite experience with Risperdal.
I’ve always struggled with sharp fluctuations in weight, though. I am very bad at “dieting”. When I lose weight, it’s almost always through fasting or intermittent fasting, and I just found it easy to fast on Risperdal. I had no appetite but also felt no fatigue or low blood sugar from lack of eating. So, even if APs really screw with some aspects metabolism, when you’re fasting, the body will have to break down muscle and fat eventually.
I could have done it in a healthier way, like intermittent fasting, every other day, and then eat nutrient-dense foods on feeding days. Probably would have had similar results.
These days I take Zyprexa as a PRN, 2 times per month on average, and I’ve lost about half of the weight I had originally gained since starting APs. I think my “set point” is a bit higher than it was before APs, but it’s not something I can’t live with.
Lol, same thing happened with me. Joined the gym in July and went three to four times since. Forgot to cancel until this month
Still not managed to lose the weight. I bought an indoor bike so I can lose more weight. Don’t think I would last at a gym. Plus it can be expensive.
I weighed myself yesterday and I have not put on more weight in 6 months which is a start.
I am on Latuda now and it hasn’t been as bad as Olanzapine was for me for weight gain…
Gain weight I did latuda took I
I gained 70 pounds since i was diagnosed with sz 6 years ago. Now, i have stopped eating after 6pm plus i am also fasting so that i don’t gain any more weight.