Effects of Seroquel

[mooddisorderedmind]

I have been on Seroquel for a couple of months and although it has helped me sleep I have gained a lot of weight. I was on 200MGs and now I am down to 100MGs. When I go back to see my psychiatrist, I am going to ask to slowly go off,  by going down to 75MGs, 50Gs and so on. I would rather take Melatonin and drink Chamomile Tea than take Seroquel and gain a ton of weight and have more problems to deal with. Anyone else suffer from weight gsin on Seroquel? If so, what was did you do about it?

[Phyllis]

I was on Seroquel for many years. Started out on 600mg and eventually got all the way down to 150mg. I gained massive amounts of weight on it. I am almost 40, and my metabolism isn't the greatest, so I haven't lost everything I gained. I have been off of it for several months now.

[LadyAshley]

Personally I haven't gain weight on it-- or at least noticeable amounts-- but I want to go off it for other reasons (it can cause your white blood cell counts to go out of whack and I already have enough issues with my immune system). I tried to talk to my, now ex-psychiatrist, about switching me to something else but she didn't bite on it so I'm still stuck taking it. Last time I went off, I was back to wanting to hurt myself and others, so I don't think going off is a good idea either. I'm really stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[dm52]

I gained about 25 - 30kg on it over about 4 months. Was not real happy with that. Weight sort of plateued after that. After about another 6 months I was sick of the tiredness and weight so I went off it. On lamotrigine now which seems to be working for me. Been off Seroquel for 6 months or so, lost 10kg or so (5 of which in the first month), but still carrying more than I would like.

[macrent2]

Seroquel is known to be one of the worst (if not the worst) for weight gain. It also can knock you on your ass if you are not on the extended release version (which still can make you a zombie). I personally think that if you are one of the few people that it works for you then "good for you". I would place my bet that some of the "newer" antipsychotics and mood stabilizing drugs will help you loose weight and give the desired effect of mood stabilization. After being on a mix of Lithium/Seroquel for a year and a half, my psychiatrist put me on Geodon (a supposed weight neutral medication) but I gained 40lbs on it over 6 months. It is No Macy's or Disney Parade in the park feeling! Then, you also feel guilty because the medication makes you want to eat crappy food at odd times and in mass quantities.

My new psychiatrist said that if you read the fine print on the drug information they give you when you start the drug (Geodon in this case) that it has a "clear" warning about rare (sometimes massive) weight gain. Now, I have taken advanced statistics and abnormal psychology classes at the university level and still can't understand what the 18 page manual said. After changing most of my medications... I have been on Saphris since this Summer and with more exercise and a much stricter diet, I have lost 22 of those pounds and am still loosing weight. Saphris is much more weight neutral and helps most people with sleep. It is a strange drug for sure because it is a wafer you put under your tongue (sublingual) as you lay in bed, it dissolves in seconds and sleep comes VERY fast.

I want to be 175lbs to 180lbs again like I was when I was put on those crappy (for me, not everyone) drugs. It is a long process to loose the weight that one has gained by proper diet and exercise, but I promise it will make you feel really good when you see that end result. I also have been cooking a lot more because part of "eating well" is "cooking well". You would also be surprised by how small doses can be very effective for much of the population but many doctors give higher than necessary levels. It takes some trying and testing to find a right combo... even then it will never be perfect. But then again.... who is? Good Luck!