Can I prevent weight gain from my psych pills?

I am not bipolar but I have a mood disorder with depression. I take depakote for mood and headaches, abilify for mood and depression and amitryptiline for headaches (it's an anti depressant) those three drugs have been shown to cause weight gain along with a lot of depression/bipolar meds. Did you gain weight and just accept it? Did you have to modify to avoid it? I've already gained 8 lbs, I thought it was just me getting older and realized it started once I started the drugs.

I have gained a lot of weight on meds and it is miserable. I am not sure how it can be prevented tho - even with usually eating relatively sensibly and not massive amounts I still have gained weight and sometimes I get sugar cravings and do eat more which does not help with weight gain of course. I dont know if it could be prevented by religiously counting calories but I think I would still have gained weight as I think it has messed with my metabolism. Anyhow I am not sure what the answer is but I wanted to say that I understand it is miserable

Hugs

Cracked

Hi,

I've put on a lot of weight over the years too while on certain medications (mainly antipsychotics) and it something I find upsetting and frustrating, so I can totally understand where you're coming from. At the moment, I'm trying to lose some of the 21lbs I gained while on Quetiapine for a year and a half after I finally tapered off it completely three months ago.

As to how to prevent it, I think it's difficult- as CrackedGirl said, these drugs can slow the metabolism as well as increase appetite. Personally, I stepped up to daily exercise and tried to watch what I was eating- though this was more 'damage limitation' than something which actually stopped the weight gain outright.

The weight gain does distress me, but I do try to remind myself that, ultimately, the trade off of having my mood stable and me functioning better is worth it. That's not to say it's easy to accept though! x

I gained in total 32 kg in three years from various meds. However I am a weightlifter, and love working out, so I utilised most (not all) of this gain to build more muscles. Perhaps it wasn't SUCH a smart decision as I now need not only new trousers but also t-shirts, shirts and jackets... I spoke to my trainer at the gym and he said his girlfriend, a psychiatrist, was shocked to find out I am not ball-shaped on medication I am prescribed.

Whether you can entirely prevent it... I don't know. I'm sure you can make sure you don't balloon, but as CrackedGirl says a double combo of slowing your metabolism and giving you cravings (ah mirtazepine, the lovely pill that makes you crave sugar in the evenings...) will make it pretty difficult. But remember that as with all side effects weight gain is also something that some people get and some don't. You might be lucky -- hopefully that 8 lbs is all.

Big hugs and best wishes!

Hm , you can try intense circuit cardio as well as muscle conditioning exercises for a total 4-5 workout days a week ^_^

bipolarmusician wrote:Hm , you can try intense circuit cardio as well as muscle conditioning exercises for a total 4-5 workout days a week ^_^

At this point though the question is less "can I prevent weight gain" and more "can I afford to spend 15 hours a week at the gym and the remaining time recovering from the workouts".

I lost major amounts of weight from Psychiatric medication. I have never had weight gain issues as I did weight loss from meds. I just recently quit them so I could get my appetite back. It's insane, I've had too many side effects now to just say quits.

No its very hard. You can ask for a medication topamax to combat it , but usually they wont give it to bi polar patients because its a low does anti anxiety medication.

All you can hope for is to not get the weight gain side effect and if you do ask your doctor for another medication until you find one that works.

I found that trying to deal with the bi polar and the weight gain made me get more depressed and stopped the meds from actually balancing my mood.