I have been taking Pizotifen for over 8 months now and i...

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I have been taking Pizotifen for over 8 months now and it has been a godsend for preventing migraine attacks with aura, numbess and speech disturbance. I have experienced hardly any side effects (wonderful), BUT have gained weight enormously. I have always been an very slim person, weighing 9.5 stone in late pregnancy, but now I'm 12 stone + and shocked! I am worried about this relentless weight gain, which I don't think is entirely due to middle age, and think I need to find out what alternatives there are. This is a shame as, in all other respects, these tablets work wonders.

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4 Replies

  • Posted

    I too have been taking Pizotifen now for 4 years,I did try to stop them with my doctors help about three years ago but had to be rushed to an emergency doctor after coming off them for 6 weeks as I felt as if my head was going to explode.This frightened me and I decided to go back on them.Like yourself I have always been of a very small build but have since being on them put on an enormous amount of weight as well as developing other side effects which the doctor has informed me we can only tell if these relate to the drug by stopping it and seeing if they cease.These symptoms are poor circulation in my legs particularly my feet and very bad cramp at night and also the common one of depression.

    I would be very interested to hear from you as to wether you have found any effective alternative.

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  • Posted

    I found this site by accident, looking up side-effects of Pizotifen. I have had broken sleep as I wake up after unpleasant dreams although prior to taking this drug I was unaware of having dreams. I also have aches and pains, although not constant. The main problem for me is the weight gain and feeling very depressed. My migraines are 3+ days of unbearable pain and retching so am loathed to stop them, but feel that I am spiralling towards depression which had me out of work for 6 months just over a year ago. Is there anything else that I can take?

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  • Posted

    I been on this for 5 months and I've put on over a stone - about 4 weeks ago i decided to go to the gym and do something about it, I 've been going 3-4 times a week and not one ounce came off, although this week I've finally started to loose some weight so hopefully this is a start. I used to be the sort of person who went swimimg once a week and lost loads of weight now i having to work like a trojan to get a few pounds off. i do also have the migraine feeling, when everything gets bright, you get sore eyes and you find yourself staring at things, but it never gets worse than that so I'm thankful!!

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  • Posted

    Hi Ive been taking pizotifen for 7 month & it's increased my migraine attacks. I've also gained 3 stone & lost all my energy & patience. I get pains around my eyes & feel drugged up & not with it. At the moment I'm weaning myself off the tablets (on neurologists advice) & was just wondering if anyone knew of any side effects from coming off pizotifen?

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