Anyone know of any anti-psychotic meds that don't cause weight gain?
Posted , 22 users are following.
My aunt is the sweetest person, good heart, honest motives, one thing she was diagnosed parinoid schizophrenic, the medicine she's been on since the 90's has caused her to gain (initially at first) about 80 pounds + . On this medicine, she just keeps gaining and can't seem to loose, it wasn't enough that her mind was stolen, then dulled by the synthetic garb that numbs her up to keep her functional and sane.. but her beauty was taken too.. along with a lot of others out there, these medicines are poor in quality, wouldn't you think by now they could have came up with a counter act to the bad side effects at least? or come up with a better cocktail? I think its sad, I wish there was something better.. I've researched for her, heard somewhere that Niacin in large quanties can help schizophrenia, but not actually proven. does anyone know of anything? is there any 'new' anti-psychotic med that doesn't have such severe side effects? the awful weight gain? and dulling effect? if anyone has even heard of anything holistic, unproven, new, or anything please let me know, thank you. I hope there is something out there better
2 likes, 32 replies
jan93765 redwritinghood
Posted
I know this post started a year ago... I'm not even sure if this will alert you... but did you ever find an antipsychotic for your aunt that did not cause weight gain? Mine made me gain over 50 pounds over the last years... I'd love to find an alternative.
miles59660 jan93765
Posted
miles59660 redwritinghood
Posted
Hi Red, I have same sentiments like you do, the pain seems to linger in my heart. My daughter is like a princess most beautiful among her age but it was 7 years ago. The meds made her like a cow, but the most painful of All is that it seems it has taken her dreams and her future..I wish I can turn back time..Why is itin our modern time that until now there is NO Cure for Psychosis..it sees they are not really looking for cure commercial purposes..anyway please share it to me If you've learned better medicine..
lily65668 miles59660
Posted
I'm sorry Miles. I only read this latest post before responding to your earlier one. My heart goes out to you. I too hope that a better solution can be found to the problem of psychosis.
I'm sure you've researched every possible avenue, but I'm wondering whether you've heard about the Hearing Voices network. I was alerted to it by one of the clients in the mental health centre where I work. She refuses to take medication but has a high degree of insight into her condition, and has found this approach helpful.
miles59660 lily65668
Posted
Thank you so much my friend, As a mother it is like a cancer in our heart seing our love one suffer but thank you at least I have someone whom I can share my pain with, there is still a Stigma in our country over this condition so there is a limited support plus the financial issue that we have here, she is our only child and she is only 24 years old.
bronikins1 redwritinghood
Posted
Hi...unfortunately, there is no such thing as an antipsychotic that doesn't cause weight gain. I have paranoid schizophrenia and am currently on abilify.I also suffer from depression and am on lexapro...as well as anxiety for which I take diazapam. Although abilify is touted as one of the better treatments, with regards to weight gain...I have gained 50 kgs. I came to this site to see if anyone had an alternative... after years of weight gain ..my psychiatrist finally told me there was no such thing as an antipsychotic that doesn't cause weight gain. The injectable ones apparently cause less...but there are downsides with them as well...such as becoming ill towards the end of the injection period. Sorry, by which i mean if the injection...which can be painful...lasts 2 weeks or 4 weeks , the patient will go a bit off the air towards the end of the period...creating a constant seesaw effect.
I have been on risperidone, haliperidol , abilify...another i cant recall atm...seroquel was a possibility but my previous dr thought it was not very good, so didn't try it. Some drs will prescribe Parkinson disease medication for the side effects of some...such as risperidone etc. From my research elderly ppl should not take anti psychotics because of early deaths...having read these posts I see it is true.
I rang around naturopath drs, dieticians...holistic drs...in an attempt to find an alternative to antipsychotic meds....there was none. Apparently it is better to have the side effects than the acute illness...there was a suggestion of constant...as in daily..therapy of all different types to be constantly monitored, but unfortunately given 6-9 months off meds, symptoms will return.it takes a while for the drugs to get out of your system and psychosis to re-emerge.
I would say I'm a medication refusalist...blaming the meds for side effects which are actually the illness in the chronic state. I have learnt I need to be medicated but am very unhappy with the actual side effects.
Having become insulin resistant due to the weight gain from the abilify...as well as facing the other illnesses due to obesity, I am keen to find some answer.
Maybe more research needs to be done into the metabolism slow down and the need for this...Apparently there is a link between gut and brain...maybe drs should research there.
I think i have become right off track...so might leave it there.
lily65668 bronikins1
Posted
Amen to everything you say, Bronikins - especially the lack of research. I have no personal experience of antipsychotics, but have gone through the agony of watching a friend going through the terrible side-effects of a whole range of these drugs, so you have my full sympathy.
I like that expression "medication refusalist"! As a former nurse (general/neuro, not psychiatric) I'm the same, as far as any medication is concerned. My own inclination is always to try homeopathy first (unless it's obvious I need antibiotics, e.g. for a dental abscess etc.) and then move on to conventional medications if that doesn't work. Fortunately, I have a very tolerant GP.
I don't think you went off track at all. Not nearly enough research has been done into the underlying causes of schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorders. I think that gut/brain theory of yours might have legs. They're beginning to discover that the gut, and especially its bacterial flora, is responsible for more and more conditions.
I suffer from an autoimmune condition - which I treat with homeopathy, of course, with the exception of thyroxine supplementation and minimal use of a steroid inhaler to control the asthma produced by the condition. At a recent consultation, my doctor urged me to start taking a powerful probiotic. During the ensuing conversation (I'm not in the UK, so no 10-min limits!) he said he was convinced that during the course of this century most illnesses will be traced back via the immune system to the gut.
Sassybipolar bronikins1
Posted
Hi, so this is pretty unrelated to this thread.. I see you're schizophrenic - my partner is and he's really suffering right now trying to find a medication regimen that makes his schizophrenia manageable.. can I ask you how long did it take to find a regimen that worked? When did you start noticing improvements? I get it's subjective and everyone is different.. but if it wouldn't mind sharing your experience with general timeline it took for you personally to find a little relief.. I would really appreciate it
bronikins1 Sassybipolar
Posted
Hi,
I first became sick in 1998. I guess the build up to a psychotic episode can take 6-9 months for me. Once medicated, it takes at least 6 months for the psychosis to subside. The medications were always prescribed based on what was the newest...with the dosage adjusted higher or lower as needed. I used to get a lot of side effects from them...always weight gain. I was prone to blaming the meds for my chronic state...but have realised that that is in fact the illness. I have a doctor's appointment next week to review my meds...possibly increase the dose or change altogether, due to the fact I feel a few of the warning signs of an episode starting.
Unfortunately the meds are very trial and error...what can be great for someone can be ineffective for others. At one time, when I was going to be put on seroquel, it was suggested I be hospitalised for a short period to be supervised. I didn't want to go and my doctor decided seroquel was not very good in the end anyway.
Haliperidol, although a first generation anti-psychotic, worked well for me, with few side effects, but has the possibility of causing anxiety.
Risperidone had a lot of side effects but was the first med I was prescribed...sometimes, due to restless legs etc a dr will prescribe Parkinson disease medication.
Abilify is what I currently take, along with lexapro and diazapam. For me, I guess this addresses the depression, anxiety as well as schizophrenia. Some people have to combine a few anti psychotics to reach a good point.
I am very withdrawn from society, i have moved out of the city to a coastal place. I find less stimulation to my daily life stops me becoming symptomatic so often. There will always be triggers and thoughts...i closed my facebook and twitter accounts because they are not good for me. Sometimes it is advisable to avoid news , tv, radio etc.
Keeping open communication lines is also helpful. My partner/ carer is very in tune with me, he can tell when something is wrong and promotes me to talk ...if not with him with my drs.
I am not sure if i am being helpful as I am not sure what problems are being experienced. Hope it provided some assistance.
Sassybipolar bronikins1
Posted
That was very helpful, thank you for sharing. My partner suffers from severe positive symptoms. He is on invega currently and it SUCKS ass. He was briefly doing a bit better.. but now everything has taken a turn for worse and the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations have increased.. The symptoms started in May and it's been gradually worse.. I am bipolar and it took me about two years to find a medication regimen that worked. He's only been testing medications since May and he isn't suicidal or anything but I know he's feeling really beat down like nothing is going to work for him because he hasn't had any relief yet.. and I'm just trying to find any schizophrenic person right now to just tell me that it takes time and pain.. Idk.. sorry I'm rambling. I cried all day today because I feel helpless to help him or comfort him or give any sort of relief (not looking for pity. I'm just rambling and sad today)
jill87367 Sassybipolar
Posted
I have had no weight gain on Vraylar. It's been Amazing! Good luck
djd1979 redwritinghood
Posted
I know I'm very late to the discussion, but as I was reading through, I saw someone mention Latuda and wanted to share my experience. I've got schizo-affective disorder with hallucinations, paranoia, anxiety, and depression. I've tried just about all of the atypical antipsychotics and the majority of them made my symptoms worsen. I should note that my son who also has some psychosis along with autism did very well on Risperdal for a few years, but it did make him gain weight and feel like a "zombie" - he's now on a very, very low dose of Invega which is sort of an updated, cleaner version of Risperdal, with less side effects. He does well on only 1.5 mg, but when the Dr suggested we go up to 3mg he became extremely aggressive. I can't tolerate either of those meds, but Latuda at first seemed like I'd FINALLY found a solution for myself. I was started on 20mg and I only gained 10 lbs in the 3 months I was on it. Unfortunately, my regular psychiatrist left the practice I go to, and I was put in with a new provider who insisted on raising my dose to 40 mg. It was awful. I became a raging, screaming, overly anxious and viciously cruel monster. I would scream at my boyfriend and even my children (I'm so very ashamed) at the slightest things. It was completely out of my control. Out of frustration not being able to control these intense bouts of anger, I attempted to choke myself to death using the sleeve of my jacket wrapped around my neck and pulling it. I was out of my mind. Thankfully I only passed out from doing that. I called the Dr office and told them I cannot tolerate this medication at 40 mg, and let them know I'd been aggressive to my family and that I'd self-harmed. I was told just to go back to the 20mg dose. So I went back to 20mg but two weeks went by and I was not back to "normal" - so I stopped it cold turkey. I've been having some weakness, dizziness, and nausea from withdrawal, but it's so much better than what was happening to me on the medication. So I guess this is kind of a cautionary tale about antipsychotic meds from what me and my son have both gone through - try to start any new antipsychotic at the very lowest dose, and if it is helping even a little bit, please try to not let the Dr increase your dosage. I do not want anyone to go through that uncontrollable rage, aggression, and self harm that me and my son both had when we increased our doses to the "normal" levels. Also on lower doses you will still probably have some side effects, but those get worse the higher the dose. I wish luck to every one of you struggling to find relief from mental illness.
nikki23570 redwritinghood
Posted
Yes,yes yes!! My dr have me an old psychotic it worked in 3 days AND I started dropping weight right away. It may just depend on the person but I have struggled to lose weight in my own even with phentermine. The name of this drug is Loxapine and my dr said drug reps don't make money off it says there are "new" drugs out and so this one gets overlooked. No pharmacy in town carried it so had to order it -one day turnaround. Good luck!
Ladylau85 redwritinghood
Posted
amandaechoshe redwritinghood
Posted
I have bipolar and bpd, and have struggled immenselv with weight gain ever since I went on Loxapine 10 mg, and I'm on less Topamax (Topamax usually causes weight loss but at high doses NOT normally low doses)..I am so out of shape now (probably more than 200 lbs and over a year ago I was 145lbs) that I can;t even do yoga for weight loss for 5 mins without feeling a lot of pain
! I used to be so good at yoga! I was once, years ago when I was 16 taking 5mg of Olanzapine then 2,5 mg which was the lowest dose and I felt well enough (but I didn't have bpd then as far as I know) and I was able to slowly but steadily lose 50/60 lbs altogether, going from 210lbs to like 155lbs by the age of 17. That definitely made me feel better, And Olanzapine is one of the ones that can cause SIGNIFICANT weight gain as it did for me, but clearly not on the lowest dose. I hope that helps your aunt, Wish you and her all the best.