My brother takes 450mg a day and gained weight. He takes it for bipolor. I have high anxity and PTSD. I take Prazosin 4mg. at night and it works wonders. While he has bipolor. Been on many things that made me worse and kinda scared to try this. My Dr told me its such a low does it wont effect my weight but I hear it will. That will made me even more sad when I have reacuring nigthmares that make me sad and hipervigalent at the same time already. Hope to hear from someone. Thanks
Has anyone taken 25mg. to 50mg of Seroquel and gained or lost weight?
- Asked
- 17 Aug 2012 by Deliarose
- Updated
- 1 August 2020
- Topics
- seroquel, post traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, prazosin, weight, anxiety and stress
Added 17 Aug 2012:
My Dr. has put me on 25mg of seoquel today one a day. Then might might raise it to 50mg. she says a hight dose would make my stuation worse.
Answers (27)
balbanese
17 Aug 2012
My mom was on this for 4 years, no change in weight, however, it is listed as a side. Hope this helps:
Back pain; constipation; dizziness; drowsiness; dry mouth; headache; increased appetite; lightheadedness; nausea; runny or stuffy nose; sluggishness; sore throat; stomach pain or upset; tiredness; vomiting; weakness; weight gain.
Also, if the med really helps you, you can offset the weight gain (if there is any). A decent trade-off .
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key28
17 Aug 2012
I have been on 200 mg of seroquel for quite sometime. It has not had any effect on my weight. Sometimes, all it takes is an awareness of the possibility of weight gain, and paying attention to your eating habits to stop this side effect. If you are careful not to change how you eat, you shouldn't have a problem. I would recommend you try seroquel as I suffer from night terrors and it has truly helped me! Good luck!
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Inactive
17 Aug 2012
Deliarose, I took Seroquel for many yrs and never had a problem with weight gain, however, it can happen as it is listed as a possible side effect. Just watch your diet and eat healthy and you will be fine. At large doses of Seroquel can cause you to sleep all day if taken late at night, but you should be fine at the low dose.
Best to you ... pamee.
P.S... you have a beautiful name :)
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Deliarose
20 Aug 2012
thank you for the name its a combo name of my gradma and a cousin. I do hope this works been a few days and I am sleeping longer.
at the point I was with no sleep again I had to at some point. I will keep on it and see...
thanks
Inactive
20 Aug 2012
Yes stay with it to see how all goes. Good luck... your grandmother and cousin have beautiful names :)
margiemckinney
13 Aug 2018
Did you have any side affects on 25 mg Seroquel
Luvsoph
9 Nov 2013
I've been taking Seroquel for 4 months and especially in the last month I've gained weight rapidly. I'm extremely active, exercise almost everyday, eat nothing but goodness, no alcohol. I've always been extremely aware of my body & my weight as I was an elite athlete. Ive just started weaning myself off Seroquel due to I cannot handle the weight gain
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Ziarosey
12 May 2018
I agree seroquel causes weight gain. I see it in my son he’s been on 300 mg for long time now. However he’s bipolar so it’s a tuff call to get him weaned off and onto another mood stabilizer since 7 years now. He’s too impatient. I’m on an antidepressant called Brintellix and it bloats me hate that full feeling constantly!! Hope yu get it all settled... take it slow don’t rush in or out of anything too fast. Good luck.
Cole717
27 Mar 2014
I take 25 mg of Seroquel at night and it helps me sleep so much better and i wake up refreshed. I noticed a little bit of an increase in my appetite so i decided to eat healthy snacks throuout the day so i would be full and also my metabolism would jumpstart. I was on 50 mg but that just made me too tired. so a good tip is if you are worried about it making you gain weight just eat a little healthier and work out more. You can also lose weight while you are on Seroquel it just might be a slight bit harder.
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margiemckinney
13 Aug 2018
Did you get dizzy or anything first time
DanielleMarie73
7 Dec 2015
I started on 50mg, no weight gain. Went up to 100, a bit of weight gain. Up to 200, then I gained weight like crazy!! I am an athlete, run every day, and it made me absolutely crazy that I could run over 40 miles a week, strength training and eat healthy, and continue to gain weight. I had no idea about the side effect of weight gain due to the fact that I never gained on the lower dosage, so this is not "all in my mind". It is a fact. I read that supposedly the drug changes something in your brain that effects the way your metabolism works. This drug actually slows your metabolism, on high dosages especially. btw, 200 mg is not that high... This weight gain is not something that you can control. I experimented and did a cleansing fast, something that I could normally lose 5-10 lbs on, something I had safely done as an athlete many times to cleanse my system.
While taking this drug and doing a fast I gained weight, it was only one pound, but when I would normally lose weight on a cleanse fast, gaining weight got my concern up and then did more reading on the drug. This drug makes you gain considerable weight with higher dosages. It can cause weight gain at any dosage if you are not an active healthy person. For the people who say that it is mental and such - this is just not so. For me I had been taking the lower dosage and only took the higher dosage for a specific reason, I have my dosage lower now and the weight is coming off easily.
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Inertj
19 Jul 2017
Yup, the weight gain is not a mental thing, it's a biological process affecting histamine and hunger receptors in the brain. There are clinical studies to show that in addition to changes in BMR.
The people who say "just eat right etc... " are making it worse for the rest of it, because not only are their comments dismissive, but their data is wrong and they are invalidotating the truth. The think there are several NIH studies available to show it's an actual brain chemistry change that creates the weight gain.
For the rest of you, if you don't know what your talking about scientifically or have zero personal experience, stop the nonesense with "eat right and you won't gain weight." It's detrimental.
PatriciaCeee
19 Oct 2016
I have been on anywhere from 25 mg to 100 mg and have gained 50 pounds. I have never been overweight!!! I was taking remeron which is a weight gainer, too. I went to my pcp yesterday and got off of both. Now taking trazodone. Hope I can lose this weight now...
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Ebony lewis
25 Oct 2018
How long did it take you to gain the 50 pounds of you font mind me asking.
PatriciaCeee
25 Oct 2018
I believe this happened in the course of a year, maybe slightly less. It's that histamine blocker effect. I'm certain. However, I really do need an antianxiety medication. I'm missing that tremendously...
jhoneybrown
14 Dec 2016
In my experience I Went From 130 To 180lbs In One Year Period. Plus It Made Me More Depressed And Felt Like A Zombie Literally. I Don't Take It Any Longer And I Did Lose Weight Once I Got Off It. Took Me Nearly A Year To Lose The Weight And I Was So Traumatized By It. I'm 5'2 So I Was Very Misserable. But I Have Friends That Have Taken It And Maybe Gained 10lbs. My Sex Drive Went To Minus Zero. I Hope You Don't Have The Same Side Effect As I Did. Not Everyone Gaines Weight Like I Did.
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Chiquita45
15 Dec 2016
I took it 6 years ago for sleep and I put on 40 pounds in 6 months. Once I got off it, the extra weight quickly went away.
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EmmaVictoria
29 Jun 2018
Hey, I was in it from January this year and gained so much weight I went from 11 stone and I’m now 13 and that was 3 months.. I came off it two months ago and he Weight just won’t go away, I don’t know what else I can do about it, how long did it take for yours to drop off?
Deb1055
18 Jan 2017
I would like to add that I am a diabetic and I do take seroquel and nothing else works. I know that I gained weight on this drug but... there is a reason for it I ate more because somehow it makes you hungry and it is hard to resist. I am only mentioning the diabetic part as pharmacists were concerned that it would raise my blood sugars and did not really think it was a good plan. However I would keep having to go back on it as nothing else was effective for me. In the end I have developed a strategy for dealing with it and resisting the urges which is nearly impossible so I have food in my fridge that I will grab and eat that is not bad for me to eat when the cravings hit. My weight has stablized and I am still taking the drug. The main point to remember here is the way you gain weight on it is eating because it causes you to have a larger appetite. The pounds do not magically appear.
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+1
Ruokday
20 Jan 2017
I would agree that it increases your appetite, particularly at night when you take it (I found). In theory you could resist the urge to eat but I have never really found a way, as it is very difficult to fight. The only thing that helps to some degree is eating lots of vegetables to fill you up. It doesn't solve the problem but it can help. Seroquel combined with Lithium worked well for my bipolar. The only drug that I have found works better than Seroquel is Latuda. I replaced the Seroquel with it about 1.5 mths ago and it has been miraculous so far with virtually no depressive symptoms, and less appetite problems. But it does not help you to sleep so I have been taking other sedatives such as benzos to sleep. Early days yet of course but I hope it keeps working like this in the long term.
zep1982
14 Mar 2019
does your diabetes meds lower your glucose counteract the seroquel?
Deb1055
15 Mar 2019
I am still on the Seroquel and it has now been 7 years. My dosage has not changed much but if I do not take it I won't sleep. Weight gain wise I have gained about 15 pounds but I am still eating at night in the middle of the night I am starving from this pill so it does affect my blood sugars and no the medications are not counteracting the weight gain at all. However I have noticed that I have sort of stabilized at this weight I am at now and I have learned to accept that the benefits of sleeping outweigh the other detriments for me personally. I do take more diabetic meds to offset a bit the numbers that are increased due to my nightime eating.
thanee
8 Mar 2017
Hey, I'm on 200 mg/day for BPD.
I did gain a bit of weight the first month I took it but I honestly cant say for sure if it was the drugs or just my eating more and it wasnt a dramatic weight gain - it was noticeable but it wasn't as if i became obsese over night. I was still slender, just a little rounder so to say ha. It was really just in the first month though, so maybe my body was getting used to it, now im in my second month and i have lost the weight i previously had put on, and i feel that i'm not hungry at all anymore. I eat once a day and it will be a soup or something light and i honestly am not noticing hunger at all.
I've slept through days and not eaten at all. So yeah for some reason it does make me tired and sleep more.
So maybe the weight gain is just while the body is getting accustomed to the drug? I'm also taking 40 mg prozac / day as well as Adipex D (37.5 mg/day) in addition to this. Adipex - D works as a counterdrug to fight the hunger caused by seroquel so maybe that has something to do with my decreasing hunger.
Hope that helps, I know its different for everyone.
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Pania1980
19 Jun 2017
Hi I gained 45kgs in like 8 months of being on quetiapine. I only have 50mgs a day. Ive fluxcuated with my weight all my life my heaviest at 160kg and my lowest at 79kgs I dont have any issues with being fat I got way to many other problems without weight being one of them, I really dont care but it has put quite a strain on my back which pisses me off from time to time.
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julesbelle
16 Jul 2017
i started this med in october- I have gained 25 pounds no change in eating -i even went to a nutritionist to try to lose on 1.200 calories and gained weight. this is terrible as the drug works for sleep and i only take 25 mg. if anyone tells me you have to eat to gain weight on this drug you are wrong. i am proof - i see a new doctor this week and i have no idea what they will do- i wish i never went on this drug- what a catch 22!
sphinxnoir
20 Jul 2017
I have been on Seroquel since maybe age 8. I was only on 50 then 100 mg. Just recently they put me on Quetiapine 200mg (substituted for Seroquel) because the medicine wasn't working as well to help me sleep. I noticed after this and being put on 2 other known weight gainers I gained weight pretty quick. I had the same issue with another medication, I was 118lbs and within 2 months I ballooned up to 165 lbs then topped out at 178lbs within that 2 1/2 month period. I quit Lyrica immediately. I guess with someone struggling with an eating disorder it doesn't help being on a medicine that makes you balloon up like I did and am now doing again. The pants (size 7/8) i bought because of the weight gain a few months back now are too tight on me and I struggle to find a pair to fit me without squishing out the muffin top too much. I had to change what and how I wore once again.
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WildcatVet
20 Jul 2017
In clinical trials only 6% of patients taking Seroquel (quetiapine) reported weight gain as opposed to 3% of placebo users who also reported weight gain.
I took high doses of quetiapine for Bipolar disorder for over 4 years with no weight gain at all.
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Ruokday
26 Jul 2017
When most of these trials are funded by big pharma you have to look very closely at these findings/claims. Over how long were participants followed? You'll get quite a different figure if it's over 12 weeks compared to 12 months. I found the drug produces no change in weight for the 1st month or 2, and then the weight gradually starts to creep up (I put on 10kg over about 16 months), and I lost it when I came off Seroquel.
WildcatVet
26 Jul 2017
How about when the post market clinical trials are performed by independent agencies?
Ruokday
26 Jul 2017
The last RCT abstract I remember reading reported 2-3kg for weight gain on average over about 16 weeks (from memory). To produce this average if only 6% gained weight, that 6% must have gained 100kg or so each! Nonetheless if you have any independent studies I'd be interested to see. From the responses above there clearly is a lot of variability as to how Seroquel impacts people's appetite and weight.
WildcatVet
26 Jul 2017
Why scare people to death with only horror stories? 6 pounds? OMG, I'm a neurotic, psychotic basket case but my jeans still fit???
Ruokday
26 Jul 2017
Well you'd be foolish if you got scared to death by that. Of course this medication can have great benefit. It does for me. But if I can find an alternative that does the same job with less weight gain and sedation I would. It's not about being negative it's about taking a comprehensive look at a medication, both the potential benefits and side effects
Jonathanwant
26 Jul 2017
I took seroquel (anywhere between 50mg to 400+) for insomnia, for about 4 years... I gained about 50 pounds on it. I'd take it and start eating everything. I somehow managed to get to 207. About 2 months ago, I got off it and started taking over the counter medicine for sleep. I then started dieting and exercising. I'm at 174 now.
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thanks u
That is great that you have not put on any weight. However, as with all drugs, people react differently. I initially found that Seroquel made no difference to appetite or weight, but after about 6 months I did notice a great increase in night time appetite, even on 25mg. I became ravenous at these times and it was difficult to control, and the weight increased by about 5kg (not good if you are already overweight). I have taken a one week break from the Seroquel (with a gradual taper and with some mild withdrawal symptoms), and have just restarted 25mg. Strangely I do not notice the appetite increase now. Perhaps there is a cumulative long term change with some people. I have started the Seroquel again as it is great for sleep, anxiety, and as an adjunct mood stabiliser.
By the way, I am both a recovered/well controlled person with bipolar disorder although the brief periods of depressed mood will always come and go. Bipolar depression is best combatted with medication and behaviour, lifestyle, and cognitive strategies. I hope this comment benefits someone.