Does Latuda cause weight gain in a lot of people or is it extremely rare to gain weight?

My guess would be that something similar is going on here. If Latuda worked for you and you didn't gain weight, I doubt you would come back and alert us to the news, so we inevitably get the false impression that most people gained weight on this drug, but it's simply not the case.

Double-blind studies showed that around 8% of patients experienced weight gain at roughly an average of 7% of their body weight. More importantly, 6% of the placebo group gained the same amount of weight. This means that the most we can say with any amount of certainty is that there was a 2% difference, or that there is some correlation between weight gain and latuda in about 2% of the total experiment population. 2%. These numbers also do not reflect the number of people that lost weight, however few that may have been.

Older generations of anti-psychotics affect certain histamine pathways that can potentially affect hormone levels and subsequently your metabolism, in addition to other factors, hence weight gain.

Latuda doesn’t influence the H1 histamine receptor nor the M1 muscarinic receptor. Possible explanations for weight gain then usually rest on unknown metabolic affects still being studied, but more often on lifestyle changes caused by the drug and decreased depression such as increased hunger, more energy to eat and enjoy food, the potential lethargy that limits exercise, and so on.

This last point is really important to remember because the contributing factors for the weight gain specific to Latuda (and other bipolar drugs) are BEHAVIORAL, and NOT a genetic predisposition (at least not one that wouldn't be affected by dispositions you have anyway not related to depression (lots of mentally sound people struggle with weight gain).

This means that we have some agency here - we can change and modify our behaviors to mitigate, if not entirely reverse, weight gain on this drug.

To really get a better picture of how Latuda affects weight gain in some people, we would really need to know what exactly are their levels of fitness, the quality and quantity of their diet, and body composition; factors that influence metabolic stasis the most. Most people struggle to be honest here and are so even in rigorous research studies; it's not easy to admit to anyone, including ourselves when we're alone in a room filling out research questionnaires, that perhaps our behaviors are contributing more to our weight gain than we thought.

For some perspective, significant portions of people who begin exercise regimens gain weight, and not just a little. This is because exercise affects your BEHAVIOR, namely in how you eat. Exercise releases ghrelin, a chemical which encourages appetite. It also can contribute to the faulty logic that because your exercising more you can simply eat more. Both of these are behavioral issues are brought on BECAUSE of the treatment (in this case exercise), behaviors that must be modified in order to properly address potential weight gain. But how ludicrous would it be to suggest that in order to maintain or lose weight you should stop exercising.

While this does not apply across the board for antipsychotics, it seems to map on pretty nicely to Latuda. I would seriously analyze and question my own lifestyle choices before jumping to the tragic conclusion that Latuda will only cause weight gain, or that even if you happen to be in the 8% who did gain weight your fate is sealed and that you should give up hope on being both happy and healthy; you'll have to pick just one.

I just started 20mg of Latuda daily after a long and serious bout of Bipolar depression. I also take 400mg of Lamotrigine and have been for about a year.

I am also a regularly fit and athletic. I eat fairly well and I run, swim, and bike on a daily basis.

I am going to do my best to maintain my lifestyle as is (understanding that if the drug starts to affect my behavior I will HAVE to adjust) over the next three months and regularly keep track of my weight. I am currently 6' and about 195 pounds.

Wish me luck, and I will be back with an update.

It's impossible to eat that many calories per day and gain weight at that rate without another factor being involved, but my obsessive eating wasn't helping at all. When I stopped Latuda, I started eating only when I was hungry, I realized that I was full mid-meal and stopped eating, and I stopped eating candy and fast food, but I did give myself complete freedom to eat whatever I wanted, and I lost between 2-4 pounds per week ... until I started the next antipsychotic. They all do it. My psychiatrist just recently mentioned an over the counter solution to counter antipsychotic weight gain that is being discussed in psychiatry circles. Forgive me if I spell it incorrectly - inositol. She said, studies show that 2mg is the sweet spot, and taking more has no additional benefit, but it does help people with insulin resistance, helps to moderate a more healthy metabolism, and helps the pancreas work less hard on producing insulin. It's some kind of natural substance that works like glucose, I think (don't quote me on that - I only looked at it quickly online). She said that we are going to hold off on that until I start gaining weight on my current antipsychotic, then use that to see if we can stave it off. It will be an interesting experiment. I'd rather lose than just maintain. Yet I'd sure rather maintain than gain!!! Anyway, I hope this helps. :0) Meggie

I haven't experienced any other side effects at all in 3 years either and it does the same job Zyprexa did in 1 smaller dose per day. It didn't take long to work that I recall; I think if you don't worry about the weight non-issue and give it a chance you'll like it. Hope that helps!