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A mood stabilizer that doesn't make you gain weight? Is there one?

Is there such a thing as a mood stabilizer that doesn't increase your weight?  I am so fed up, I put on loads of weight with the depakote, since coming off it I have lost some of it and now they want me to go on zyprexa which is another one for gaining weight.

If any of you know of one please let me know so I can discuss it with the psych next time I go.

Cheers

Helen
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Avatar universal
Lamictal is a great mood stabilizer; however, it can cause concentration issues.  
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Avatar universal
Latuda
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I'm taking  IC lamotrigine 200 mg for a year   as mood stabilizer and bipolar disorders, the  positive results not really that much.   At the beginning I did not get any side of effects of this med.  However I have gained 15 pounds  a matter that I hate very much.    I am planning to meet my doctor to change this medication.  Does any body know if this medication increased your weight.  Somebody knows a good mood stabilizer and at the e same time help me   to lose  this weight that I gained.   I eat very moderate, healthy and not fats or sugar and still  gaining weight, that's awful and hopeless.  
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Avatar universal
I think it's less important if it is a small amount of weight gain on meds that successfully control mood swings, however, I can speak for myself and through reading many other experiences with seroquel, the weight gain is more than just a few pounds. It is life altering weight gain that absolutely will not come off. I am 21 and very active, tall and have always been thin. 6'1 and around 170 lbs until I started treatment about 9 months ago. I am now 203 lbs, and have been dramatically cutting back on food and drink and increasing my exercise. I have been in a 5 day a week boot camp challenge class for the last four months, as well as a yoga class once a week, and I swim for over an hour almost every day, as I am a nanny and I swim with the kids. I also garden, mow lawns, go hiking and camping on the weekends. I can't eat gluten and dairy anyway due to other heath issues. I have cut out all red meat, and eat almost exclusively vegetarian. No processed foods, fresh veggies, legumes, and small amounts of brown rice/quinoa etc. I use myfitnesspal to track my eating and do not eat over 1800-2000 calories a day. I do not drink and go out with my friends. I have had my thyroid checked several times in the past year and no sign of problems there. I am young and extremely active. The best I can do on these meds is barely maintain. If I miss a few workouts, it is noticeable. I hopefully wil be getting off them in the next month, but I wish I was never put on them, and hope I can get something that helps control my manic and depressive episodes without so dramatically changing my weight.
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Avatar universal
I think it's less important if it is a small amount of weight gain on meds that successfully control mood swings, however, I can speak for myself and through reading many other experiences with seroquel, the weight gain is more than just a few pounds. It is life altering weight gain that absolutely will not come off. I am 21 and very active, tall and have always been thin. 6'1 and around 170 lbs until I started treatment about 9 months ago. I am now 203 lbs, and have been dramatically cutting back on food and drink and increasing my exercise. I have been in a 5 day a week boot camp challenge class for the last four months, as well as a yoga class once a week, and I swim for over an hour almost every day, as I am a nanny and I swim with the kids. I also garden, mow lawns, go hiking and camping on the weekends. I can't eat gluten and dairy anyway due to other heath issues. I have cut out all red meat, and eat almost exclusively vegetarian. No processed foods, fresh veggies, legumes, and small amounts of brown rice/quinoa etc. I use myfitnesspal to track my eating and do not eat over 1800-2000 calories a day. I do not drink and go out with my friends. I have had my thyroid checked several times in the past year and no sign of problems there. I am young and extremely active. The best I can do on these meds is barely maintain. If I miss a few workouts, it is noticeable. I hopefully wil be getting off them in the next month, but I wish I was never put on them, and hope I can get something that helps control my manic and depressive episodes without so dramatically changing my weight.
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Avatar universal
Personally I take Epival and abilify (believe abilify is classified as an anti psychotic drug though) and find they are helpful without being the cause of weight gain. I have gained weight but years after being on these medications (I gained weight most likely because I ate badly, ate when I wasn't hungry, ate when I was bored and didn't exercise).
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Avatar universal
I have took all these and Have gained so much weight that my docs and myself are scared of what it is gong to do to me  as far as I am so obese it is in sane.I cant take lamicatl as I am of course one that is so sensitive to it at a does of 150 I have the itch and rash so bad it wakes me even if it does put me to sleep/I took my won self of the cymbalta as I was on diet pills and counldnt loose and  noting I did would make it come off and when I stopped the meds lost 50 pds and didnt do anything different than not take it.But where I have been on it and  Seroquel,and several of the others that due cause weight gain over the past 10 yrs I have along way to go even with dropping 50.I have got to find something for the sleep issue as well as my mood is beyond anger.So I am do I kill myself with meds that cause me to die of obesity or do I suffer  with being postal and never sleep so I can be alive and able to move.
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Avatar universal
Know this is an old thread but I love lamictal. No weight gain. 300mg at night. No noticable side effects.
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Avatar universal
I was on Lamictal for several years and was having good success @ 200 mg/day.  My Doctor did regular drug levels to check for treatment dosages and I was always on the low end of dosage recommended.  One day I woke up and felt a little woozy when I first got up.  3 hrs later I had driven 45 min to a schedule appt with my Psychiatrist.  When I got there I could hardly make my legs go where I wanted them to go. Doctor called my Mom to take to to University Hospital (1.5 hr away).  After being at the Doctor for 45 min I felt on the verge of passing out.  By the time I arrived at Univ Hosp ER I was unconscious.  During the trip I lost ability to speak or even hold my head up.  When I came around, they had 2 IVs going to flush my system and had lab results back.  My Lamictal was at toxic level.  Scared the heck out of me. They told me to never take it again or any other medication in the same class as Lamictal.  I've been without a mood stabilizer for nearly 2 yrs and I can hardly stand it.  I have gained weight (gone through several antidepressants) and I'm scared to take anything like Lamictal but don't want to gain more weight with the old drugs.   I do have early stage kidney failure and the ER speculated that was the reason I reached toxic level.

I liked that my Doctor often did lab work - it's important to know your med levels -- and thyroid function certainly plays a role when treating depression.  Best wishes on your treatment.
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Avatar universal
I didn't read all the blogs.  But be careful with lamictal.  I had good results on it moodwise.  However, there's always the chance of getting a rash.  And if you get the nasty rash, it goes just about everywhere.  And most of the rashy sores will leave scars.  I was depressed (not because I was on a low haha) because I had to cease lamictal due to the rash.
I am not fighting like crazy to see what will work at this point.  Lamictal, topamax, and depakote are out for either weight gain or other reasons contrary to my physical health (bp, cholesterol, etc.).


Good luck out there.
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Avatar universal
I feel just like you. I have been through hell and back. I'm not even asking to be thin, I want to weigh a normal amount of weight.....I would be thrilled with 160 lbs, I'm currently over 200, and Depakote which is making me miserable with the weight gain. All I can say is you must not give up and keep looking until you find the right combination for you with the least amount of side affects. It's out there.
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Avatar universal
I have gained 70 pounds on ability....over a period of 4 years....it causes sweet cravings like no other...if I didn't know better all I would eat is ice cream on ability......I hate bipolar meds...on lithium it messed up my thyroid pretty bad had to go on synthroid but as a typical bipolar person I went off all my meds several years ago and although I went back on bipolar meds I didn't the thyroid one.
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Avatar universal
I have been on Lamictal for almost 2 years now and it has caused me to gain 45 pounds, and that number keeps slowly increasing.. Despite the fact that I have completely changed my diet to mostly fruit and veggies, drink water 98% of the time, no sweets. My psych doc REFUSES to believe that its the  medication side effect since its one of the medications that isn't suppose to cause weight gain.

I'm not expecting to lose a ton of weight, just get back to a healthy weight like I was before. Does anyone have any idea what I could do? Maybe lowering the dose would help? I am pretty desperate, if I could lose even just 5-10 pounds that would be wonderful.
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Avatar universal
Am getting off Lamictal! Can't stand being in a terrible mood all the time & awful towards everyone!
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Avatar universal
I've been taking Lamictal for 4 years. I've had terrible irritability!!!! I read that 1 in 20-30 people will actually get worse as far as irritability and sleeplessness and anxiety go. Mine was just the bad irritability.
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Avatar universal
I've had good luck with Lamictal, not so much with the accompanying Zoloft (which I don't take anymore and have lost weight) but I didn't notice any weight gain when I was put on lamictal.
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1696867 tn?1312609591
I have stopped take sodium valproate for the same reason. Over the past years I have gained 18 kgs. I am now taking lamotrigine instead. My doctor said that now I should start losing weight fairly quickly.
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Avatar universal
I took Lamictal for 5 months. I had to start over twice on very slow titration, first time I started to itch and got paranoid about "the rash" but it was just dry skin. The second time I had to start over was because I started taking Lyrica for diabetic nerve pain and it made me very spacy and forgetful, when I filled my pill container for the week I forgot the Lamictal and didn't even realize it for 5 days so doc said I would have to start over on 25mg, I was on 150mg when i forgot. So as far as side effects I didn't have any at all until my dose increased to 150mg, insomnia kicked in and when I went to 200mg I stopped it completely, I was going days without sleeping. It also made me feel like I was restricted from getting too high or too low, I guess this is what it is supposed to do but it just felt too weird for me, just having such a flat mood. When I finally stopped it I started sleeping again, except for the hypomanic episodes when the insomnia kicked in again but it wasn't as bad as it was on Lamictal. I have bipolar II with chronic depression, ADD, social anxiety, general anxiety. Going to try something else now but has to be weight neutral, being diabetic weight gain is too serious and issue. May ask about Geodon.
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5764859 tn?1400881756
May I get more info on Steven Johnson syndrome? I am new to lamictal and am watching the discussions on the severe rash that can be life threatening, how so? Thats awful scary, but I have only started the drug a week, so far so good. Thanks and best of health to you.
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5764859 tn?1400881756
Yikes! Thats a first to see that about depakote ruining the thyroid! Oh brother! Its bad enough with all the stuff about it causing weight gain, my APN who specializes in mental health said nothing to me about that, I'll have to bring it up next time. Glad I am aware of that now. Best to you, Robbi
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Avatar universal
I take Latuda, the newest mood stablizer for bipolar and borderline and you do not gain any weight
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Avatar universal
I've been on Lamictal for years 200 mg per day and have not had any side effects or weight gain.

Years ago I was on Zyprexa for one year and gained 60 lbs.  I then took Seroquel for several years and my weight stayed stable, but still overweight 60 lbs.  I then took Geodon (Zeldox) and within a year I had lost 30 lbs without changing anything in my diet or exercise.  For the first 10 months I felt great.  I had so much more energy, I felt like I was coming out of a long period of being a zombie.  Unfortunately I had to stop Geodon because it started causing anxiety.  So went back to Seroquel XR last year and have gained 20 lbs and back as a zombie.  Now I'm starting Latuda, which apparently does not make one gain weight.  I don't know whether it will make me feel anxious like Geodon did.  On Seroquel XR my anxiety was completely under control but I did feel like a zombie a lot of the time and needed at least 10 hour sleep.

I also take the anti-depressant Pristiq, anti-anxiety Rivotril, and those do not make me gain weight.
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1393198 tn?1365062563
Also regarding Lamictal it is very important to slowly titrate the dose up as directed. And if you go off the med for 5 days or more you can't just pick up where you left off. You have to start over the weeks long titration schedule. If not you run the risk of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. It starts as a rash but can be fatal.
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585414 tn?1288941302
   Yes I experienced some side effects with some mood stabilizes and was unable to tolerate them. Other mood stabilizers didnt work. Its been a matter of trial and error but right now I am doing well on Lovaza which is used as a mood stabilizer in study that is prescribed off label. However each person responds differently to each medication. i found the thing that was most of help when known mood stabilizers didnt work was to see a psychopharmocologist who are medication specialists
    This has full information on known mood stabilizers (I believe some of the sites update themselves) that a person can read for informational purposes and discuss with their psychiatrist:
http://www.medhelp.org/tags/health_page/167/Depression/Useful-Bipolar--Depression-Webisites?hp_id=523
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