I am on Respiridal and definitely gaining weight, as they told me might be a side effect.?

Question

Like, nearly 15 lbs in a month and a half. What are the best ways to combat this? Is it water weight? Are there any other options to this type of med? I am feeling the need to up the dose a bit, after talking to my dr., but am really concerned abou this, lol.

sorry, it should be spelled 'resperdal', i think.

grrr....risperdal...got it

Answer 1

I have been on risperdal (risperidone) for over 10 years. I works well with few side effects. One of the side effects is weight gain. It is not water weight. You just eat more. But the advantages given by this atypical medication for psychosis far outweigh the slight disadvantage of an increased appetite. Do not lightly go off this med if you are taking it for psychosis (Hallucinations) because other neuroleptic meds that might be prescribed, some of which I have taken, have much more serious side effects (like tardive diskenesia) and don't work as well.

I get over the weight gain by just pushing away from the table. True you feel a little bit hungry most of the time but you get used to that. It is not life threatening if your diet is balanced and keeps ones weight level and ones spirit keen. You enjoy food more when you sit down to a meal hungry.

Good luck with controlling your appetite, good mental health, peace and Love!

Answer 2

I started off on Effexor which also makes you gain weight but risperdal makes you gain weight faster...My doctor told me when I asked her about my weight gain and she said this happens because it increases your appetite...before I started taking it, I could not sleep or eat and used to be very anxious...I am 5' 10" and used to be 175 lbs but reached 210lbs...to counter the weight gain I worked out a lot and now I am 195 lbs...I also stopped taking risperdal against my doctor's advice...Finally I tried a new doctor a few months ago and told him about risperdal and he conferred with my earlier doctor and prescribed me a weight neutral medication...I still work out a lot and have good muscle definition on my upper body and legs but definitely not lean around my belly area...I cannot get rid of my belly fat...I mean I am not that fat but I have 17% body fat and I try hard but I kinda have reached a plateau where I don't gain or lose weight...my weight just hovers around 195 lbs...but yeah risperdal does increase your weight and maybe you should talk to your doctor and change to some other weight neutral medication...I hope this helps