Guest guest Posted November 13, 2006 Report Posted November 13, 2006 I've noticed that several people have mentioned that their children have gained a lot of weight on meds like Risperdol. Maybe my experience would be helpful. Two years ago my doctor put me on olanzapine (Zyprexa). I gained 25 lbs in one month. My sons also gained weight on Risperdol or one of the other atypical antipsychotics. The problem is that several of them (atypicals) also drive the hunger centers in the brain as an undesirable side effect. I felt so hungry--and no amount of food would stop that feeling. My stomach would feel as full as if I had just finished a huge Thanksgiving dinner, and still my head would be telling me I needed to keep eating. If your child is having this problem, s/he has my sympathy, because it's really discouraging to eat, feel physically and psychologically bad while you're doing it, and gain weight like a prize steer. Fortunately for me I changed doctors and my new doctor switched me to Abilify. It's also an atypical, but it doesn't generally cause overwhelming hunger the way some of the others do. It's also newer and therefore more expensive, so you may have to " encourage " your doctor/insurance company to give it a try, but if extreme weight gain is a problem, I would definitely push to try Abilify. Just my two cents. YMMV. Sue BP II NT Ian AS/BP/Tourette's Liz BP/ADD J'alex BP/ADHD/(ASD traits) Evan BP/ADHD/(ASD traits) Quote
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