I have piled on TWO STONES since changing medication in February. Please come and help me!

[mawbroon]

I am 5ft 2 and in February I weighed 7st 8 or so.

Normally I am around the 8.5 - 9st range and have never really had to worry too much about my weight.

I was a bit on the thin side in February, but that was the least of my worries as I was really quite unwell. The doc changed my medication which has made the world of a difference, but OMG the sugar cravings have been incredible.

So fast forward to now, all of a sudden, I am 9st 8 which is too heavy for my height and because I have gained so rapidly, I really feel the extra weight and my clothes which were hanging off me before are now too tight.

I know the answer is to eat less and move more, but my body is crying out for sugar all the time. To the point where I was raiding the cupboards for dried fruit, or eating cocoa powder out of the tin. I tried having nothing sweet in the house, but I wanted it so much that I would go out to get some - anything, sweets, chocolate, biscuits, whatever.

How can I go about losing weight when the cravings are so overwhelming?

Help!!

bump. Anyone?

I was 9.8 and have got down to 9.1 in last 6 weeks with the help if my fitness pal. It's good because you can still have sweet stuff-you just have to account for it in calorie allowance.

Have you talked again to your doctor about the issue? It sounds like it's not a hunger issue so much as a hormonal one...I don't know the medication you're on, obviously, but I know that when I take any hormonal contraception I get food cravings that are unrelated to hunger.

Thanks for replying both.

Yes, I mentioned it to the doc when he asked about side effects. Apparently weight gain is the most common side effect with this drug. He said if it got bad, he could give me another drug to help curb the cravings, but I wasn't at that stage yet.

I guess I just need to try willpower first, but my god it's bloody hard. I don't really want to feel like I am on a permanent diet.

Is the drug an SSRI, by any chance? I've been on them for years, and the pounds have piled on with my current prescription. Sugar cravings from hell! I'm weaning my way off this one to switch to a different one, but in the mean time I have a lot of work to get back to my previous figure.

It is Quetiapine. It is working really well for me, apart from the weight gain. I suppose overall, I would prefer to be a bit overweight than ill.

I gained a lot of weight when I was trying different anti convulsants for migraine. Was just SO hungry all the time.

I've lost 11lbs in the past 3 wks following a low carb diet and joining in with BIWI's bootcamp here on Mumsnet. Come and join us. I can promise you will never be hungry. the first message in the link explains the diet etc

Could you talk to your doctor about weight neutral meds?

I'm not sure what the quetiapine is for, but I take lamotrigine as a mood stabiliser for bipolar and it is weight neutral. It is an anticonvulsant, so also works for epilepsy.

Thanks for the replies. I take the quetiapine as an anti psychotic. Psych thinks I have bi polar.

I am breastfeeding, so am fairly limited for now I think.

In that case, I would talk to him about changing meds. Maybe as if he thinks you could try lamotrigine. There are also some other meds that can help counterract the effects of things like quetiapine.

I'm no expert, but it may be worth you pointing out that weight gain is a common factor in non-compliance with medication.

I've tried a few things and they all seem to mess you up and cause excessive cravings and weight gain. There are other ways though.

Sorry for rambling, but tonights my drinking night.