Why do you gain weight with antidepressants and mood stabilizers?
Why do you gain weight with antidepressants and mood stabilizers?
In this video I discuss two way. One way is by blocking histamine 1 receptors. We usually think of histamine as something that is associated with allergies and your immune response. If you’re exposed to something your body is sensitive to, you get a histamine response that can look like itching, runny nose or even shortness of breath. And if you take an antihistamine like Benadryl, it slows the allergic reaction and you feel better. That's how it works from the neck down. Histamine acts differently in your brain. In certain parts of your brain, it’s responsible for wakefulness or your ability to be alert. That's why if you take an anti-histamine it may reduce your allergic reaction, but if it crosses the blood brain barrier, it can also make you sleepy because it's blocking histamine’s stimulating effect in your brain. There are four histamine receptors, I’m going to talk about H1 receptors.
A second mechanism is blocking the 5HT 2c receptors. This is just a type of serotonin receptor. It’s been shown in mice that if you activate their 5HT2c receptors, they lose weight because they eat less. And if you block the receptor they became obese. Many of the newer antipsychotic medications block this receptor. Of all the antipsychotic medications, the worst offenders when it comes to weight gain are olanzapine, clozapine and quetiapine. And all three of these medications block 5HT2c.
In this video I also discuss what you can do to offset the weight gain.
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References
He M, Deng C, Huang XF. The role of hypothalamic H1 receptor antagonism in antipsychotic-induced weight gain. CNS Drugs. 2013;27(6):423–434.
Nikhil Nihalani, Thomas L. Schwartz, Umar A. Siddiqui, and James L. Megna, “Weight Gain, Obesity, and Psychotropic Prescribing,” Journal of Obesity, vol. 2011, Article ID 893629, 9 pages, 2011
Halford JC1, Harrold JA. 5-HT(2C) Receptor agonists and the control of appetite. Handbook Exp Pharmacol. 2012;(209):349-56.
Dayabandara M, Hanwella R, Ratnatunga S, Seneviratne S, Suraweera C, de Silva VA. Antipsychotic-associated weight gain: management strategies and impact on treatment adherence. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2017;13:2231–2241.
Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.