Weight Gain

Hi,

I was wondering what your opinions were on children gaining so much weight on psychiatric medications?

My son has currently gained 40 lbs on Risperdal and it is not slowing down. We tried a failed  trial of Topamax, and was just wondering what your thoughts were on this.

Thanks,

Samantha

 

Weight gain is the biggest (no pun intended!) problem with our new medications.  I have heard anecdotal reports of naltrexone being useful in weight stabilization/loss after excessive gain on mood stabilizers and/or atypical antipsychotics.  You might ask your prescribing physician if he/she would be willing to try this.  In addition to pharmacologic strategies, keep in mind that aerobic exercise is a proven anti-depressant in mild and moderate depression for adults and adolescents.  I have no reason to believe it wouldn’t also be so in children, I just haven’t read a study in that age group.  Also, yoga has proven mood enhancing qualities.  An exercise program that includes fresh air (and with it, sunshine), a social component, stretching, body awareness, and aerobic components can only assist you in your efforts.  While organized sports is one way to accomplish this, you might also consider informal means, such as “Dance, Dance Revolution [DDR]®” which is pretty popular with many kids these days.