Anti-Depressants and Weightloss

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  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    No drug pulls fat out of thin air and slaps it onto your *kitten*. It may make you feel more hungry but it's you that puts the food in your mouth. Finding something else to do instead of eat is a win/win situation. You get some exercise away from the food and you burn some calories to help with weight loss. Exercise also increases endorphins which will help with your mood naturally.

    No drug pulls fat out of thin air and slaps it on your *kitten*. But:

    1. Feeling constantly starving is difficult to ignore and
    2. Doctors suspect antidepressant drugs may affect metabolism, although this has not been definately proven or disproven.

    Maybe try not having an attitude about a topic you clearly have very little knowledge of.

    OP, I have no solutions but I hope that the medication helps you. If you do gain weight, there are many other tablets you could try.

    Why would you assume (you know what happens when you *kitten* U ME) that I know nothing about this topic? I agreed it may make you feel hungry and I'll grant you that may be hard to ignore but you CAN eat a bucket of carrots to appease the hunger rather than 2 double Big Macs (not saying the OP would do so). There are ways to deal with drug side effects rather than just going with the "Oh well, it's not my fault" approach.

    I assume you know nothing about this topic because if you did you wouldn't be stating information which is incorrect.

    Peer reviewed, double blind studies suggest that in some cases, weight gain on antidepressants and other psychiatric medication is because of metabolic changes, for example a decrease in basal metabolic rate, rather than or as well as an increase in appetite.

    I am not saying people should say "Oh well, it's not my fault". Where do I say that? But there is no need for you to be so unpleasant based on your incorrect assumptions.

    Ok, let's get your story straight here expert. Is it "2. Doctors suspect antidepressant drugs may affect metabolism, although this has not been definately proven or disproven." or " Peer reviewed, double blind studies suggest that in some cases, weight gain on antidepressants and other psychiatric medication is because of metabolic changes, for example a decrease in basal metabolic rate, rather than or as well as an increase in appetite. "?

    And either way if your BMR decreases then you decrease your food intake or increase your activity. Not rocket science. BMR can decrease for lots of reasons but it still isn't a reason to gain weight. You deal with the issues as they come. If you must know, I was on a medication that was one of the ones that reports weight gain. Yup, because it made me very lethargic and hungry. After 20 lbs I'd had enough of that and stopped taking it while investigating some anti drug approaches which have worked well for almost 10 years now.
  • dorkof82
    dorkof82 Posts: 129 Member
    I'm on Wellbutrin, Prozac and Buspirone. The Wellbutrin and Buspirone are for anxiety,and the Wellbutrin and Prozac for depression and binge eating. I've been on these the entire time I've been losing weight. I do low carb and exercise 7 days a week, it has been the toughest journey of my life but I'm gettin it done.
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
    I'm on Viibryd and Doxepin and have lost weight just fine.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I have depression, anxiety, ADHD, ODD and a few other issues. I used to take St Johns Wort for it & was all good. Now I take Swisse brand MOOD tablets & am even better.... when I remember to take them. 100% natural & well let's say I love them. They saved my life
  • admegamo
    admegamo Posts: 175 Member
    I have depression, anxiety, ADHD, ODD and a few other issues. I used to take St Johns Wort for it & was all good. Now I take Swisse brand MOOD tablets & am even better.... when I remember to take them. 100% natural & well let's say I love them. They saved my life

    I have tried some natural remedies but after awhile they would stop working. I wouldn't mind looking into different types though.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I have depression, anxiety, ADHD, ODD and a few other issues. I used to take St Johns Wort for it & was all good. Now I take Swisse brand MOOD tablets & am even better.... when I remember to take them. 100% natural & well let's say I love them. They saved my life

    I have tried some natural remedies but after awhile they would stop working. I wouldn't mind looking into different types though.

    St Johns wort is a tricky one. If you have taken a particular type of medicated anti-depressant then it can be dangerous.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John's_wort

    Great fact sheet here

    http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/docs/StJohnswort.pdf
  • snsmyth
    snsmyth Posts: 35 Member
    I am on Wellbutrin and Effexor and lost weight fairly normally.
  • BlackPup
    BlackPup Posts: 242 Member
    I've gained weight on meds in the past and my psychiatrist has worked with me to find some that have the least side effects. I still have 10 kg to lose from my most recent med inspired weight gain.
    A couple of points:
    Exercise is an awesome antidepressant, but it's really hard to do when you are depressed. You need 30 min once a day to get an effect but it doesn't have to be really intense, going for a fast walk is enough. I ride an exercise bike so that it is not weather dependant and I can do it while my baby sleeps.
    As hard as it is to control your eating on meds, counting calories does work. If its too hard to eat at a deficient then just try not to gain for a while.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I am on Wellbutrin and Effexor and lost weight fairly normally.

    Effexor had a bad reaction with me. It would make me fall asleep within seconds of sitting down, I had no control at all. I went off that cold turkey & felt like I was being zapped all the time.

    Best thing I ever did was go off prescription meds.
  • dmitriunkovsky
    dmitriunkovsky Posts: 44
    I take Zoloft and I still have managed to lose weight recently. Zoloft isn't considered to be one of the major weight gain antidepressants, but I also take Topamax for nocturnal epilepsy, and it might counteract any weight gain I would experience otherwise, as Topamax has that side effect.

    I can also inform you that Topamax IS sometimes used as a weight loss tool to counteract antidepressant weight gain. Have you talked to your doctor about medicines like this?

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