Antidepressants and weight gain

Gina2887

Hi Everyone,

I have used my fitness pal once before, but then got away from it. I am now going to try it again and really try to stick to it!

I'm having weight issues after being on an antidepressant. I know I am not the only one with this problem, but I feel like I have no luck!! All the research I've done about this has shown me that people who have this same issue usually gain about 20-35 pounds in about a year on the medicine. I have gained 60 pounds in a year. 60!!!

I'm having a really tough time. Now that I have gotten so big because of the medicine, I feel like I'm in a horrible cycle! I feel worse than I have ever felt before because of how much weight I've gained. It's like the medicine is doing just the opposite of what it was suppossed to do! So I figured why take the medicine anymore! I talked with my doctor and I have weened myself off, but I still am left with all this weight. I am having so much trouble getting it off, let alone adjusting to no longer being on medicine!

Any advice?

Gina2887

Hi Everyone,

I have used my fitness pal once before, but then got away from it. I am now going to try it again and really try to stick to it!

I'm having weight issues after being on an antidepressant. I know I am not the only one with this problem, but I feel like I have no luck!! All the research I've done about this has shown me that people who have this same issue usually gain about 20-35 pounds in about a year on the medicine. I have gained 60 pounds in a year. 60!!!

I'm having a really tough time. Now that I have gotten so big because of the medicine, I feel like I'm in a horrible cycle! I feel worse than I have ever felt before because of how much weight I've gained. It's like the medicine is doing just the opposite of what it was suppossed to do! So I figured why take the medicine anymore! I talked with my doctor and I have weened myself off, but I still am left with all this weight. I am having so much trouble getting it off, let alone adjusting to no longer being on medicine!

Any advice?

pinkpixies

What medication were you taking? Generally it's more antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that cause weight gain, not antidepressants.

McKnightAM

What medication were you taking? Generally it's more antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that cause weight gain, not antidepressants.

Not true! all of the women in my family are on antidepressants,,, and we all gain weight on them!! That is why my mother will not take hers anymore, she would rather be unhappy and skinny, she says! :brokenheart:

We have talked to doctors about it, and basically they just tell us to exercise and eat better! That its something we will just have to deal with!! ughh!!

pinkpixies

What medication were you taking? Generally it's more antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that cause weight gain, not antidepressants.

Not true! all of the women in my family are on antidepressants,,, and we all gain weight on them!! That is why my mother will not take hers anymore, she would rather be unhappy and skinny, she says! :brokenheart:

We have talked to doctors about it, and basically they just tell us to exercise and eat better! That its something we will just have to deal with!! ughh!!

Well, I've taken pretty much every antidepressant out there. :laugh: Remeron made me gain a lot...but none of the others did really...Wellbutrin helped me lose...as did Paxil...but they made me manic. :laugh:

As for antipsychotics, Seroquel and Risperdal made me gain....Geodon and Abilify didn't effect me, weight wise.

Trileptal and Neurontin didn't effect my weight...but I've heard horror stories of other mood stabilizers.

Fitness_Chick

What medication were you taking? Generally it's more antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that cause weight gain, not antidepressants.

Not true! all of the women in my family are on antidepressants,,, and we all gain weight on them!! That is why my mother will not take hers anymore, she would rather be unhappy and skinny, she says! :brokenheart:

We have talked to doctors about it, and basically they just tell us to exercise and eat better! That its something we will just have to deal with!! ughh!!

Well, I've taken pretty much every antidepressant out there. :laugh: Remeron made me gain a lot...but none of the others did really...Wellbutrin helped me lose...as did Paxil...but they made me manic. :laugh:

As for antipsychotics, Seroquel and Risperdal made me gain....Geodon and Abilify didn't effect me, weight wise.

Trileptal and Neurontin didn't effect my weight...but I've heard horror stories of other mood stabilizers.

mmm I LOVE MY mood stabilizer!!:flowerforyou: But actually by losing so much weight and eating healthy and hard workouts, I'm off nearly all my meds now so YAY for healthy eating and being active!!!:drinker: :drinker:

I really think this topic can go all over the place plus i think we may hijacked the original thread a tad or at least headed in that direction.:noway:

I think meds vary by a person's body type, family history etc. I find that having eaten garbage in the past is what put the weight on me...not so much my meds. BUT please don't take that as me saying it's not different for someone else!:noway:

Regarding your post on going off your meds with your doc's approval....you've come to the right place to find motivation and inspiration to lose. It may take some time to get the med completely out of your system but you're on the right track coming here!:happy:

There are many new meds that don't cause weight gain, when I've gone to my doc's office that's specifically what I mention, no weight gain drugs for me and so far I've not noticed any issues. But I do clean eating now and workout hard so not sure if I would even notice something like that unless it was a huge gain and came outta nowhere.

Welcome to MFP:flowerforyou:

McKnightAM

What medication were you taking? Generally it's more antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that cause weight gain, not antidepressants.

Not true! all of the women in my family are on antidepressants,,, and we all gain weight on them!! That is why my mother will not take hers anymore, she would rather be unhappy and skinny, she says! :brokenheart:

We have talked to doctors about it, and basically they just tell us to exercise and eat better! That its something we will just have to deal with!! ughh!!

Well, I've taken pretty much every antidepressant out there. :laugh: Remeron made me gain a lot...but none of the others did really...Wellbutrin helped me lose...as did Paxil...but they made me manic. :laugh:

As for antipsychotics, Seroquel and Risperdal made me gain....Geodon and Abilify didn't effect me, weight wise.

Trileptal and Neurontin didn't effect my weight...but I've heard horror stories of other mood stabilizers.

Wellbutrin did help with weight loss for me! lmao.. and i dont need help being manic!! i dont take any meds, simply because i have not talked to my doctor here in korea. and yes, seroquel, made my mother gain TONS of weight, that'd be why she's so crazy!! :laugh: she refuses to take them!!

I know i should be on medication, I need to be on a mood stabalizer, but i'm not sure which ones are good! but for my husbands sake, and my sons sake, I NEED TO FIGURE IT OUT!!

which do ya'll find that help??

cuz one minute i'm all
:laugh:

and then
:sad:

and then


and then
:mad:

and then back to
:laugh:


HELPPPPP!

pinkpixies

What medication were you taking? Generally it's more antipsychotics and mood stabilizers that cause weight gain, not antidepressants.

Not true! all of the women in my family are on antidepressants,,, and we all gain weight on them!! That is why my mother will not take hers anymore, she would rather be unhappy and skinny, she says! :brokenheart:

We have talked to doctors about it, and basically they just tell us to exercise and eat better! That its something we will just have to deal with!! ughh!!

Well, I've taken pretty much every antidepressant out there. :laugh: Remeron made me gain a lot...but none of the others did really...Wellbutrin helped me lose...as did Paxil...but they made me manic. :laugh:

As for antipsychotics, Seroquel and Risperdal made me gain....Geodon and Abilify didn't effect me, weight wise.

Trileptal and Neurontin didn't effect my weight...but I've heard horror stories of other mood stabilizers.

Wellbutrin did help with weight loss for me! lmao.. and i dont need help being manic!! i dont take any meds, simply because i have not talked to my doctor here in korea. and yes, seroquel, made my mother gain TONS of weight, that'd be why she's so crazy!! :laugh: she refuses to take them!!

I know i should be on medication, I need to be on a mood stabalizer, but i'm not sure which ones are good! but for my husbands sake, and my sons sake, I NEED TO FIGURE IT OUT!!

which do ya'll find that help??

cuz one minute i'm all
:laugh:

and then
:sad:

and then


and then
:mad:

and then back to
:laugh:


HELPPPPP!

Topamax and Trileptal are good but interfer with birth control pills, if you're on the pill. (other forms of birth control are fine though, as far as I know...)

Right now, I'm taking Cymbalta, Neurontin and Buspar and I'm feeling pretty good mood wise...anxiety is still high but better than it was...and I'm not crying constantly for no reason like I used to. The only problem with Neurontin is that it makes me very very dizzy...and I can't take the dose prescribed to me b/c it makes me pass out all the damn time. I'm supposed to take it 3 times a day, but I only take it once. :laugh:

It takes a while to find the right combo that works for you...I've been on meds 7 years now and have just found a sort-of-good combo.

dewpearl

Any advice?

I haven't got any practical advice of the sort of the above, but the power is within you! There are times when I also think I need some pill to take all those thoughts away, but now reading the posts I believe this could wait for me. I know it doesn't for everyone, so don't throw stones at me for saying this.

Being active and going to the gym or jogging can surely improve your mood. Whenever I'm lazy and sit on the couch thinking "I'll go next time" I feel so ashamed and bad in the evening... We are humans, though, and there will by not only ups, but downs as well. Yet, take each fall as a reason to get up and go out there to fight. The victory's there only after some fight. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

People here insist on taking it one day at a time - start each day anew and think "hey, I look good today. But I know I can even look better. Let's see... the first step is..." Whenever you're down, come here and just by reading the threads, you'll notice others are too. But we're all fighting this. Together!

Once again, good luck! :flowerforyou:

Gina2887

Thanks to everyone for their responses! I'm going to take away the advice to take it one day at a time. I need to get past that "I'll do it tomorrow" mentality though!!

lisabeavers

i take wellbutrin. it makes me a little manic, but it helps me lose weight. I heard that they give it to people trying to quit smoking because it helps with the cravings, maybe its the same with food. I can stand a little manic --- it actually makes my job easier -- but i could live without the crying jags. A lot of the drugs mentioned in this thread are more mood stabilizers than antidepressants though. My son is bipolar and he has taken most of them to try to help with his disorder at one time or another. One antidepressant i didn't see mentioned is Lexapro. Its a good antidepressant with very few side effects and it doesn't make you gain weight. You might check that one out too.

pinkpixies

i take wellbutrin. it makes me a little manic, but it helps me lose weight. I heard that they give it to people trying to quit smoking because it helps with the cravings, maybe its the same with food. I can stand a little manic --- it actually makes my job easier -- but i could live without the crying jags. A lot of the drugs mentioned in this thread are more mood stabilizers than antidepressants though. My son is bipolar and he has taken most of them to try to help with his disorder at one time or another. One antidepressant i didn't see mentioned is Lexapro. Its a good antidepressant with very few side effects and it doesn't make you gain weight. You might check that one out too.

My periods stopped when I was taking Lexapro...not sure if it's related to taking the Lexapro though...but I didn't have a period the entire time I was on it.

greenbaum9

Medications are a big help in getting well. I learned to try to be comfortable with my self (it took medication, therapy, and gradual changes in my attitude), from within, before I felt good enough to care about my health and losing weight.
greenbaum9:flowerforyou:

Gina2887

i take wellbutrin. it makes me a little manic, but it helps me lose weight.

I had heard about wellbutrin and I tried it about 6 months ago. It made me gain even more than my first medication!!! I was so frustrated. It really messed with my head too. I am glad to hear that you have had such good results with it though!!

pinkpixies

i take wellbutrin. it makes me a little manic, but it helps me lose weight.

I had heard about wellbutrin and I tried it about 6 months ago. It made me gain even more than my first medication!!! I was so frustrated. It really messed with my head too. I am glad to hear that you have had such good results with it though!!

Then maybe it's not the medication that is making you gain, but poor food choices?

charny164

Hi Everyone,
I'm not taking any medications but my husband has been taking Paxil for almost a year now. He was a really big guy to start with (about 312) and now we have no idea how much he weighs as our scale errors out when he gets on it - has to be over 330 to error. I am sure that he has put on at least 50 lbs and is pushing the 400 lb mark and I am scared. Scared for him to be so big and all the health concerns that go with it and scared that one day I'll wake up and he won't. This is a difficult subject for me.
As a person that doesn't need this type of medication I find it very difficult that my husband cannot control his anxiety. I always catch myself telling him to snap out of it - he can't. Paxil has altered his personality, moods, and has made him become the laziest person I have ever seen in my entire life! All this in under a year. He takes about 10 steps to go to the truck, drives to work, 100 steps to his office and then reverse it to when he comes home. All he does is sit, eat and sleep. It is just so frustrating. I just wish it could go back to how it was before.
I understand that medications are important to help with depression and anxiety but from an outsider looking in I just don't understand how complex and true the emotions that you can't see really are. No one ever knows just by looking at a person how they really feel. I get that. I just don't understand a drug that is supposed to help with depression and anxiety makes you want to do absolutley nothing but watch your marriage fall apart during the commercial and fridge breaks.
Sorry to rant. Please don't take anything I have said wrong. I just don't understand and I feel so lost. The person that I love is not the same person anymore and I don't understand why this is happening and he's not doing anything :brokenheart:

Gina2887

No, It's not poor food choices. I'm eating healthier than I ever have in my life.

jojo52610

I agree I've been on Zoloft for about 3 years - you can read every article and it says you don't gain weight I say that's horse patuty -

Either it makes you gain weight or you feel better so your appetite returns to normal -
my Husband went on Lexapro - his nick name was bones all his life

He now is very overweight - he's off the medication now and trying to loose the weight.


I don't know most everyone I've met on the internet has had the same type of reaction to the medication

monica5237

I take celexa and I have lost alot and i also take busbar (anti anxity) or however you spell it lol I was told that both of these meds will help with weight loss and Iam not so sure if it is just the meds but I have lost 60 plus pounds i don't give credit to any medication i give credit to me and all the work i have done

monica5237

Hi Everyone,
I'm not taking any medications but my husband has been taking Paxil for almost a year now. He was a really big guy to start with (about 312) and now we have no idea how much he weighs as our scale errors out when he gets on it - has to be over 330 to error. I am sure that he has put on at least 50 lbs and is pushing the 400 lb mark and I am scared. Scared for him to be so big and all the health concerns that go with it and scared that one day I'll wake up and he won't. This is a difficult subject for me.
As a person that doesn't need this type of medication I find it very difficult that my husband cannot control his anxiety. I always catch myself telling him to snap out of it - he can't. Paxil has altered his personality, moods, and has made him become the laziest person I have ever seen in my entire life! All this in under a year. He takes about 10 steps to go to the truck, drives to work, 100 steps to his office and then reverse it to when he comes home. All he does is sit, eat and sleep. It is just so frustrating. I just wish it could go back to how it was before.
I understand that medications are important to help with depression and anxiety but from an outsider looking in I just don't understand how complex and true the emotions that you can't see really are. No one ever knows just by looking at a person how they really feel. I get that. I just don't understand a drug that is supposed to help with depression and anxiety makes you want to do absolutley nothing but watch your marriage fall apart during the commercial and fridge breaks.
Sorry to rant. Please don't take anything I have said wrong. I just don't understand and I feel so lost. The person that I love is not the same person anymore and I don't understand why this is happening and he's not doing anything :brokenheart:

Your husband needs to tell his dr about all of what you just told us he is not on the right meds i have changed from zoloft to paxil to prozac now i am on celexa and it seems to make me more motivated he NEEDS TO TELL HIS DR. do it now before it gets worse and it will.
I was on my medsthe old ones and ended up in the hospital for attempted suiside please get him to the dr and soon!!!!PLEASE that is why they changed me it was not the right one for me