Which Anti-Anxiety/Depressant Does NOT Cause Weight Gain?

OnTheWayToPerfection
OnTheWayToPerfection Posts: 115 Member
in Food and Nutrition
When I was 19 (now 22), I was put on Celexa and, in a short amount of time, gained 30 pounds (which I've now lost 25 of!!). I went off of it about a year and a half ago, but now I'm thinking I need to go back on some kind of medication, possibly a mood stabilizer.

What anti-depressants/anxiety medications do NOT have weight gain as a side effect?
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Replies

  • luvsbks
    luvsbks Posts: 51
    I use Sertraline which I believe is the generic for zoloft. no weight gain so far. verify that sertraline is the generic for zoloft
  • myfitnessisavirtue
    myfitnessisavirtue Posts: 673 Member
    Wellbutrin
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
    The weight gain is more related to increased appetite than anything else. If you are mindful of what you are eating, you will probably be okay. I'm not certain, but it sounds like you may not have been watching what you were eating before, where now you're tracking with MFP - so circumstances are different already! Good luck!
  • TabbathaAnne
    TabbathaAnne Posts: 162 Member
    Wellbutrin! The generic is Bupropion!
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    I don't have any problems with Wellbutrin, which I have taken for years, or Klonopin, which I only take on an as-needed basis.

    Remeron was DISASTROUS for me and Zyprexa was HORRIBLE for my daughter.
  • coliegrl30
    coliegrl30 Posts: 25
    I agree, Wellbutrin..
  • CincinnatiDEIFan
    CincinnatiDEIFan Posts: 188 Member
    I agree with the others..Wellbutrin.

    There is a reason it was researched as a weight loss drug... ;-)
  • porcelain_doll
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
    Wellbutrin will not. I used to take Wellbutrin XL and it actually decreased my appetite! Also easier to stop taking because you don't have to taper off like you do with Zoloft, Paxil, and I don't know what else. And stay farrrrrrrr away from Paxil! That is the WORST ONE for weight gain!!!!!!!!!!
  • PaleoRDH
    PaleoRDH Posts: 266
    I take Ativan as needed (not every day) and haven't had a problem. It's anti-anxiety but I take it to help me sleep. Everyone's body reacts differently to any given substance though
  • 3Daughtersin2015
    3Daughtersin2015 Posts: 81 Member
    I'm on Prozac, and it's helped me a lot I've lost weight since i've been on, but that's because with the meds I want to try!
  • efindel
    efindel Posts: 2
    Yep - Wellbutrin/Buproprion. In fact, study groups taking it had a small amount of weight loss when compared to control groups who were taking a placebo. For me, Wellbutrin also makes me feel more energetic, which makes it easier to keep going with exercising and other things.

    One thing with Wellbutrin - don't take it if you can't take it consistently. For me, if I miss one day taking it, I'm okay -- but if I miss two in a row, I find myself very badly depressed! Tapering off is needed if you have that problem, but you'll need to work with a doctor on it -- the form it's normally prescribed in is time-release, so if you try to cut the pills in half, it'll release all at once, which won't be good.
  • jennychurchillcorcoran
    jennychurchillcorcoran Posts: 6
    im a nurse....wellbutrin in the best choice that my education says. it is marketed as zyban for smoking cessation help. it has been noticed through studies that ppl on this drug can lose up to 10% of their body mass.
  • xxbookwormbabexx
    xxbookwormbabexx Posts: 92 Member
    Wellbutrin (otherwise known as bupropion)

    It made me MUCH less hungry. Although it didn't work well at all for my depression or anxiety... it's worth a shot!
    Everyone is different.
    Good luck :)
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
    I think everyone is different and reacts differently to medications, on celexa I lost weight....gained it back since I came off it ..go figure!
  • lisaanne1369
    lisaanne1369 Posts: 377 Member
    ASK YOUR DR !!!
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    Wellbutrin

    I have a friend who is an E.R. nurse and she says that every week they have someone come in (usually a woman) who is on Wellbutrin and having a panic attack.
  • jfrog123
    jfrog123 Posts: 432 Member
    Wellbutrin, as others have said. Lexapro caused me some issues, but I have never had any problem with wellbutrin - regular or extended release.
  • Girl_Bomb
    Girl_Bomb Posts: 195
    After years of dealing will every anti anxiety pill out there I finally cut cold turkey and went to a hypnotist, that was over two years ago and I can proudly say I can leave my house, go to the mall alone, I finished college and got my life back. I will never put those chemicals into my body again.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    Wellbutrin will not. I used to take Wellbutrin XL and it actually decreased my appetite! Also easier to stop taking because you don't have to taper off like you do with Zoloft, Paxil, and I don't know what else. And stay farrrrrrrr away from Paxil! That is the WORST ONE for weight gain!!!!!!!!!!

    Also stay away from the anti-psychotics (I think it is criminal for physicians to prescribe anti-psychotics to those who are merely depressed). I know a young girl who was raped and depressed afterward. Her shrink put her on Seroquel and she gained 100 pounds and now her family doc tells her that she is a candidate for Type II diabetes! It's enough to make anyone depressed.:ohwell:
  • ghostpixie
    ghostpixie Posts: 148 Member
    Just don't take Abilify. I gained at the very least 30 pounds on Abilify, possibly more. I'm switching to Lamictal tomorrow. I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but you said possibly a mood stabilizer so I just thought I'd throw that in there.
  • stephanieb72
    stephanieb72 Posts: 390 Member
    Wellbutrin will not. I used to take Wellbutrin XL and it actually decreased my appetite! Also easier to stop taking because you don't have to taper off like you do with Zoloft, Paxil, and I don't know what else. And stay farrrrrrrr away from Paxil! That is the WORST ONE for weight gain!!!!!!!!!!

    I am taking Paxil and I am steady losing, no problems with weight gain for me.
  • mingecrackers
    mingecrackers Posts: 152
    Stay away from Remeron! Made me gain weight like crazy. Prozac and Zoloft didn't cause any weight gain :)
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
    They don't make you can weight. What goes in your mouth makes you gain weight. I have been on them for years as well.

    Weight loss is 80 % diet and 20% exercise.
  • KrazyAsianNic
    KrazyAsianNic Posts: 1,227 Member
    I will have to go home and see what antidepressant i'm on, but it has not caused me to gain weight, that i know of. I have gained a tiny bit since on it, but it could just be from my bad eating and lack of exercising. I have been slowly losing and still taking it.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,320 Member
    I take Celexa....I haven't had any problem losing. And I have the diabetes factor which, supposedly, makes it even harder.
  • ScubaAmyMN
    ScubaAmyMN Posts: 1,701 Member

    One thing with Wellbutrin - don't take it if you can't take it consistently. For me, if I miss one day taking it, I'm okay -- but if I miss two in a row, I find myself very badly depressed!

    I'm not glad to hear you get very badly depressed, but I'm glad to read that because that has happened to me a couple times, and it's severe! Good to know I wasn't imagining it. I'm good at taking it daily but a couple times I needed to pick up my refill and was a couple days late.

    Good advice.
  • LAS_1980
    LAS_1980 Posts: 156
    Lexapro...it may decrease your appetite.
  • xxbookwormbabexx
    xxbookwormbabexx Posts: 92 Member
    Wellbutrin

    I have a friend who is an E.R. nurse and she says that every week they have someone come in (usually a woman) who is on Wellbutrin and having a panic attack.

    I had several panic attacks on Wellbutrin. It's a stimulant. So it can have that effect :/
    Don't be scared away by that though. It's important to try what you see best.
  • killingtheantagonist
    killingtheantagonist Posts: 178 Member
    I take 75 mg Wellbutrin (Bupropion) for my depression.
    I have lost weight since taking it and it makes me pretty happy.
    They had actually be on 150mg and it was too much for me.
    I was the utmost irritable ***** you'd ever seen.
    My family literally told me to stop taking it and go to my room.
  • JennyLisT
    JennyLisT Posts: 402 Member
    All medications have the potential for weight gain. Everyone reacts differently to different drugs. The best thing you can do is monitor yourself.

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