Anxiety Medication questions please need answered

Depends on the medicine. Your dr will be able to tell you. Good mental health is more important than a couple of kgs so take the medicine strictly as per Drs guidelines. It's best to nip anxiety in the bud before it gets worse. Saying that, most meds MAY make you feel hungry not make you put on weight. Low Gi diet and exercise can help. Exercise funnily enough can curb hunger.

I've been on several medications for anxiety (both SSRIs and SNRIs) and in my experience, most side effects taper off as your body begins to tolerate the medication better. I've never had trouble with appetite side effects, but every body is different. You might have to try several medications before you find the right fit.

It depends on the medication but even then it can vary from person to person. I have friend who is on the exact same medication and dosage that I was on and she says it gives her unmanageable munchies yet it almost eliminated my appetite.

In many (maybe even most) cases, weight gain is an avoidable or manageable side effect. The medication may increase the chances of weight gain (whether directly or indirectly through increased cravings or metabolism changes, etc.) but there are often things you can do to prevent that side-effect from happening whether than means being extra careful about calorie intake or increasing exercise, etc. In my opinion, the worst thing would be to think "well, weight gain is a side-effect so it's inevitable." Whether legit or not, it's nice to be able to say "it's not my fault I gained weight" so it's easy to fall into that trap. I see people do that all the time with quitting smoking even though the quitting itself isn't what causes the weight gain- it's the cravings/ irritability/ oral fixation/ etc. that lead to over-eating that causes the gain.

I'm not saying weight-gain isn't a real side effect of some medications. I know it is, and it's great you're thinking ahead and trying to prepare yourself to avoid it. I just wanted to mention that because I think it's easy for the fear of side-effects to lead to self-sabotage and therefore become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Congrats on getting help and taking the steps to get your life back! You CAN lose weight at the same time- just gotta find what works for you. Wishing you the best!

I have been on Mirtazapine for a year and now am in the process of comming off. Yes they worked and gave me sleep but the weight gain was terrible, its well documented that these will put on weight and extremely unlikely you will see any loss while still taking them even with exercise hence the reason i have now had enoughvwith these meds!

Depends which one they give you. Let your doctor know that it is a concern. I'm on Lexapro. It has not messed with my weight. When I was on Celexa I gained 30 lb in 3 months! Also I was very drowsy. Also, ask the pharmacist when you pick up the meds. Sometimes they'll reveal things about side effects that the doctor didn't tell you. If one med is not right for you, you can switch. It may take a few trials to find the best med for you.

Beautiful_Warrior94 wrote: »

First off, sorry if I put this in the wrong forum. My bad, excuse me I'm going to forum Hell now, oh Dear God what have I done.

Anyway. I will be put on anxiety medication and possibly antidepressants as well either tomorrow or the next, but sometime soon. I have a severe Anxiety Disorder. Luckily my workouts aren't effected by it. But everything else like school work and keeping a habit of spending time with friends and family...it terrifies me. I freak out and so scared. I feel like people will constantly judge me. I get so terrified I feel I can't eat in front of others for fear others will judge me. I hate it. My therapist and I are working on this.

However I want to know. Should I be aware of what could possibly happen when put on anxiety medication? Like, do you suddenly lose or gain weight? I don't know. Right now I'm maintaining a perfectly healthy weight. Just maybe a few pounds to go but not many. Please respond.

Thanks in advance.

Hey! It all depends on which medications. Some affect your weight and others do not. Some just affect appetite which indirectly affects your weight. You need to discuss your fitness goals with your Doctor and if necessary get with a Registered Dietitian. That's the BEST way to go about this. But figure out which medications you are going to be put on and find out as MUCH information about them as you can digest. Some people will curse at me for saying this but Wikapedia is not a bad source. It lumps all the basic information you need. If you start reading all the specific drug information out there your brain might possibly implode causing you to have more anxiety which you don't need, right? You want pertinent information that's not super specific. But yes some do, for example Wellbutrin (Buproprion) is an anti depressant and can cause either weight gain or weight loss, but is a good anti depressant. Figure out the CLASS in which your drug is with, because most drugs in the same CLASS all have the same side effects, for example Wellbutrin is an SNRI (Serotonin Norepinepherine Reuptake Inhibitor), don't worry about what all that means, long story short, each medication falls into a group, so research that particular group of drugs and your good, but STILL consult with your Doctor and Dietitian (that's what Dieitians are for, literally).