Anxiety meds and weight gain

flcl2121 wrote: »

the pills won't fix your anxiety issues, only mask them. Find a healthy way to overcome anxiety and stop letting big pharma poison your body

Stupid, ignorant and uniformed.....

dlkfox wrote: »

flcl2121 wrote: »

the pills won't fix your anxiety issues, only mask them. Find a healthy way to overcome anxiety and stop letting big pharma poison your body

Ignore that! Clearly written by someone who has not suffered mental illness.

Or it could equally well be written by someone who had.. but overcame those issues in a natural way without relying on big pharma.. ?

VintageFeline wrote: »

Neither of those medications magically make your body use calories differently or change your metabolism. What they can do is increase your appetite, a known side effect of many psych meds. It just boils down to you eating too much, knowingly or unknowingly. I've been on some of the most notorious psych meds for weight gain and yes I gained weight but it was because I was eating too much.

I know the side effects will list weight gain but it;s a simplified way of saying that it increases appetite which can lead to weight gain. If you are meticulous about your intake it will have absolutely no impact on weight loss or gain. Controlling your appetite is the thing to worry about.

These medications affect the chemicals your body is producing and using. That can also mess with hormones etc which affect weight gain and loss. When I was on one of the meds for depression I gained weight and yet I was meticulous with what I ate. I have some ocd issues about my food, and so I was aware of everything I put into my mouth. I also worked out 4 days a week for hours at a time trying to lose said weight, and gained.

I just think it's dangerous to make blanket statements to people about how the medicine affects their bodies. OP said he was being careful. I don't think it's helpful to call him a liar over and over.

VintageFeline wrote: »

cmarangi wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

Neither of those medications magically make your body use calories differently or change your metabolism. What they can do is increase your appetite, a known side effect of many psych meds. It just boils down to you eating too much, knowingly or unknowingly. I've been on some of the most notorious psych meds for weight gain and yes I gained weight but it was because I was eating too much.

I know the side effects will list weight gain but it;s a simplified way of saying that it increases appetite which can lead to weight gain. If you are meticulous about your intake it will have absolutely no impact on weight loss or gain. Controlling your appetite is the thing to worry about.

These medications affect the chemicals your body is producing and using. That can also mess with hormones etc which affect weight gain and loss. When I was on one of the meds for depression I gained weight and yet I was meticulous with what I ate. I have some ocd issues about my food, and so I was aware of everything I put into my mouth. I also worked out 4 days a week for hours at a time trying to lose said weight, and gained.

I just think it's dangerous to make blanket statements to people about how the medicine affects their bodies. OP said he was being careful. I don't think it's helpful to call him a liar over and over.

I've been on some of the strongest psychoactive medication available. I gained weight on them because they made me ravenous and I gave no ***** about what I put in my mouth.

But feel free to provide links to evidence that these disrupt hormone process and make you store fat when eating at a deficit or at maintenance. Or that it significantly changes ones BMR enough to again cause the same intake to produce a significant fat gain in weight.

+1

flcl2121 wrote: »

the pills won't fix your anxiety issues, only mask them. Find a healthy way to overcome anxiety and stop letting big pharma poison your body

First of all. No.

And secondly, to the OP. I am taking the same medication. It has helped me tremendously but while I was focusing on healing my mind, I did not pay a lot of attention to my body (it was second priority to my mental health). So yes, I did gain weight, but only because I was not focusing on my diet and eating over my maintenance.

After taking control of my mental health, I finally felt like I could focus on other areas of my life. And slowly but surely, this weight is coming off. At most, I only gained about 3-5 pounds though. The rest of the weight was put on due to the previous depression and overall "eff-it" attitude I had. So I definitely feel like the weight had absolutely nothing to do with the new medication.

I hope you find a solution. Diligent logging and exercise to help your fitness will work well, but you must be consistent and accurate. I am working on those things myself.

Start hard-core logging on MFP today and get control of your weight and start losing.

Go ahead and lift weights because it is good for your muscles and it will reduce any lean muscle mass you would lose while eating at a deficit. Exercise is also good for the mind.

You can do this! Start weighing your food for accuracy. Best of luck to you.

raven56706 wrote: »

ok thanks peeps.

it was months ago that i was hardcore checking my weight. I was also lifting weights as well. No change to my waist size.

I almost think i should lose the weight and get to my goal before i workout with weights. Almost to give myself no excuses.

whats your opinion?

I think you should do the type of exercise that you look forward to and can stick to because you enjoy it. If you enjoy strength training, there's no reason to put it off until you lose more weight. In fact, building more muscle now will ensure you look better once you do start losing the fat. But again, I think you should do whatever makes you happy.

raelynnsmama52512 wrote: »

flcl2121 wrote: »

the pills won't fix your anxiety issues, only mask them. Find a healthy way to overcome anxiety and stop letting big pharma poison your body

That big scary pharma, how dare they make medications available for some to be able to function and have a decent quality of life that they wouldn't have without it?!

Personally, I'd like to thank big pharma for the Adderall and Lexapro that make it possible for me to function and to successfully life, wife, adult, and mom. Just saying....

I'd also like to thank big pharma for abilify and lamotrigine. Without them, I'd likely be dead from walking in a busy street proclaiming I'm God and cannot die! Darn that big pharma for ridding me of my manic delusions!