Anti-anxiety meds
kellyjfenn
Posts: 28 Member
My Dr. wants to put me on Paxil for my anxiety and depression. Does anyone have experience with any of those type of meds? I’m fearful of weight gain
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Replies
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I've been on different SSRI's before. One made me loose weight quickly as I felt nauseous on it. One made weight loss slow just because I was eating better without anxiety causing me to not eat. None of them should make you gain weight, but they can affect appetite which shouldn't cause an issue if you're mindful of it.5
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Ok... thank you. 😀0
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I think with all of them there is the possibility of weight and other issues.
Everyone is a little different. You'd have to decide if your anxiety and depression are bad enough to try it...then monitor. If it's causing side effects, then you change it. Most people try several different ADs before settling in. I had weird hallucinations with Paxil, so that was a no-go for me.
Hope you feel better. :flowerforyou:1 -
I’ve taken several different ones within each class for migraine/nerve issues. They don’t work well for me and have caused issues, including weight gain. There are several that are fairly weight neutral, and at least 1-2 true anti-anxiety meds that fall outside the tricyclics, SNRI, SSRI classes.
That being said, feeling better is step 1. The weight gain eventually plateaus and you might have to work a little harder with slower results, but it is possible. Best of luck!0 -
I take one pill a day , Celexa (citalopram) 20 mg. Have been on it for years... other than making me tired at the start, very few or mild side effects once body adjusts. Never noticed any additional weight gain from it. It really does help my anxiety. It is one of the more milder SSRI drugs.3
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This is all very helpful. Thank you0
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Weight gain on SSRIs is actually a real thing for a lot of people, and researchers are still not sure if it's just due to increased appetite or whether there are in fact metabolic changes.allierat84 wrote: »None of them should make you gain weight, but they can affect appetite which shouldn't cause an issue if you're mindful of it.
https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/antidepressants-weight-gain
I can tell you from my own current experience that my medication (not an SSRI but a related drug) has caused me a bunch of weight gain without any changes in my eating habits, and it's proving extremely difficult to shed the weight.
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That’s what I question about it. I am very consistent with my tracking and have been for 3 years. Some of my anxiety is due to fear of weight gain. I wonder is some of the meds is a change in metabolism0
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I did Lexapro a few years ago. I gained 40lbs while taking it. I don’t directly blaim the SSRI for it. I was definitely eating more than I was burning, and I knew it. I started it to help me deal with an extremely stressful year. I think it came down to how it effected my anxiety. I knew I was gaining weight, it wasn’t even due to increased appetite, I stress eat and while the Lexapro kept me sane, all the stressors were still there. Normally I can curb it when I see the scale numbers going up, but I just couldn’t make myself care enough to do something about it while taking Lex. It effectively eliminated my motivation along with my anxiety.
It eventually stopped working as well as it had in the beginning and I became extremely lethargic and emotionally absent from life, so I weaned off of it. I’m sure if I had kept trying new meds I would have found a better fit. But I was so miserable towards the end that I just wanted to be done.
A friend of mine takes Lexapro too and was finally able to lose the weight she had been slowly gaining while her anxiety went untreated. So all these different meds effect us all a little differently, you may have to try a few before you find the right one.2 -
^ That's the crux of it, is that SSRIs affect different people in different ways. Some people lose weight on them, some gain, some stay the same. Some lose on one SSRI and gain on another. It's a trial and error process which med will work best for you.5
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For many drugs, for which weight gain is a common side effect, the common mechanisms for that are (1) appetite increase, (2) fatigue/activity decrease (possibly subtle), (3) water retention. (I'm not saying those are the only possible mechanisms, just that they are very common.
For someone calorie counting, (1) is controlled for: You will know what you're eating, though appetite could still be an issue.
(2) is somewhat under conscious control, in the sense that it can be observed and theoretically countered by taking action (not necessarily exercise, possibly just pushing non-exercise activity a little).
(3) can be a surprising number of pounds, but it does top off/level out, rather than just keep increasing.
Keep in mind that with most drugs, if you take the drug, give it enough time to stabilize in your system (unless there are terrible acute side effects of course), and then evaluate, you can go back to your doctor and discuss potential strategies for relieving the problem, including possible alternative drug regimens. It is not usual for the weight-gain side effect from a drug to persist after discontinuing the drug.
For clarity: I'm not taking any anti-anxiety meds now, but have taken benzodiazepines for anxiety for periods in the past, plus some other drugs that have weight gain or failure at loss as a reported side effect; plus am severely hypothyroid, which has the same kind of reputation for similar reasons.4 -
This is all helpful information. I’m thinking of not taking the Paxil until I actually see my dr in June and just make my Xanax stretch until I see her2
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Oh gosh I dread it. I only had one .25 the whole day and Im fine. I really don’t want to start Paxil0
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kellyjfenn wrote: »Oh gosh I dread it. I only had one .25 the whole day and Im fine. I really don’t want to start Paxil
I'm going to suggest a book for you. It may or may not help you but I found it to be a godsend. The language in it is very old-fashioned as it was written in 1962 but it made SO much sense to me. I still take Wellbutrin but was able to get off of Ativan.
Hope and Help for Your Nerves: End Anxiety Now by Claire Weekes.
Of course as everyone has said, we all experience all of these drugs differently. Wellbutrin is great for me. I had a doctor put me on Prozac this summer and I had to stop after 4 days because it was SO bad. Wellbutrin apparently makes some people lose weight. I was not one of those people.5 -
kellyjfenn wrote: »My Dr. wants to put me on Paxil for my anxiety and depression. Does anyone have experience with any of those type of meds? I’m fearful of weight gain
Over the past 10 years, I feel like I've tried them all. The one that finally worked for me, without weight gain, is lamotrigine. It's an anti-seizure med that is also prescribed for mood disorders.1 -
I wouldn’t worry about the weight gain. If you know about it going in, you can be vigilant about logging your food and exercise to stave off as much as you can.
In my opinion, it’s better to feel normal and have depression/ anxiety under control, than be 10 pounds lighter and a miserable mess. Good mental health counts for so much! Your balanced neurotransmitters mean you can interact with your loved ones in a better way, feel better at work, etc.
Now, whether or not Paxil is the medication that works best for you is another matter. You may have to try a few before you find “the one” (or the right combo). But it’s worth it! Good luck.5 -
the pill itself will not cause weight gain. feeling better and wanting to eat will. it might make you hungry in your brain but not in stomach.
these are all manageable by tracking your food intake.
the only one i couldn't do was remeron. my brain told me i was ravenous all the time.
otherwise i've gained and lost on all the regularly prescribed drugs. and mood stabilizers.0 -
The drugs can increase appetite and also decrease daily activity (amount and intensity). Kind of a potential weight gain double whammy.
If folks aren’t exact with measuring food, they likely don’t know they’re eating more (just a little but here and there can make a difference) and/or because they’re tired/lethargic they may not realize they’re moving less.3 -
PersonMcSelf wrote: »
Weight gain on SSRIs is actually a real thing for a lot of people, and researchers are still not sure if it's just due to increased appetite or whether there are in fact metabolic changes.allierat84 wrote: »None of them should make you gain weight, but they can affect appetite which shouldn't cause an issue if you're mindful of it.
https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/antidepressants-weight-gain
I can tell you from my own current experience that my medication (not an SSRI but a related drug) has caused me a bunch of weight gain without any changes in my eating habits, and it's proving extremely difficult to shed the weight.
I'm sorry you gained weight. I just wanted to point out that ""I have had patients who swear that they are not eating any more, but still gaining weight, so that tells us there is some kind of metabolic influence going on. [...]" is not science but anecdotes. Many people say that they don't eat more, but nobody can tell whether this is true without a fully controlled long-term experiment. This is a brilliant video (and it's short)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=KA9AdlhB18o2 -
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I won't get into my 50 lb weight gain while on Zoloft but it did happen and I lost it after I stopped it almost as quickly as I gained when I started it(3 months) OP everybody's body is different, what works fab for one person can make another feel worse than without the drug, your best bet is to just try it and see if it helps, nobody's experience with it can tell you how you'll do, trust me I have an untouched prescription for Lexapro and I only took one once by accident, start small and work your way up is all I can advise, then if after a couple of weeks it feels like it's not working or making things worse talk it over with your doctor, wishing you all the best, depression and anxiety suck and it's even worse right now with all that going on((hugs))💗0
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iuoyuwwrmlioxneunm wrote: »I had bizaare side effects on Paxil, but no weight gain. These drugs have different effects on different people.
Now something like Seroquel on the other hand. .. Which some doctors will prescribe for anxiety in low dosages, that one...oh boy. Life on Seroquel is like I think I will take a nap for 36 hours and occasionally wake up every now and again to consume 5 boxes of Fruity Peebles.
Whatever you do on your journey to find the perfect anti-anxiety drug, do not speak the name of the devil to your doctor, and the devil has a few names to doctors, one being Xanax, another Klonopin. I think even Gabopetin now is considered one of the naughty drugs, that used to be a golden oldie of dummy dopes for anxiety.
Why are Xanax and Klonopin the devil? I actually spoke one of these names to a nurse...3 -
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Ok, gotcha. I was thinking more you.meant that there was something inherently evil about the drugs themselves, like side effects or something.1
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DancingMoosie wrote: »Ok, gotcha. I was thinking more you.meant that there was something inherently evil about the drugs themselves, like side effects or something.
Well, that too.
They're addictive and some people have a very hard time getting off them.2 -
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jaymijones wrote: »I did Lexapro a few years ago. I gained 40lbs while taking it. I don’t directly blaim the SSRI for it. I was definitely eating more than I was burning, and I knew it. I started it to help me deal with an extremely stressful year. I think it came down to how it effected my anxiety. I knew I was gaining weight, it wasn’t even due to increased appetite, I stress eat and while the Lexapro kept me sane, all the stressors were still there. Normally I can curb it when I see the scale numbers going up, but I just couldn’t make myself care enough to do something about it while taking Lex. It effectively eliminated my motivation along with my anxiety.
It eventually stopped working as well as it had in the beginning and I became extremely lethargic and emotionally absent from life, so I weaned off of it. I’m sure if I had kept trying new meds I would have found a better fit. But I was so miserable towards the end that I just wanted to be done.
A friend of mine takes Lexapro too and was finally able to lose the weight she had been slowly gaining while her anxiety went untreated. So all these different meds effect us all a little differently, you may have to try a few before you find the right one.
Yep, on Lexapro and gained 30 lbs rapidly. I could never get full and it made so so exhausted that I slept when I wasn’t eating. It doesn’t do that to me now, but now I have 30 extra pounds to lose0 -
for people who wish to not take synthetic anxiety meds, i highly recommend these homeopathic drops. i get them from my naturopath but you can also get them on line or at wholefoods. these drops work so well and a bottle lasts forever. you take these as needed and you can take doses throughout the day of something called 'Rescue Remedy' that you should be able to get at a regular drug store on the shelf. if you can't find them at your drug store, you can find the same drops (maybe under a different name) at a pet store since its used to also calm dogs in storms, etc. fireworks, (they use the same drops but may put a dog picture on the label) rw47 works for me for anxiety where no other drugs could even touch it. plus no side effects.
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