Anti-anxiety meds

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  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,502 Member
    edited May 2020
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    PersonMcSelf wrote: »
    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.
    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.

    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=KA9AdlhB18o
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
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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))💗
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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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...
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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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.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,075 Member
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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.
  • BattleoftheBinge
    BattleoftheBinge Posts: 1 Member
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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 lose
  • peggy_polenta
    peggy_polenta Posts: 322 Member
    edited May 2020
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    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.
    cy4rfzso05x9.png



  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,866 Member
    edited May 2020
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    I can treat anxiety with dog / cat repellent, caffeine, and nitroglycerine? NICE!

    If a dog or cat get dog or cat repellent... what does the repellent repel?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    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
    kellyjfenn wrote: »
    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 her

    Paxil was one of the many anti-depressants I tried and discarded before discovering Wellbutrin, which is an NDRI rather than an SSRI, and is associated with weight loss rather than weight gain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupropion

    Both of my OH's parents were addicted to benzos for years until they passed. Withdrawal, which was unnecessary and occurred multiple times due to medical stupidity while hospitalized, caused hallucinations in his father and was a horror-show for his mother.

    I do have a prescription for Xanax, but for the most part I manage my anxiety with exercise, and increased exercise in times of increased stress. If anxiety provokes the fight-or-flight response during the day, doing something physical helps me quite a bit. I'd take a Xanax for something like an anxiety attack in the middle of the night when I need to get back to sleep (and work on my sleep hygiene so that is less likely to happen. This included moving out of residences where it was difficult to sleep due to problematic housemates.)

    I think I get 6-12 pills a year and don't need them all. In fact, I can't remember the last time I had one. It's comforting just to know they are available :)

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