[babygrant]

Ugh. Since I started anxiety meds (cipralex) almost a year ago I have gained 40 lbs. I am 1000 times better. Very little anxiety and virtually no depression. I have tried without meds and it doesn't work for me. But I hate the weight gain. I am afraid to change meds since this one is working so well. I am frustrated.

[mammasita]

You should try to talk to your doctor about your concerns. There has to be something that will work for you without the negative side effects. It might take some time and patience, but might be worth a try.

Good luck to you.

[babygrant]

I have talked with her and she said we could try a different medication but I am scared. A year ago I was agoraphobic suffering from daily severe panic attacks and severe depression. This medication is working so well.

[aliasihaya]

Oh geez, I'm not sure what to tell you. I've suffered with bipolar and depressive episodes for years and years. And while some of the medications, I think, caused some of my weight gain, I'm not sure that any of them have truly helped. I've been off and on a lot of them over the years, but nothing has ever really worked. I always wonder if I found something that really worked but made me gain 30 pounds would I want it? It's a hard decision. Cyclical argument. Does the weight cause the depression or is the depression causing the weight? I don't know. I'm at the point now that if I found anything that would help then I'd be in a better place to work to find exercise/diet alternatives to offset the medication side effects. Is that an option for you? Do you think if you just worked harder that it would help with the weight gain? If not then you have a tough decision to make. I'm not sure what I would choose. I'd love the magic pill but I haven't found it yet. Given how I'm feeling I'm almost of the opinion that if you've found something to keep you even then stay on it and figure out how to deal with the weight side effects. But only you can make that decision. Not an easy one for you I"m sure. But you've got great support on this site. Please stick with it and Good Luck!

On a side note, as also said, make sure you're very vocal with your doctor about it. They might have some insight that you may not have thought about.

[twish]

I would stay with the medication and work as hard as you can at losing the weight, accepting that it might take a bit more time. I am in a similar situation. It has taken me about two years on the meds to be in a place where I can focus on diet and exercise. I wouldn't have been able to do it without stability with the meds. I have a friend who was in your situation with a med that worked but weight gain as side effect. She decided to try to switch meds and ended-up on a rollercoaster ride. She was miserable. With one she couldn't sleep and was prescribed sleeping pills that made her sleep too much; another med made her feel fuzzy all of the the, etc. After a few months, she ended up going with the one that fit in the beginning and accepted that she would have to work even harder to limit the weight gain and lose weight she already had before going on meds.

In my experience, weight gain is probably the lesser of multiple evils when it comes to side effects... just my two cents.

[bodyTOObootylicious]

Heh... I can relate... only as someone who is bipolar, that last part would be "unmedicated, thin, unhappy and CRAZY"

[swissy]

I'm not sure if you're still gaining but if the illness was something I couldn't learn tools and counselling for I would stay and not worry about leaving if you're not going to be able to function.

Its okay to feel like right now meds are necessary if the benefit out weighs the side effects.
If you are unhappy about the weight and the meds being a temporary aid I would make a plan and say look these meds have made me gain weight I can focus that part of my health later, for my body now I will do a,b,c but not worry about losing right now.

[Sunshine73]

I know exactly what you're talking about but the truth is that if the medication works that well for you then you probably need to stick with it and find a way to work with the side effects.

I'm on Paxil and definitely put on weight (30 pounds in just over a year) as a side effect. I had no idea that weight gain was a possible side effect and I was stunned - now that I know I'm more aware that my weight loss journey may be a slower one than I would have had otherwise. However, the side effects are a minor inconvenience compared to the immobilizing anxiety, depression, panic attacks, etc. that I was dealing with before.

[babygrant]

I was coming to update again, I'm up another 3 lbs. I know that's not a huge amount, but it's another 3 lbs to tack onto my 40. Argh.

[novangel]

I'm on anti-anxiety meds for PTSD since 2009 but thankfully it hasn't made me gain, but it doesn't help me lose the extra weight I was already carrying. :/ I will take the extra weight ANY DAY over the anxiety (I have never experienced anything so terrifying in my life) but unfortunately I will just have to work harder.

No way would I stop or switch meds but that's just me. You do what you feel is best but happy is better than skinny. No point in being skinny and miserable.

[Nadya]

Personally, I would seriously consider trying another medication. It's not healthy being depressed or anxious or whatever but it's not healthy being overweight/obese either. Even if you stop the anxiety, are you really going to be truly happy gaining weight? If not, is it worth it or would you rather take the risk?

[kaplods]

Most medications that have weight gain as a side effect, don't really make weight gain inevitable or weight loss impossible. Instead, they make weight gain easier, and weight loss more difficult.

That might not seem like an important distinction, but it is. I'm on several medicines that can make weight loss more difficult, either by slowing metabolism (doctors think) or by increasing appetite. I'm on several meds that affect neurotransmitters (not just an antidepressant - amitriptyline, but also tramadol, cyclobenzaprine) which all seem to increase my appetite. I'm also on birth control (which usually makes weight gain easier, but for me, the bc actually helps reduce my TOM hunger, although the one I'm on now doesn't do nearly as well as my former bc, but my insurance no longer covers it). And I'm periodically on prednisone for autoimmune disease. I'm able to go longer and longer without the prednisone (for a while it was about 4 courses per year, now it's been long enough that I can't remember the last time I was on it).

I've still managed to lose over 100 lbs, even though I haven't yet been able to average more than two or three pounds per month (and when I started, the weight loss was much slower, I wasn't even losing one pound per month). As as result, it's taken me SEVEN years to lose 100 lbs, but the alternative is gaining weight, so I'll work for the slow weight loss and be happy with it. Still, it's been difficult, especially since during all of my previous weight loss attempts, I was used to losing 5 to 8 lbs PER WEEK.

Prednisone is the worst, because it makes me so hungry that if I'm not shoveling the food in 24/7 it feels like I'm literally starving to death. If I weren't using an exchange plan to count calories, I could eat 10,000 calories and still feel so hungry that sleeping through the night isn't possible.

Luckily, with the weight loss, the autoimmune issues are improving and I don't have to be on prednisone as often, but when I do - going super low-carb is the only possible way to control the hunger and cravings. I also have to have lots and lots of low-calorie, high volume food so that I can munch all day (but still have to count it all) on low-carb and low-cal veggies. It's brutal.

When I'm not on prednisone, I still have to control calories and carbs, so I use a low-carb exchange plan. It can be very difficult stop eating when I've used up all of my calories/exchanges, and I could never do it on my own - so I joined TOPS (it's sort of like Weight Watchers, except you can follow any diet you want, it's much, much cheaper, and you can win prizes for weight loss).

In my TOPS group there are also a lot of people who are dieting with obstacles - either on drugs that make weight loss difficult (antidepressants, birth control, steroids, cancer medications...) or they have conditions like hypothyroid which make weight loss difficult (I'm borderline low-thyroid, but not low enough for my doctor to want to throw thyroid hormone into the mix. With so many medications that make weight loss more difficult, I'm not so sure that medication to make it easier would be such a bad thing, but I'm not really anxious to take more medications either, so I haven't pushed it).

There are a lot of people here to on the "dieting with obstacles" forum too who are dealing with similar challenges.

You do have more choices than fat/medicated/happy and thin/unmedicated/unhappy. It will just take a lot of effort and experimentation to create those other choices. Trying other antidepressants, joining a weight loss support group, meticulously keeping a food journal... there are all sorts of tools that can help you build other options. It's just really, really not a fun or fast process (but it doesn't really have to be miserable either).

[karaheissman]

A friend very close to me had the same problem that you seem to be facing. She is also bipolar and is taking some medications to control and reduce the symptoms of her condition. However, a few months after she had started taking Cipralex, she began to notice that she was putting on weight. It appears that weight gain is a common side effect of many antidepressants. Her physician also explained that there are others that might be less likely to cause weight gain but they might not work as well on her as her current medication. So she decided to stick with Cipralex and just try to find ways to curb down the weight gain. And looking at her now, I think she has managed to do well enough.

I think back to my own struggles with weight and depression and for me it wasn't so much a side effect of the drugs rather the illness leading me to an unhealthy lifestyle. Sorry bit of a tangent, best of luck and let us know how you get on.

[ASaladandaDream]

Hmm. I'd say talk to your doctor and maybe get on a weight loss system that will work for you. Since you are feeling great, maybe it will be easier for you to stick to a plan to stop the weight gain.

If that doesn't work, maybe you can look into other medications. There are a lot of different types and if you can find one that makes you feel good and weight gain is not a side effect that is ideal.

[Telorida]

I'm not a medical professional, and I'm not someone who has suffered from your condition, so take or leave this thought... it may be completely off-base...

But you said you're scared to try another medication because you're afraid you'll lose the functionality you've attained. If that happens, why can't you just go back to what works and chalk it up to a lesson learned? Does trying another medication put you at risk of long-term issues? Does it mean that you can't go back to your current medication if something new fails you?

I am not trying to be patronizing - I genuinely don't know if these are issues or not. But it's something to consider.

If you can't change your medication, then as others have said, it will be a longer road, but you CAN still get there. I have read so many inspirational stories here that I don't doubt anymore that we all can make it. Some will need to spend more time and effort on their journey, and with your medication, that might be you, too... but you will get there as well.

Good luck!