Depression and Weight IssuesHave you been diagnosed with depression, are possibly on depression medication, and find it affects your weight loss efforts? Post here for support!
hi guys,
i know i dont usually post here but i am considering medication but dont wanna gain weight or have a further hard time losing as i already have a tough time losing. is there anyone outy there that is on something that helps w/o hindering weight loss.
Every medication effects different people different ways. I am on effexor and it helps me lose weight but I know some people gain weight with it. You just have to kind of see what will work for you. Good luck.
thanks trish. this is what im so afraid of. i know some pp, lose on wellbutrin and was even looking at cymbalta bc i do suffer physical pain but i read the 'loopy' post
Just keep in mind that any medication takes a bit to get your body used to it. Don't be scared off because someone is experiencing side effects for a few day or if you go on something you will. The issue is that if you need that stuff you will be so much better once your body adjusts to the meds that you won't beleive it. Just a word of advise about the initial reactions. I would go through that again to have a semi normal life like I do now. 1 little pink pill to take for the rest of my life everyday is a small price to pay for feeling the freedom now.
hi
Most meds start off with some not so nice side effects, most of the time they go away and if the drug really helps you, you feel as if you aren't taking anything, but you feel 'good'...I'm glad iIstayed with zoloft as I had headaches for six weeks and felt 'drunk', that all went away and I did wonderful for many years on it.. it had stopped working after ten years on it, now I am on lexapro and experienceing odd side effects. I'm having that same loopy feeling and headaches. I'm going to ride it out for six weeks and see what happens.
I have been depressed most of my life, in my younger years I didn't know what it was and chalked it up to being a teen and being young and confused. After I had my second child, I knew something was wrong as I was having horrible generalized anxiety. ( if someone clapped, I jumped to the ceiling) I was nervous, emotional and very clingy to my husband. That is when I started zoloft, it was the best thing I ever did. I just hope the lexapro helps as much.. good luck, remember each drug is different for each person, our chemicals are all different.
The Doctor put me on a Mood Stabilizer a week ago and I went from eating normal to not eating hardly at all! Of course I was dieting with WW and I had got my portions down to were I was full with just a little, but I am now having to remind myself to eat at least once a day. The Dr. thought that it wouldn't effect my weight but I am pretty sure that this is curving my appetite.
Some mood stabilizers decrease appetite, some increase. Depends on the med, the chemical of your brain. I have a very close friend who shares most of my deperession and anxiety symptoms, she has tried my drug cocktail and it did nothing for her, she is on totally different meds.
I like the lexapro so far, but i'm not liking the sexual side effects which most of these meds give. I think a drug company would make millions if they can make an SSRI med with no sexual side effects... thats what I'm waiting for!!
Oh, an SSRI with no sexual side effects...that would be heavenly!!! I have never had any sexual side effects with SSRI's except for Effexor, which I promptly stopped taking. But, my DH has problems with every drug that he takes. It SUCKS!!!!
I've been on ADs since August 2005 and in that time have gained 40 lbs I am currently weaning myself off of generic Prozac and am going to see if I need it anymore. But just because I gained weight doesn't mean everyone will. I ate like a friggin pig during that time, don't know if it was the ADs increasing my appetite or what. But now I'm on Phentermine and Weight Watchers and have lost 10 lbs total (5 while on WW). Best of luck to you, and I would try them, and if you have terrible side effects that outweigh the benefits, maybe you should talk with your Dr. about changing meds.
When I started my combination of Klonopin and Neurontin, I couldn't function for three days. I was always sleepy and felt high as a kite. I was sliding along the walls just to walk around without falling and everything kept spinning and I giggled alot. But it went away very soon and the meds really, really help me now. I get the best sleep I've ever gotten in my life and I rarely wake up in a bad mood. I don't feel obliviously happy and I certainly am not "flat" or emotionless. I feel... normal. If they were getting in the way of my weight loss, we have already discussed alternatives. We also discussed that anything needs to be given at least a one month run before we make any decisions. Side effects upon introduction of a new drug in your body need time to play out and see which is left and see how it truly affects you. This is especially true with SSRI anti-depressants which need at least two weeks to get going in your body. Those, I would suggest a 6 week trial unless the side effects are just too much to cope with.
In the majority of information about side effects you will see "weight loss/gain." They all can go either way. Prozac killed my apetite (and just about everything else -- I felt dead inside and had no drive to do anything) but plenty of othe people gained on it. Effexor did nothing and I'm not sure it had any effect on my depression either. Depakote (a mood stabilizer/anti-seizure) made me gain about 60lbs. What's worse, I was so doped up on psych cocktails at the time, I never even noticed. Not even a little. I just bought larger clothes and never for a moment thought about the gain.
So my advice also is to be well informed about what you're on and not let them get carried with the prescribing. Start out with very low doses. My bipolar and panic disorder is considered pretty bad but I'm on very low doses of my meds and they work great and I function fine during the day and don't feel sleepy or medicated whatsoever. They do their job and leave me alone otherwise -- and that's what you want to aim for. Zombification is not fun and it's very bad for weight loss too.
My advice: Talk to your doctor. This is such a personal thing. Go to a psychiatrist and see what he/she advises. You can't say: "I'm thinking about taking something." For what? If you are feeling clinically depressed you should see a doctor and take their med advice.
Also, even if wellbutrin did result in weight loss for some, it doesn't mean that it will work that way or EVEN AS AN ANTIDEPRESSANT on YOU.
Many people have to experiment with a variety of drug cocktails before they find a medicine that works for them. I know, I've been there. For instance, SSRIs have absolutely no positive effect on me, in fact, they made me worse. But wellbutrin has been helpful----for ME, not for everyone.
weight loss and medication
I am currently weaning myself off of generic Prozac and am going to see if I need it anymore. But just because I gained weight doesn't mean everyone will. I ate like a friggin pig during that time, don't know if it was the ADs increasing my appetite or what. But now I'm on Phentermine and Weight Watchers and have lost 10 lbs total (5 while on WW). Best of luck to you, and I would try them, and if you have terrible side effects that outweigh the benefits, maybe you should talk with your Dr. about changing meds.
