paxil - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Pixiesue · 03-13-2008, 09:47 AM

well I am on Paxil and I don't know if it will affect my WL efforts. Does anyone have any experiences with this?

meowee · 03-13-2008, 10:21 AM

I honestly don't know . . . I take Prozac and have for years. I honestly think that most anti-depressants can have an impact on our weight loss efforts -- BUT -- so does being depressed.

Pixiesue · 03-13-2008, 12:10 PM

LOL meowee! how very true!

Shy Moment · 03-15-2008, 01:13 AM

I have taken paxil and prozac and both of them caused me to gain a ton of weight. Don't take that to mean you will. My doc laughs and says anything that can cause weight gain I just can't take. I am that 1 in 100,000,000 person they talk about lol.

srmb60 · 03-15-2008, 10:12 AM

I have taken paxil for a few years now. If anything, it keeps me well enough to care how I feel, eat, exercise. It enables me to 'get about it' ... plan, shop, go out and walk etc.

petra65 · 03-15-2008, 02:29 PM

I'm a psychiatrist. I don't normally post here but I saw this thread and thought I'd tell you what advice I give my patients about this. Paxil is an antidepressant that for most patients does cause some weight gain. There are others that are worse. Your mental health is more important, and of course, not everyone gains on it. You will have to make up your own mind about how it is affecting you and what the pros and cons are. Hope that helps.

shrinky · 03-17-2008, 04:47 PM

I just thought I would share...I was on Paxil for about a year, and gained quite a bit of weight on it, despite my efforts to lose weight. I finally talked to my doctor about this, and how getting my weight under control was a top priority for me, and he agreed that the Paxil could be related. He said that Paxil does often cause some weight gain in patients.

Going off of Paxil was pretty rough (the withdrawal symptoms were hard for me), but now that I have been off of it for a few months (since December 2007) I do find that I am more easily able to lose weight and don't tend to gain ridiculous amounts back if I'm not 100% perfect one week.

Obviously, this is something you need to talk about with your doctor. There are lots of antidepressants out there, and some are more notorious for causing weight gain than others. It's also very personal though -- what makes me gain weight might not have any effect on you at all in that regard. Talk to your doctor before you make any changes ... and definitely do NOT just stop taking it cold turkey.

Good luck!