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My cousin is on Wellbutrin which is an anti depressant. The doctor prescribed it for weight loss. She likes it. She doesn't have any side effects.
I'm sure everyone is different.
well I am on the second week of it and the only side effect I have had is a "little" bit of constipation. Nothing too bad, but I am trying to eat more bran to help. I actually do feel less hungry and have to tell myself "okay it's lunch time, you have to eat" because I usually don't have that hungry feeling. There are times that I do get that hungry feeling and I eat regularly.
Since I have been on it my weight has been up and down. I have been down 5 pounds and then the next time I weigh it is up 3 more pounds. The doctor said the first few weeks are the water loss, not the weight loss.
I asked him about the blood pressure because they didn't take mine before and didn't say anything about following up for visits. He said not to worry about it. He took my blood pressure and said things look good.
I am hoping this is something that helps, the cost is expensive, but if it helps control my hunger that that is good.
I took Meridia when I lost my original weight. I believe 100% in it. I felt full quickly and didn't feel the need to eat as much. I started in Feb of 2003 and by August of 2003 I had lost 50 lbs.
I have just started meridia. I am on day 4. I have lost about 2 pounds even though it is TOM.
I was wondering if others could share their experiences with me. I need to lose about 30 pounds. I know I am a borderline canidate for it but none the less I believe I really have a problem with my metabolism. I am 5'6', 43 years old and wiegh 168. I have been trying for over 2 years and I can't seem to lose. Most of my life I weighed 145 to 150 even after having 3 kids and gaining 50 pounds with each.
I noticed my mood and energy seemed to improve, although when I first take the pill I get a buzz and then feel sleepy. After the initial buzz food does not seem to interest me. It seems like it puts some control on my eating.
I have a two month supply. How long do I need to take it? and what exactly is this drug? Is it some sort of antidepressent combinied with speed? After reading the info on the drug I didn't understand exactly how it works. I also have trouble sleeping since starting it and I am waking early, a good thing since I seem to have been having really low energy, waking at 10. I really do believe you have to get your energy level up to lose weight, and how do you lose if you have trouble getting out of bed? I also seem to need to nap two hours a day, but I skipped my nap today.
I know about the blood pressure thing, but doesn't being over weight raise your blood pressure too?
Yes, I've tried antidepressents before and hated them.
I exercise a few hours a week and eat "healthy", my problem is bingeing.
Hi there,
I'm just curious - are you under a doctor's care? I don't know a lot about meridia, except that my mother-in-law took it. She had some success, but I think she quit it because of side effects. However, she is much more overweight than you are (still about 80 overweight, I'm guessing, not sure how much over when she started it).
Like I said, I really don't know much at all, but it just seems to be that it's serious stuff and that your dr. should fully explain to you how it works. I'm sure there are people on here who can give you some good insight as well.
No, I am not on under a doctor's care, but I plan on checking my blood pressure and if the side effects are too much I'll quit. I only have a two month supply, I really was just trying to boost my weight loss because I haven't lost any more WW since earlier this year when I went from 177 to 166 at WW, then I gained back almoxt all of it and am having a real hard time getting below 169.
I have been hovering at this weight for almost 2 years and have been trying
various diets and exercises.
I was on Meridia for about six months. I lost a little weight on it, but the side effects were too extreme. My doctor prescribed it even though I have high blood pressure, and he adjusted my medication to compensate.
Generally Meridia is only prescribed for those with over 60 lbs to lose, because the blood pressure spike can be dangerous, and at weights less than this the benefits are generally not thought to be worth the risks. Particularly because of the way the drug works. In most cases, the effect of the drug is not dramatic, but for a person who is very overweight the theory is that any loss is better than none, and might give a person a small jump start in weight loss.
Meridia was created as an antidepressant (no speed, but antidepressants can make you feel "wired," especially at first. This might be a sign that it is affecting your blood pressure and heart rate, however). The appetite suppressing effects were discovered by accident, and because it's antidepressant effects weren't any better than drugs already on the market, they developed it as a diet drug. Like most antidepressants it can actually increase appetite in some people. It can also affect mood both positively and negatively.
It really shouldn't be taken without medical supervision. When I was taking it, I had to see my doctor every two weeks at first, and every month once I'd been on it for a while. The potential side effects for a thinner person are just as severe as for a more overweight person, as my doctor said it is unpredictable as to who will have side effects, which is why he wouldn't prescribe it to anyone who had less than 100 lbs to lose.
Also Meridia, like other antidepressant drugs can have serious drug interactions (I think there might be food interactions too, but I don't remember if that's true of Meridia).
I have just started meridia. I know I am a borderline canidate for it but none the less I believe I really have a problem with my metabolism. I am 5'6', 43 years old and wiegh 168. I have been trying for over 2 years and I can't seem to lose. Most of my life I weighed 145 to 150 even after having 3 kids and gaining 50 pounds with each.
I exercise a few hours a week and eat "healthy", my problem is bingeing.
-Elaine
A few months back I followed your plan but also wasn't losing anything. I realized it really is all about the number of calories consumed as deducted by calories burned through resting metabolic rate, daily activities and exercise. I think my numbers show if I dont get any exercise in a given day, I need to eat less than 2000 calories or I will just maintain or even gain. I can eat as healthy as I want, but if I eat too many calories as compared to calories burned, I wont lose fat (and its sure easy to eat more calories than one thinks). I've been counting every calorie that I've eaten for a while now and its so easy now to see what's going on. When I go up, I see why. If I lose, I can see that too, that I've been eating less or burning a lot at the gym. I have a spreadsheet to track the weight, cals burned, cals eaten and the deficit; the weight sure does keep up with the deficit column. Hopefully the meridia will help you control the binges, but I would still count calories eaten and burned (this helps to motivate you to go to the gym) to see what's going on.
I tried Meridia for about 6 months....it really did NOT suppress my appetite, but it worked GREAT as an anti-depressant....I specifically remember waking up on day 5 or 6 and feeling GOOD....(I usually felt like **&^%).
for suppressing my appetite I had better sucess with phentermine.
Coleen, you said," Meridia was created as an antidepressant (no speed, but antidepressants can make you feel "wired," especially at first. This might be a sign that it is affecting your blood pressure and heart rate, however). The appetite suppressing effects were discovered by accident, and because it's antidepressant effects weren't any better than drugs already on the market, they developed it as a diet drug. Like most antidepressants it can actually increase appetite,"(I know use the quote button, I am not a forum whiz yet, I don't even have an avatar)
from what I researched I read that it is the chemical sibutramine which is a stimulant related to amphetamines. I think it tells your brain when you are full or something, is that the antidepressent part?
I would say it also stays with you a long time. Also my mood has improved.
I have not lost any weight though, so I agree its not some magic pill, but i'm not gaining even though its TOM. It was weird but after taking it for 5 days even though I kept waking up in the middle of the night and waking early I looked better. I didn't take it for a day and the depression set right back in.
I also noticed that when I take it I seemed to be able to tolerate stress around me better.
I also am not experiencing an increase in appetite. From what I read the increased appetite is a less common side effect. I do find the drug hard to take though, there are side effects, the waking in the middle of the night is annoying.
I have all the WW materials. I quit going because I would track till lunch then binge every night and eat 10 extra points at night. So I am going to go back to tacking on my own, and see if I can get this bingeing under control. So far, I'm doing better, but still have not lost anything.
I'm not sure Elaine, mostly I'm going by what my doctor told me and the handouts I got from the doctor and pamphlets from the drug company that makes it. At the time I was taking it, you could sign up on the drug company website for a discount card which came in the mail along with a bunch of pamphlets. I just remember that the company was emphasizing that it was NOT an amphetamine. I suppose that doesn't mean it isn't LIKE an amphetamine.
I do remember that the drug was supposed to work by increasing the levels of several neurotransmitters, if I'm not mistaken seratonin, dopamine, and norepinephrin (may have spelled those wrong). Most antidepressants increase one or more neurotransmitters, but which ones, and how they accomplish it can be different.
When I was in graduate school we studied a lot of the antidepressants and other neurotransmitter effecting drugs (I have my master's degree in psych), but Meridia hadn't been out yet. All the neurotransmitter affecting drugs can have side effects of increasing or decreasing sleep, sex drive, appetite, energy level, and mood (including suicidal thoughts). Some of them are more or less likely to affect one or the other (or affect it in a particular direction), but any affect is possible. This is why antidepressants can be dangerous when not prescribed and supervised appropriately. Someone who is depressed, but who has never been suicidal, and not aware that the antidepressant can actually provoke suicidal thoughts might actually be at risk for suicide. The chances of any antidepressant making a person suicidal is more common in teens, but can happen in anyone. I've not heard of Meridia doing so, but I suppose even that is possible.
I think it was 140/90 when I had my knee surgery in January.
I had been to a cardiologist and he said I was fine, so I don't know if this is from
anxiety or what. I think it is the extra 30 pounds which is doing it,
but the drug seems too risky. We are getting a monitor and I am going
to monitor myself for a while off the drug, although I am not sure if it is even the drug.
I have a family history of heart disease so I am getting worried about being unable to lose this 30 pounds, no I didn't get any help from the doctor.
I don't know what I'm thinking, anyway after a week I didn't lose anyway.
I will say that I've always had low blood pressure (normal for me is 100/60). When I tried Meridia, my blood pressure went to 150/90 and the doctor told me that I couldn't take it anymore. It didn't do anything for me anyway. It would've been nice if it did work and if it didn't have dangerous side effects.
