Posted by ptroy on March 15, 2000, at 8:33:33
In reply to Re: Paxil....weight gain revisited., posted by deb2 on March 13, 2000, at 19:01:11
Deb2, i feel your pain, believe me, i feel it. I take chromium and L Carnitine also, along with pyruvate, and st. johns. I wish someone could give me an answer about why/how paxil causes these problems, the theory i have heard most is that it MAJORLY screws up your metabolism, even after you stop taking it. I also read something about its effect on Leptin, but i was unable to find anything else about this.
Sad thing is, no one has a definitive answer on what it does, and until just recently, no one even knew paxil caused grotesque weight gain because the maker says it causes you to lose weight, and the doctors just believe what the drug companies tell them. The funny thing is, i was originally prescribed zoloft, but i read in a drug/medication book that there was a POSSIBLE side effect with zoloft of weight gain, so after researching paxil in these meds books (and the drug makers website, what a crock of poop), i ASKED to be switched to paxil, and my doctor said, great choice, that doesnt cause weight gain.
well, the whole thing has taught me a valuable lesson (never ever take a drug without doing your research, fairly extensive at that), and shown me some valuable information sources for researching meds (this and other BBS's).
I have been off paxil 2 months, and all meds for 6 weeks. What i have read, and i have to believe or i will go insane with depression, is that it takes time to lose the paxil weight. It probably took me 8 months to put it on, so i am giving myself 8 to take it off. I think it might stay in your system much longer than they originally thought, so i keep plugging away with exercise and diet. I fortunately never had a large appetite, before/during/after paxil, so i havent noticed much change there.
mark my words, the real truth about paxil and the other wonder drug ssri's will surface soon, when all the bloated/fattties like us come forward demanding the record be set straight. paxil and those drugs work great for some, and cause no weight gain, but i have gotten into numerous fights on other boards with people who say, "why dont you try diet and exercise, and be motivated"...they just dont get it, and the funny thing is, i bet even being 40 pounds heavier i am still in better shape than them. when normal techniques, proven over decades, dont help drop the weight, it is VERY disheartening.
Just keep plugging along i guess, it is depressing, and i have my days where i am very upbeat and say, oh well, i will just plug along, and days where i want to lop off a limb to reduce my weight...but i guess there are a lot of people in worse siutations out there, so i do the best i can.
i will post anything i find on paxil and weight, and if you would do the same that would be great.
take care and hope you are well.
poster:ptroy
thread:26779
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000312/msgs/27083.html