Posted by JANNBEAU on February 15, 2002, at 15:48:19
In reply to Re: Effexor discontinuation, posted by SusanG on February 15, 2002, at 13:37:59
>Hi, SusanB and Elizabeth (E,we've talked before):
This is Jannbeau. I posted a comment that weight gain on one psychotrophic medicine is a good predictor for weight gain on others. I just did a search on the www for "psychotrophic antidepressant weight" and, based on this (admittedly nonscientific) search, I stand by that statement. I also stated that those who were very thin to start or who lost wt with depression with were more likely to maintain or to lose wt on these meds. This seems to be a minority response however. The material I read today suggests that weight gain is a common effect of these medications. Personally, I've noticed a craving for high carb, high sugar foods on Effexor (saw this mentioned with regard to AD's, Antipsychotics, AntiBiPolar meds on my www travels, too). I am not gaining weight presently--haven't lost any either!
Now - finally - to the gist of this post: as you probably know, Welbutrin (bupropion) seems less likely to cause weight gain than some other AD's. There is another drug that might not cause as much weight gain: SERZONE or (nefazodone--sp?). BUT--the FDA recently announced (MedWatch) that the mfgr of Serzone must add a "Black Box" Warning to the physicians insert for Serzone. Apparently, there have been several instances of liver failure leading to death or liver transplants in persons taking Serzone. In most cases (?) the patients had NO indentified predisposing factors for liver failure nor did they have active liver disease when they started Serzone. Therefore, before you try Serzone, you may wish to talk with your physician about this risk. If you decide to take Serzone, you might wish to have liver function tests before you start and at regular intervals thereafter (perhaps 3 to 4 times/year).
Good Luck!!
Cheers,
Jannbeau
Hi Elizabeth,
> I think you have some good ideas about weaning off Effexor. I am almost off mine completely at this point and have gone through some hell but I think I am over the worst of it. Using the capsules and not being able to divide them was a problem for me. The nurse's suggestion to go every other day, then every third day just doesn't seem to make as much sense as a daily dose gradually lowered. Getting a blast (my capsules were 75 mg), then nothing, then a blast again can't the preferred way to go. But I am almost there and my symptoms of dizziness, random crying attacks, etc., have subsided and I hope they don't return. On to Wellbutrin in a week and I hope I find success with that.
>
> One more thought about the issue of weight gain. As others have said, I initally had no weight gain with Effexor XR but after about a month or so I started putting it on and ended up gaining about 25 pounds since November. NOT OK WITH ME! But I have noticed a pattern with my weight: when severely stressed and depressed I can't eat and my weight drops or stays down. When my stress/depression is lessened somewhat but not gone, I tend to eat too much as a coping mechanism and I gain. Maybe when I began to gain with Effexor it was because I was less depressed but not entirely ok and therefore went into Munch Mode. Maybe I really needed MORE Effexor to lessen the depression to the point that I don't eat to compensate. Who knows? I'm sure the fatigue I felt on Effexor also contributed to my decreased exercise which just exaserbated the weight issue. I will give Wellbutrin a try but I'm nervous about the earlier post stating that if one AD causes weight gain, it is likely that other AD's will as well.
poster:JANNBEAU
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020215/msgs/94291.html