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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sycochick on November 10, 2000, at 19:36:54
Since starting 4 mths ago(for depression) and maintaining dose of 75mg per day,the lbs are piling on!I've decreased my dosage to less than 35mg a day,2 wks ago.No side effects yet,only dizzy when a dose was missed.Is it gonna get tougher,or am I on the path to being done??
Posted by Cindy W on November 10, 2000, at 20:48:14
In reply to Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by sycochick on November 10, 2000, at 19:36:54
> Since starting 4 mths ago(for depression) and maintaining dose of 75mg per day,the lbs are piling on!I've decreased my dosage to less than 35mg a day,2 wks ago.No side effects yet,only dizzy when a dose was missed.Is it gonna get tougher,or am I on the path to being done??
sycochick, is your eating related to your depression? For me, I eat more when I feel lonely and down. Perhaps you should talk with your pdoc about increasing the Effexor or changing to another AD. I lost about 25 lbs on Effexor, but have slowly regained some of it, since I eat more when it's COLD and I feel lonely.--Cindy W
Posted by sycochick on November 10, 2000, at 21:13:38
In reply to Re: Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by Cindy W on November 10, 2000, at 20:48:14
> > Since starting 4 mths ago(for depression) and maintaining dose of 75mg per day,the lbs are piling on!I've decreased my dosage to less than 35mg a day,2 wks ago.No side effects yet,only dizzy when a dose was missed.Is it gonna get tougher,or am I on the path to being done??
>
> sycochick, is your eating related to your depression? For me, I eat more when I feel lonely and down. Perhaps you should talk with your pdoc about increasing the Effexor or changing to another AD. I lost about 25 lbs on Effexor, but have slowly regained some of it, since I eat more when it's COLD and I feel lonely.--Cindy W> Also struggling w/ eating disorder for yrs,so the wght gain really upsets me.My Dr wantd me on effexor for only 8 mths.. maybe i can start the "weaning process" now,and not have too many side effects.Depression lasted only about 6 weeks,have felt basically okay.
Posted by Mr. Man on November 11, 2000, at 9:26:35
In reply to Re: Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by sycochick on November 10, 2000, at 21:13:38
Why is gaining weight the like one of the worst things that could ever happen to you, I say if your medication is working thats more important than gaining a little weight, dont worry about it, television and society has made you people more concerned about your weight than you should be, now of course when you get to a certain point being overweight can be unhealthy but anyway you get my point, before you quit your medication or mess with your dose just make your best effort to eat healthy and less and exercise a little because it just seems really silly how people react to gaining 10 pounds, or even sexual side effects or whatever, i have havent been able to find a antidepressant that works for me, and if i did i would gladly accept gaining weight or never being able to have sex again, because chances of finding a perfect med. with zero side effects are slim to none and being thin or having sex is not as important as living life, i dont want to offend anyone by this, this is just my personal thought on the matter right now, if it was + or -
a few years or if i was in a similar situation as you i might think different so feel free to totally disregard this post
Posted by Trinitee on November 12, 2000, at 13:26:27
In reply to Re: Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by Cindy W on November 10, 2000, at 20:48:14
> > Since starting 4 mths ago(for depression) and maintaining dose of 75mg per day,the lbs are piling on!I've decreased my dosage to less than 35mg a day,2 wks ago.No side effects yet,only dizzy when a dose was missed.
sycochik,
I craved sugar...sweets...coke...etc..the withdrawls suck but i'm sticking it out i want it OUT of my system and the 25 pounds i gained in six monthss OFF!!!!!i had to take a dose last nite after trying to go w/out and found myself EATING OMG--cuz i was fine all day w/out "grazing" if you will. Grazing isnt bad it's what i graze on...LOL
Posted by Trinitee on November 12, 2000, at 13:28:19
In reply to Re: Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by Mr. Man on November 11, 2000, at 9:26:35
> Why is gaining weight the like one of the worst things that could ever happen to you,
If the effexor had worked i'd stick out the weight gain but it doesnt work!! Though i do have to say i've had fewere sexual side affects w/it than other drugs. I think (this is just my opinion) that being able to sexually function IS important cuz it's such a normal healthy thing to do (most of the time...LOL)didt hat make sense?
Posted by Boots on November 12, 2000, at 17:30:25
In reply to Re: Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by Trinitee on November 12, 2000, at 13:28:19
When I first started EffexorXR July 99, it seemed like I
didn't have as much appetite as with Elavil. I lost a few pounds so I thought it was going to help
me lose weight which would be nice. Elavil made me crave
sweets really bad. Lately I have been craving salt more than sugar.
Anyway, after being on it for awhile, I started getting more of an appetite
back and gaining weight again. I read that it is not good to give anorexics EffexorXR or the
SSRI drugs because of loss of appetite.Don't you think it is hard to figure out if your symptoms are from the medicine
or from your depression. Overeating can be a side effect for depression. It
definitely is for me. I have gained about 20 or 30 lbs. since getting really depressed.
Just because a person is on meds doesn't mean they aren't going to feel some
depression or even anxiety. The drugs don't take away all of your feelings. They aren't
miracle drugs. I have realized that from taking them the last 15 years. I would sort of
like to see how I act and feel without drugs. I probably won't notice myself, but anytime I try
I get so depressed I cannot function.
Boots
Posted by Shirley on November 14, 2000, at 20:59:21
In reply to Effexor's making me gain weight,I wanna go off it!, posted by sycochick on November 10, 2000, at 19:36:54
Hi,
I went through the same thing with Zoloft so I do understand how you feel. I don't know if this would be helpful or not but here is the decision making process that I went through.
As liberal as I feel I am about weight, I have to admit that the additional pounds terrified me. But as long as I felt the Zoloft was working, I thought it would be risky for me to try another drug when I haven't had success with many of them.
But as the pounds continued to pile on, which really bothered me because I was having to buy clothes all the time and when I started to have problems with my stimulant, I figured it was worth it for me to risk trying out another drug.
Right now, I am a combination of Prozac and Zoloft plus other meds and have lost weight due to the Prozac cutting my appetite. Even though I am not totally stabalized, I am glad I made the move.
So here are the questions I would be asking?
1. Is the Effexor helping and how much is it helping? Does it meet the John L. criteria of restoring you to full functioning?
If the answer is yes, then here is what I would be considering next. When you say, you have gained 25 pounds, were you at an artificially low weight to begin with and maybe now, you're where you're suppose to be? If yes and the Effexor is working great, to be honest, if it were me, I wouldn't switch.
Or did you start at a normal weight to begin with and now you feel overweight and unattractive? Again, if the Effexor is working great, I would be reluctant to change but that would be a tough call.
What really worried me and that may be your situation is I saw no end to the weight gain. I could learn to deal with being at a certain weight but I didn't want to have to buy more clothes a month later.
If after all of this, you still want to change and the Effexor has worked really well, I would ask to switch to Wellbutrin because I think it's pretty similar. (John L. correct me if I'm wrong). Also, Wellbutrin statistically does not cause weight gain but of course, your mileage may vary.
If Effexor isn't working that great, than maybe you need to consider a different type of antidepressant. Since I don't know your situation, am not a doctor, and don't know as much as John L. or other posters do, I don't want to say what that should be. If the focus lands on the pure SSRI's, my psychiatrist has said that Prozac and Celexa are the least weight gain offenders. But again, your mileage may vary.
Sorry for such a long post but I was kind of thinking out loud as I wrote it. Hope something is helpful.
Shirley
This is the end of the thread.
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