Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 350449

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Effexor and Bulimia

Posted by rmh on May 25, 2004, at 11:25:53

I have just been given Effexor ER to treat Bulimia. I started on the 37.5 and now I'm taking the 75mg. Has anyone else taken this for bulimia? Was it successful?

 

Re: Effexor and Bulimia

Posted by Dauphine on May 25, 2004, at 12:37:14

In reply to Effexor and Bulimia, posted by rmh on May 25, 2004, at 11:25:53

I didn't realize that they prescribed Effexor for bulimia. It can actually cause anorexia is some people that are underweight or have bad eating habits to begin with. I am on 75 mg of Effexor XR and in the first 6 weeks of taking it, I lost about 5-7 pounds. I do not have an eating disorder, but sometimes I just don't eat (busy, not hungry etc.) I found that it decreased my appetite quite a bit, but after taking it for 2 months, my appetite seems to be getting better. A lot of people also can gain weight with Effexor, I think it depends on your weight to start with. If you are on the skinny end, I think people tend to lose weight.
Dauphine

 

Re: Effexor and Bulimia

Posted by Racer on May 25, 2004, at 18:26:55

In reply to Re: Effexor and Bulimia, posted by Dauphine on May 25, 2004, at 12:37:14

I've heard the 'skinny people lose/heavy people gain" but don't know if my experience fits into that, since I'm likely to restrict what I eat when I'm depressed.

On Effexor, my apetite initially decreased -- BUT my anxiety decreased almost immediately. My guess is that the decreased anxiety might be what they're hoping will decrease your need to purge. I think I'd ask your pdoc what makes Effexor his choice for bulemia. He may say it's the anxiety thing, or that it's the best anti-depressant for your medical history, or he may say something along the lines of "because I say so." That's a good starting point, though.

Although my apetite decreased at first on Effexor, I did end up gaining a lot of weight on it. (From maybe 87% of my 'target weight' to about 1.24% of it.) I was also taking Prozac, which might have caused the weight gain, though. (The Effexor didn't touch the depression, just made me a lot less anxious about it.) And, don't let my numbers worry you. Weight gain is a major issue for me on these drugs, and other SSRIs -- like Prozac and Paxil -- have had that effect on me without any help from Effexor.

Hope that helps. And good luck to you.


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