A week ago, my doctor put me on paxil. We didn't talk about the possibility of weight gain, but this past week I've been researching paxil and found that it's the worst offender of weight gaining in the SSRI catigory. So now I'm a little peevish. :mad:

I was wondering if any of ya'll have had to deal with trying to lose weight while being on a pill that could possibly lower your RMR. I have read that taking omega 3 and vit. E will help counteract some of what the pill does to you, so that's worth trying as well.

Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks ya'll!

A week ago, my doctor put me on paxil. We didn't talk about the possibility of weight gain, but this past week I've been researching paxil and found that it's the worst offender of weight gaining in the SSRI catigory. So now I'm a little peevish. :mad:

I was wondering if any of ya'll have had to deal with trying to lose weight while being on a pill that could possibly lower your RMR. I have read that taking omega 3 and vit. E will help counteract some of what the pill does to you, so that's worth trying as well.

Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks ya'll!

The response to anti-depressants are highly individualized so hopefulyy your doctor knows enough to gage how things are going and to switch around drugs until one works well for you. You may or may not gain weight but yes paxil does cause weight gain in a lot of people. Anti-depressants tend to reduce libido as well and some people react by being very tired all the time, sleeping a lot more, a side effect that often goes unnoticed by many doctors with the presumption it was the depression when it fact it was the drug. The tiredness was for many years an unreported side-effect.

One anti-depressant that seems to have minimal weight gain and loss of libido and actually an energizer is Wellbutrin. It comes in 3 forms: one to take 3 x a day, one to take twice a day, one to take once a day. The difference between them is time release features. The first two have generics and thus insurance companies don't cover them. The last has no generic but some people find the drug makes them irratable (probably because the therapeutic dose is a little too high for the individual, whereas with the other two one can do a little bit better dosing, e.g., you can cut the others to make smaller doses, you cant with the one a day.)

Finally, and this may come as a surprise, you can get tremendous amount of help from the pharmacists at the company manufacturing the drug. You call the company, you describe what issue you are experiencing and ask to speak to a phamacist on staff. The drug companies have realized that it is impossible for doctors to keep up on all the latest nuances on all the drugs out there. And even excellant patients like you, who take on the responsibility of learning about the drug can't have access to all the detailed information.

I call the pharmacists of every drug I take (and at my age I take a lot :p -- a new pill added about every year now) and I ask a lot of questions. They are most helpful. I will often form a relationship with one particular pharmacist at the company so as I experience symptoms I can call and discuss it with them. They also know a tremendous amount about what you can and cannot do to remedy certain side effects recommending supplementary treatments. They have even, when I have had difficulties with their drug, recommended a competitor's brand as more likely to work with me.

They are also great at checking out whether there are conflicts between their drug and any other drug you take.

It's hard to believe that the drug companies would do such a good job..but it has been quite surprising how determined they are to get first rate experienced pharmacists to work on their staff and who are scientifically knowledgeable.

So you got your work cut out for you but there is resolution possible.

Here is a link to a site I used to find helpful (but I turned to other resources.) It has a sub-link called psycho-babble which was the original site and where people discussed their own side-effects from various drugs. It is monitored by and posts often come from a U of Chicago Medical faculty member, Robert Hsiung who is an MD and also from his staff. His website is reffered to as Dr. Bob's:

http://www.dr-bob.org/

:gl:

So for this week, Paxil hasn't treated me bad. I feel energized in fact. So maybe the weight gain will be minimal. Or I hope.

I'm taking the paxil for OCD and I haven't heard of using Wellbutrin for OCD. I think I'm going to run the gambette of SSRI's to find one that works for me. The thought of taking something that'll make me gain weight makes me a nervous nelly.

Good advice Justia -

Also remember that although it's listed as a side effect, don't go thinking that thats going to happen to you.

But ya, Wellbutrin does have a low side effect profile as far as sex and weight gain is concerned. But a lot of times doctors add another anti depressant to get more efficacy.

Cymbalta is a strong antidepressant with low weight gain and sexual side effects.

Make sure to tell your doctor your concerned with weight gain - he'll do what he thinks is best for you.

The nice thing about paxil and prozac is that they are generic so they are REALLY cheap. The ones we are talking about here (non-generic) are going to run you a good amount of cash. (Depending on your health insurance coverage).

I'm taking the paxil for OCD and I haven't heard of using Wellbutrin for OCD. I think I'm going to run the gambette of SSRI's to find one that works for me. The thought of taking something that'll make me gain weight makes me a nervous nelly.

Have you considered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy? If you don't mind me asking, what type of OCD do you have? (PM me if you want).

I've been on a few A/D drugs in the past few years. Paxil was first and made me sick to my stomach for a long time. Then I went on Zoloft which worked for a while but then lost it's potentcy. Now I am on Remeron and it works great for me other than a bit of tiredness for a few hours right after taking it in the morning. I can't take it at night before bed because it tends to make me very jumpy and I can't stay still for more than 5 seconds. That doesn't happen during the morning because I'm already moving.

One thing that it does do is give VERY vivid dreams and BIG TIME LIBIDO!!! I'm telling ya, rabbits ain't got nothing on me! Gooooooood stuff! <ahem>. Sorry, got off on a tangent there. (Did I just say "got off"????) ACK!

The one thing that it really did do was I gained about 40 pounds really fast! It tends to slow the metabolism down a lot and takes a long while to get it working again. Mine is JUST starting to open it's eyes a little bit and I've been on Remeron since last January. Thusly, my weight loss is slow going but it is happening and I'm toning up some. not as fast as other people on here though but I'm very willing to make the effort and go the distance to be what I know I can be.

You can too.

I find paxil to be fairly weight neutral. Remeron made me insatiably hungry. Prozac is the best for losing weight. It all works via your appetite rather than your metabolism. This information doesn't help in the throes of a craving, though. If you find your appepite increasing dramatically, discuss alternative drugs with your doctor.

I was on paxil for some time for anxiety...I gained about 50 lbs. while I was on it (over the course of about 2.5 years). However, my lifestyle changed a lot in that time, so it is difficult to say what role that it played. In addition, now that I am off it I haven't seen an increase in weight loss.

I actually talked to my Dr. about this...he said it isn't always a metabolism issue (although that is possible). Some of the current thinking is that paxil is a drug that often makes you more social...what do we do in a group setting? We eat. Regardless, it may make your weight loss more difficult, but not impossible.

I haven't tried Paxil, but in the past I was on Zoloft for depression, anxiety, and OCD. I went off of that 2 years ago, but recently had to go back on something, and am now taking lexapro for OCD and depression. I was able to manage my symptoms with intense exercise and eating healthy etc. But that wasn't working anymore, so back in psychotherapy and back on some drugs and still working out like a maniac.

ANYWAY... since being on Lexapro, no weight gain, I have lost a few pounds. I didn't notice any weight gain either while I was on Zoloft a few years ago. Side effects on both drugs has been no libido. And while on Zoloft, I felt incredibly flat, never felt really happy, never felt really sad- just kind of ambivalent. IT will be interesting what the Lexapro will be like once I stabalize. Anyway, you can PM also if you like.