Posted by Otherworldly on April 1, 2003, at 15:00:36
Hello --
I'm wondering if anybody who is troubled by antidepressant-induced weight gain has ever consulted an endocrinologist to try to sort out what's going on.
Here's my story. I hope, if nothing else, I can get some sympathy from the group. My baseline weight -- into my late 30s -- was about 120, which I sustained effortlessly, eating as much as I wanted. Began a tricyclic, gained 12 pounds in 8 months. Wasn't too concerned, because these were the days when drugs were just prescribed for the short term. Stopped the tricyclic, lost most of the weight. Got depressed again, took trazodone for two years, got back down to baseline weight without dieting. Went on Paxil, gained 20 pounds in five months. No increase in appetite or consumption, just an inexorable gain. Stopped Paxil -- which was quite a mood brightener for me -- because I couldn't stand weighing more than 140 pounds. Lost the weight, got depressed again, started Effexor, gained 40 pounds. Stopped the Effexor, lost most of the weight. Also lost my mind, and had ECT. Since then, have been on various meds, all of which have caused me to pack on pounds. Currently, on Lexapro, am up to 185 -- in another words, more than 50 percent overweight. Started suffering from acid reflux disease (which is known to be weight-related), had an endoscopy, and have now been told that the acid reflux has caused a pre-cancerous condition of my esophagus. My pdoc -- who is considered one of the top psycho-pharmacologists in my city, tells me he almost never runs into a patient like me, and can't suggest anything other than watching my food intake (which I do) and exercise (which I should do more of). But I feel like something is so wrong with my metabolism that all I can do is go off the meds, and fall back into the pits. I'm considering doing it, because I loathe myself at this weight. But I know what it's like to be terribly depressed, and I know that would happen if I went without drugs.
Sorry. I've been babbling. I guess that's what Psychobabble is for, though.
poster:Otherworldly
thread:215123
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030329/msgs/215123.html