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
poster:Shirley
thread:48642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001102/msgs/48820.html