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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on July 19, 2003, at 20:45:56
In reply to Adjustment disorder w/ mixed anxiety and depressio, posted by Lainy on July 19, 2003, at 20:33:41
Originally posted by Lainy 7/19/03
> After several years of on again off again medications I have recently been diagnosed with Adjustment disorder w/mixed anxiety and depression.
>
> I was prescribed Lexapro @ 30mg a day, Risperdal @ 3mg per day (which I am now weaning myself off of due to side effects) and I just switched from Klonopin 3mg per day to Tranxene 30mg per day due to the ineffectivness of Klonopin, so I thought. Prior to this mixture of meds I was on Zoloft (which did nothing except cause weight gain and increased anxiety) and Tranxene.
>
> I have gained a lot of weight that I haven't been able to explain until reading many of the messages on this forum.
>
> Since I am having side effects from the Lexapro (panic attacks, insomnia, teeth grinding, anxiety, etc.) as well I'm thinking of weaning myself altogether off all anti-depressants because I have tried several and the ones I haven't tried quite frankly scare me. However, I have read some good things about Wellbutrin.
>
> I wonder if anyone else has this same diagnosis and what meds they are on.
>
> Oh, I've gone from 120lbs to 175lbs over a two year period. I am not a big eater, I eat healthy and I am not a snacker at all. The only explanation I can now conclude, after finding this forum is that it's been the anti-depressants causing my weight gain, despite what the doctors say.
>
> Any input on meds and this statement would be appreciated
Posted by Dr. Bob on July 19, 2003, at 23:27:22
In reply to Re: Adjustment disorder w/ mixed anxiety and depressio » Lainy, posted by Dinah on July 19, 2003, at 20:45:56
[Posted by mair on July 19, 2003, at 21:00:57
In reply to http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030711/msgs/243568.html]
> Lainy
>
> Someone here is going to redirect your post to the meds board. I don't know how to do that so I'm happy to answer here.
>
> I don't have your precise dx, but I do have alot of experience with Wellbutrin. The SSRIs never worked for me - I've tried prozac and zoloft and actually a ton of other stuff too. I never started taking WB until I had tried several other alternatives over a 2 year period. It took me a long time to realize that WB was making a difference. In fact i quit it after a couple of months and then forced myself to start up again. After being on it for awhile, I also lost about 25 pounds. I can't blame my heavier weight on anti-depressants since I was heavy when I started taking them, but I definitely think WB had something to do with the loss.
>
> Unfortunately, while WB has always been a good drug for me and clearly made a big difference when I started it, it has never really totally done the trick, and i've tried several other meds as augmentation drugs. About a year ago, I started using amitriptlyline in conjunction with WB. I think it's worked better than most of the other stuff I've tried, but I also think it's been responsible for about a 20 1b weight gain. Most of the time I've been ok with it because I don't have the nerve to quit something that has helped, but I do have to say, periodically I can get very depressed about the state of my body.
>
> So I guess I would say that while WB helped me lose weight, after awhile it stopped working that way or just wasn't enough to counterbalance the amitriptyline weight gain or maybe the hormonal changes too.
>
> Overall, it's pretty dreadful that we're forced to make such crummy choices. I always told my pdoc that I didn't want to take drugs that would result in weight gain because I had this huge fear that I'd gain a ton of weight only to discover that the drug causing it wasn't working anyway. This time it just sort of crept up on me.
>
> Mair
>
> PS WB can be activating so some people with anxiety have trouble with it. Anxiety is a huge component of my depression but I don't think WB makes it any worse. I've used other drugs to counter the anxiety on an as needed basis. I also took klonopin for years, but not in the amounts you write about. I really just took it to help me get to sleep. Amitriptyline is a bit sedating too so since I started taking it, I've stopped using klonopin
This is the end of the thread.
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