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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sageblue on July 25, 2004, at 0:02:06
i'm thinking of giving EFFEXOR another shot -- i quit while starting it up last year. but i really need something new for migraine prevention and gad/ocd type symptoms.
but, i can't afford to gain weight. has it affected your weight?
Posted by Camille Dumont on July 25, 2004, at 1:56:21
In reply to does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by sageblue on July 25, 2004, at 0:02:06
It really depends ... I mean from what I know, Effexor, in terms of weight gain is much better than say Paxil which is most likely to make you gain ... or Zyprexa who messes up you blood sugar so much you gain 5 pounds just filling your script.
For me Effexor made me lose about 10 pounds ... mostly over the first monts of me taking it. But I also took other meds at the same time so its hard to tell. When I was taking it in addition to Seroquel, I was losing a pound a week every week ... I went close to slipping into the two digits weight but I stopped the seroquel for other reasons ... mainly it zombified me too much.
Actually, when discussing an augmenting agent with the psychiatrist I told her plain and simple : weight gain is NOT tolerable for me. I don't have a weight problem but I sure as heck don't want to end up with one so she was carefull to give me the best augmenting agent that will not make me gain weight ... so she opted for Celexa instead of Paxil or Wellbutrin or any of those nasty antipsychotics ... which I now refuse to take anyway.
After a few months of both Celexa & Effexor there is no significant weight gain/ loss so that seems like a good wieght-safe combo.
I sugget you talk to your doc about that ... I mean its no use for them prescribing you with something you'll stop taking anyway because it makes you gain. There are many many alternatives to the usual suspects in terms of ADs.
Posted by King Vultan on July 25, 2004, at 10:04:32
In reply to does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by sageblue on July 25, 2004, at 0:02:06
It never did for me the multiple times I was on it and always acted as an appetite suppressant. I am amazed at the number of anecdotes I've seen reporting weight gain problems on this stuff, but it is certainly true that the operative phrase to keep in mind for this group is YMMV.
Todd
Posted by Racer on July 25, 2004, at 12:44:57
In reply to Re: does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by King Vultan on July 25, 2004, at 10:04:32
Once again, I seem to be atypical on this, but then I've got weight problems to begin with, so my experience is probably not typical.
On the other hand, I was also taking Prozac with the Effexor XR, and Prozac has been shown to cause weight gain on its own, so it may be that the Effexor was just along for the ride. My weight gain, though, was certainly related to changes in my blood sugar regulation. While on the Effexor XR/Prozac combo, my blood sugar varied pretty widely, which certainly had an impact on my weight.
When I first started Effexor XR, I gained about 20 pounds in the first two months or so, but that leveled out at that level for about a year. After that, I started gaining steadily until I'd put on between 50 and 60 pounds altogether. (Not sure how much exactly: I stopped getting on the scale after a certain point, but had to buy new pants after that point.) The same pattern applied to my blood sugar, too: the wide variances didn't start for about a year, then became pretty pronounced. My guess is that monitoring blood sugar at the first sign of weight gain and addressing that directly would reduce or eliminate any weight gain.
When I stopped the Effexor, though, much of the weight came right off, without any changes on my part. That's the good news.
The other good news -- for everyone except me, at least -- is that I gained to almost the exact weight I'd been on Nortriptyline and on Paxil, so it seems to be a sort of set point for me when I'm medicated. (And I agree absolutely with Camille: there's not a lot of point to prescribing a drug that the patient will discontinue because of weight gain. Talk to your doctor about how any potential for weight gain can be minimized, and make sure that that issue is clearly understood on both sides. If you're seeing a female doctor, so much the better: I truly believe that male pdocs really don't have a clue about how basic an issue this is for women.)
Again, my weight is and always has been and probably always will be a problem -- regardless of medications. There was a pretty clear mechanism for my weight gain while I was on Effexor XR and Prozac. Most of the weight came right off when the meds were discontinued. And your mileage is very likely to vary from mine. Everything else I've read about Effexor says it's pretty well weight-neutral for virtually everyone. I'm just one of the lucky few, I guess.
Best luck!
Posted by Camille Dumont on July 25, 2004, at 13:27:59
In reply to Re: does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by Racer on July 25, 2004, at 12:44:57
Ya, the psychiatrist I see is a woman ... a true gem ... so I guess maybe thats why she understands how important weight gain can be for patients ... perhaps moreso than men
Posted by Colleen D. on July 25, 2004, at 14:51:18
In reply to does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by sageblue on July 25, 2004, at 0:02:06
And that is a healthy thing for me! Having four babies in a short period of time made me put on a good 20 lbs. so i'm feeling great about my loss. Effexor really supresses my appetite, but so did Zoloft when I took it back in 2000 and 2001.
Good luck!
Colleen
PPD, GAD and OCD
Posted by ST on July 26, 2004, at 4:52:41
In reply to does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by sageblue on July 25, 2004, at 0:02:06
Hi,
I was on Celexa and ballooned up by about 30 pounds in just 2 1/2 months. (I have two friends who went on it and had the same thing happen)
My pdoc recommended Effexor because of it's appetite supressing qualities. Sure enough, I lost the first ten pounds quickly once I started Effexor(and have been struggling with the rest ever since!). I went off Effexor because my body reacted so adversly if I would miss my twice daily dose by just an hour or so. It was scary. The withdrawal effects can be absolutely brutal...I'm sure you can tell by all the Effexor/withdrawal posts in the archive!
Anyway, I think Effexor is a great AD and I've not heard of anyone gaining weight while on it.
Good luck!
ST
> i'm thinking of giving EFFEXOR another shot -- i quit while starting it up last year. but i really need something new for migraine prevention and gad/ocd type symptoms.
>
> but, i can't afford to gain weight. has it affected your weight?
Posted by starlight on July 26, 2004, at 13:09:07
In reply to Re: does EFFEXOR cause weight gain? ? sageblue, posted by ST on July 26, 2004, at 4:52:41
Effexor has made me lose weight. Probably at least 10 pounds or so.
starlight
Posted by Tony C. on July 26, 2004, at 15:33:27
In reply to I've lost almost 15 lbs. since May 18... » sageblue, posted by Colleen D. on July 25, 2004, at 14:51:18
cool man
Posted by starlight on July 27, 2004, at 12:31:19
In reply to Re: does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by Camille Dumont on July 25, 2004, at 1:56:21
When I mentioned the weight gain issue to my Pdoc, she said that one combination that works really well is Provigil and Effexor, but the Effexor seems to work well alone so far. If I find that over time I start to gain, I'll go for the provigil, but for now, I want to stay on as little as possible.
starlight
Posted by I cook for you on July 27, 2004, at 22:21:49
In reply to Re: does EFFEXOR cause weight gain?, posted by starlight on July 27, 2004, at 12:31:19
While taking 37.5 mg Effexor XR for the past 11 months, I've had no gain in weight. I've recently gained a few after starting some low dose estrogen.
This is the end of the thread.
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