Grapefruit Diet Blog & not only!

Argh! I am so frustrated! I had no idea Paxil caused a weight
gain. It is not listed as a side effect in the drug company’s
literature. My doctor still thinks my unexplained 10 lb weight gain
over the past 4 months might be thyroid related. I finally
remembered (I believe memory loss is another side effect) to search
the web for some answers and ran across this and another website with
first-hand accounts of noted weight gain. I guess it is a relief to
know I am not alone, but now I fear I am going to have a hard time
losing the weight - something I have never had a problem with in my
life. I exercise vigorously five times a week and eat a pretty
healthy diet. I have always prided myself in my flat stomach after
two kids and at 40. Now I can barely zip up my pants!

My doc started transitioning me to Lexapro this week - does anyone
take this med, and if so have weight gain with it? Thanks for
letting me vent.

Kristan

I have been tapering off my Lexapro, running, and taking the Omega 3.
I had a rough time last night. I actually started to feel panicky. I
remember when I stopped Prozac abruptly, it was like I fell into a
black hole. Has anyone experienced a period where they felt terrible
when withdrawing from the SSRIs? I may have done it too fast. I
tapered off Lexapro in 5 days. I took a small chunk after my run
tonight to try and reduce the withdrawl effects… It seems to be
working.

Also, has anyone here stayed on their SSRI and lost weight following
this program?

Robert

I posted a while ago with frustration of gaining 30 lbs over the past year while being on Effexor XR 37.5mg. And even though this is a small dose, it helps me alot. However the pounds have piled on. So I went to see a dietician and she was very helpful. The one discouraging
thing is that she has tried to get information from the manufacturers of Paxil and Prozac to find out if these meds actually cause the body
to burn fat less efficiently or retain fat easier. No one will respond to her requests. She actually worked with a Professor who was on Paxil and supposedly followed her diet and exercise routine to a tee, and did not lose any weight (she did not gain any though either). So here I am thinking great, I am screwed. Her advice was 45-60 minutes of cardio every single day. Weight train 2-3 days a week. Cut out all excess fat. She said the trends of no carb/Atkins diet are scary and cause a lot of problems. People with depression and anxiety need carbs, more than the average joe. So anyway, she also said that fat=fat. There is no good fat vs. bad fat when it comes to weight gain. Sure the good fat does not clog arteries but it still adds up to pounds in excess. Here I was muching on almonds and string cheese thinking I was doing a good thing….fat,fat,fat… So I am trying to modify my diet, and work out every day. I had been doing 30 minutes of cardio 2-3 days a week and weight training 2 days a week. Obviously not doing a darn thing. I actually gained 2 pounds!!!!!!!!!! So yesterday I was on the elliptical for 50 minutes with my heartrate at about 170. I plan on doing this every single freakin day….I hate it. But I also hate my body right now. I went from size 4/6 to size 12. I just cant believe it. Going off my med is not an option for me, as it really keeps my anxiety in check. Oh well just thought I would share. I really hope I can lose weight and that my body is not stuck because I am on the medicine.

I’ve been on Paxil, Celexa and currently Effexor in the last 4 years and have gained 50lbs which could also be due to the countless diets that I have been on includding WW. Very little success,and it’s very discouraging considering exercise has always been apart of my routine. Any suggestions what plans people are doing to help them find success with weight loss, while on SSRIs?

I’ve never heard of anyone gaining weight after coming off meds, but sure have when they were on them.

My suggestion. Take a good hard look at what she is eating. Too much sugar, too much fat? Too many calories? For as good as I eat, I  have to watch my calorie load. You may want to take a look at the Weight Watchers program. I’ve had success with that in the pass.

She’ll have to do some type of exercise to help get her metabolism going. You may want to think about walking or a stationary bike (good idea Dag) or how about swimming or water aerobics. It’s been now reported that in order for one to lose weight they have to do 60 - 90 minutes of vigorous exercise a day.  Think about weight training.

There are some supplements on the market (one - a - days) that have stuff in them to bring up one’s metabolism - but I question whether or not they are actually snake oil.

You could also try going to your doctor or to a nutritionist.

Some web sites to check out for ideas - www.weightwatchers.com, www.hussman.org (to the fitness link), www.physiquetransformation.com, www.bodyforlife.com

So good luck and please let us know how you and your wife are doing.

Hi all,

I am still battling this weight from Paxil. I have started a new program called Simply Weightloss. Has anyone ever tried this? It has the fish oil/vitamin E pill included in the program I see. Anyway, I hope it is worth the time and money I invested in it. I have been walking and am joining the gym also. It is so frustrating looking at bathing suits!!!!!

Kellie

Hi,
I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder in 1996 and have been on meds ever since. However, it wasn’t until 2004 that I put on 35lbs. My doctor decided to put me on luvox and it has been down hill ever since. I have since been on celexa and lexapro and now zoloft with wellbutrin. Needless to say I lost about 15lbs and have switched doctors. I exercise 6/7 days of week for about an hour and 1/2. I’ve tried to go off my meds and I just fall apart. I was so excited to find this group. I need some hope. I need to lose about 25lbs and I need to know that people can. I can’t wait to hear from you.
Victoria

I finally returned from New Orleans and wanted to post to you that I will be back online now regularly. As many of you know I began my fat burning phase a couple weeks ago and wanted to update you on my progress. Going back over the year, last year I lost 20 lbs on this program and went into a maintenance phase from Sept until Feb, during this time I continued to shrink and gain muscle by lifting heavy weights (as heavy as I could handle). I began fat burning a couple weeks ago by zig zagging my calories and eating 3 days at about 1350 cals
and every fourth day at 1950 cals. I am currently up to about 3-4 cardio sessions a week and weight training as much as I can with messed up ribs. Today when I got home I stood on the scale and I have lost….drum roll please… 5 pounds and measured one inch off each thigh and one inch off my hips. Tomorrow morning I will do the official weigh in and body fat and let you know where I’m at. This is even more aggressive than I was last year in the rotation, so I am really excited.

I’ve been taking Seroxat for four and a half years. I started out at
8.5 stone (5′3) and in six months shot up to 13 stone. I had loads
of tests but it was put down to the medication.

In my head I thought I had tried every diet and my weight wouldn’t
budge. I visited my GP who is a SSRI specialist hoping to maybe get
something to get my weight down.
She told me that yes, anti-depressants can make your weight shoot
up, but there isn’t really anything from stooping the weight from
coming back off. The secret is to find what you metabollism
doesn’t ‘deal with’ any more and then practically wipe it from your
diet. She said it may not come off as fast as other people, but it
would come off.

Three weeks ago I joined the UK ‘Slimming World’ club and attend the
weigh in every week. For those of you who are unfamiliar with
Slimming World diet it is basically:

You choose either a red (original) or green day.
On the red day you can eat as much meat and most vegetables as you
want. You can’t have potatoes, pasta, rice, pulses etc…(unless you
treat it as a syn).
On a Green day you can have as much rice, pasta, potatoes, veg
etc… but no meat.
You can have a healthy extra of cheese and milk and a little brown
bread, plus ten syns a day (or up to 70 a week). You can save syn
points up so that at the end of the week you can have a pizza or a
chocolate bar etc… or you can divide them equally into ten a day
(which is what I do).

Being a rice and pasta fan I decided to do mostly green days. I lost
3lbs in my first week, followed by 2 lbs the second week.
This week I decided to do mostly red days. So far I’ve lost an extra
5lbs in four days.

I knew that when I started seroxat that I craved sugar or carbohydrate foods. It seems that cutting out 90% of carbs from my diet has balanced my metabolism enough to lose a lot of weight - 10lbs in three weeks.

It wasn’t easy. The first three days were the worst. I craved chocolate and bread. But I dug in and eventually the cravings went. I now treat myself to a low fat chocolate mousse (4.5 syns) every night. I’ve also found that I suffer less headaches, tiredness, indegestion, nausea and mood swings.

I just wanted to share this with those who feel like they’ve tried everthing. I thought like that but it seems I was proved wrong.

Good Luck.

Sorry to be a bother - what was the level for thyroid again ???? I have drs appt tomorrow at 11:00 and want to ask about it.
Thanks for your help! Barb