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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by mama on July 26, 2001, at 12:53:51
My 18 year old daughter was diagnosed with OCD about 9 months ago. She is doing great on prozac but has gained a lot of weight. Since she has body image problems anyway this is not going to work. She leaves for college in 3 weeks and thinks she can manage without the drug but I am worried since that is such a life-change. What about Effexor? Does it cause weight gain? I know it is alittle different from other SSRI drugs. Has anyone used Inositol for OCD?
Posted by Angelique on July 26, 2001, at 20:59:42
In reply to prozac, weight gain, posted by mama on July 26, 2001, at 12:53:51
Usually prozac makes people loose weight. It can cause nausea and lack of appetite.
Did your daughter have any obsessions about food or phobias about food? I have OCD aand remember a time when I was obsessed with how many grams of fat I had and ate low fat everything. Another time I was so afraid of food poisoning I didn't eat as much as I should have.
Also prozac can cause lessening of symtpoms and a bit of not caring (but not quite apathy), maybe that has affected the appetite or something?
Whatever she doesn't DONT take paxil, I gained 10 lbs.
I had a friend who took effexor for depression and he was sick to his stomach a lot (diarreah, lack of appetite), maybe lost weight. But he was also in and out of the hospital at that point.
I went of to college and THEN quit my meds. It was a mistake and a good thing, depending how you look at it. I had a 4.0 GPA that semester taking 18 credits (over christmas break my doc put me on paxil and GPA went to 3.7 or something. But part of that is because I had little social life because of fear and anxiety and stayed in my room and studied instead of getting involved on campus and having friends. Also had some anxiety problems.
What I would recommend is either try effexor OR slowly slowly cut back on prozac. If she's on 40mg now maybe at 20mg she would loose some of the weight. Compare pre-prozac eating habits to current ones. Sometimes what a drug does is actually increaes appetite (or slow metabolism) and that's what causes weight gain. I know my OCD at times did strongly affect what and how much I ate. And the fear and anxiety over things such as food poisoning would make me feel a bit nauseated and therefore eat less.
Posted by Jocor on July 27, 2001, at 15:05:26
In reply to prozac, weight gain, posted by mama on July 26, 2001, at 12:53:51
I gained some weight on Prozac but I gained a whole lot MORE on Effexor.
Now, everyone is different and your daughter may not react the same way to a different drug.....
The only way to find out is to try.
Don't let her go to college without any meds....she will relapse and it will take twice as long for her to recover.Good luck
Jocor
Posted by Zo on July 27, 2001, at 22:58:31
In reply to prozac, weight gain, posted by mama on July 26, 2001, at 12:53:51
This is so interesting, how individual this is.
Seems to run in families -- my sister gained 50 lbs on Prozac, I started to gain but had to go off it anyway. I think it's about 6% of Prozac users who gain weight.
And Effexor never put an ounce on me. . .
Zo
Posted by Tracy565 on September 24, 2001, at 20:14:10
In reply to prozac, weight gain, posted by mama on July 26, 2001, at 12:53:51
Here's what my psych just told me a week ago. She was at a conference and learned that SSRI's can cause your insulin levels to be way off, and that is why you gain so much weight on them.
Believe me, I have gained 40 pounds on Prozac myself just since the spring! And some doctors may try to tell her that she's eating too much or not "moving" enough, but thats a lot of bull!
I also took Paxil before Prozac and gained 36 pounds! Once I went off the Paxil, I lost 23 pounds in 3 months without changing ANYTHING. Then I went on Prozac and not only gained the weight I lost, but more!
Its not HER, its the meds!
Tracy
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