What Are The Antidepressants that does not cause weight gain?

Question

I've been taking Prozac for 9 months now and gained 15 pounds, is there any way to stop this?

Answer 1

My doctor put me on celexa. He said it does not cause weight gain. so far so good. I was on effexor, that one caused me to gain weight so I'd avoid that one.

Answer 2

St John's Wort is really awesome. No side effects period when I took it. I was on Paxil for a while which is like a sister drug to prozac. And I put on alot more than 15 pounds. Tell your Doc you want to give it a shot. Most people are skeptics about St John's Wort, but it works give it a shot it's much cheaper, and safer in my opinion

Answer 3

citalopram also caused cipramil did not give me any weight problems as far as i could see although it may be too light a drug considering that your dr prescribes prozac
the weight gain is nasty and of course you should be looking to come off medicaion asap but bewaare of coming off too soon;depression is a killer and the only reason i am still here is that i am not too good at suicide as i tried to beat depression on my own;i was not idn my right mind and would not medicate until it was almost too late
you could try the herbal stuff like st john's wort subject to medical advice as it can stop other medicimes working and talk thherapy is good;the paradox is that you ar e too depressed to haul yourself out of depression
it was a long slow road to recovery for me over a year;be patient and keep trying new moves;do not underestimate the size or seriousness of the problem and dont listen to others esp those who havenever had depression

Answer 4

try getting more active in life. find out what causing it than improving on it. eating habit cut down on the junk food, a healthier life style. Just take the first step.In time their would be no need for it [;)=)}

Answer 5

Antidepressants can often cause side effects, and an inability to tolerate these is the most common cause of discontinuing the medication.

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General
Although recent drugs may have fewer side effects, patients sometimes report severe side effects associated with their discontinuation, particularly with paroxetine. Additionally, a certain percentage of patients do not respond to antidepressant drugs. Another advantage of some newer antidepressants is they can show effects within as few as five days, whereas most take four to six weeks to show a change in mood. However, some studies show that these medications might be even more likely to result in moderate to severe sexual dysfunction. However, there are medications in trials that appear to show an improved profile in regard to sexual dysfunction and other key side effects.

MAO inhibitors can produce a lethal hypertensive reaction if taken with foods that contain high levels of tyramine, such as cheese and wine. Likewise, lethal reactions to both prescription and over the counter medications have occurred. Any patient currently undergoing therapy with an MAO inhibiting medication should be monitored closely by the prescribing physician and always consulted before taking an over the counter or prescribed medication. Such patients should also inform emergency room personnel and information should be kept with one's identification indicating the fact that the holder is on MAO inhibiting medications. Some doctors even suggest the use of a medical alert ID bracelet.

Antidepressants should be used with great care, usually in conjunction with mood stabilisers, in the treatment of bipolar disorder, as they can exacerbate symptoms of mania. They have also been known to trigger mania or hypomania in some patients with bipolar disorder and in a small percentage of patients with depression.[6] SSRIs are the antidepressants most frequently associated with this side effect.

Use of antidepressants should be monitored by a psychiatrist, but in countries such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, primary care physicians are able to prescribe antidepressants without consulting a psychiatrist. In particular, it has been noted that the most dangerous period for suicide in a patient with depression is immediately after treatment has commenced, as antidepressants may reduce the symptoms of depression such as psychomotor retardation or lack of motivation before mood starts to improve. Although this appears to be a paradox, studies indicate the suicidal ideation is a relatively common component of the initial phases of antidepressant therapy, and it may be even more prevalent in younger patients such as pre-adolescents and teenagers. It is strongly recommended that other family members and loved ones monitor the young patient's behavior, especially in the first eight weeks of therapy, for any signs of suicidal ideation or behaviors.

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Sexual
Sexual dysfunction is a very common side effect, especially with SSRIs. Bupropion, a DRI, in many cases results in a moderately increased libido. Some clinicians have found that adding bupropion to a regimen of SSRI medications can sometimes alleviate some degree of sexual dysfunction. However, the mechanism of action for bupropion appears to be unique and quite different from other mood elevators, among these being a stimulant-like effect and concurrent insomnia, especially in the first few weeks of use. Moreover, some patients, as seen with most psycho-active drugs, cannot tolerate it at all.

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Opioids
Opium has been known as an antidepressant since Biblical times.[7] Various Opiates were commonly used as antidepressants until the mid-1950s, when they fell out of favor with medical orthodoxy due to their addictive nature. A clinical trial conducted at Harvard Medical School in 1995,[8] demonstrated that a majority of treatment-refractory, unipolar, non-psychotic, major depression patients could be successfully treated with an opioid medication called Buprenorphine. While opioids have been proven to substantially relieve symptoms of depression, re-acceptance of this fact has been severely hampered by governmental narcotic prohibition efforts.

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Controversy
Several studies have stimulated doubt about the effectiveness of antidepressants. The studies cite that the difference between antidepressants and placebo is negligible. Antidepressants work only slightly better than placebo, and the Food and Drug Administration has not informed physicians of how little benefit most of these depression drugs offer (Kirsch I, Moore TJ, Scoboria A, Nicholls SS (2002a), The emperor's new drugs: an analysis of antidepressant medication data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prevention & Treatment 5:Article 23[9]).

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, two psychologists obtained 47 studies used by the FDA for approval of the six antidepressants prescribed most widely between 1987-99. Overall, antidepressant pills worked 18 % better than placebos, a statistically significant difference, "but not meaningful for people in clinical settings," says University of Connecticut psychologist Irving Kirsch. He and co-author Thomas Moore released their findings in "Prevention and Treatment," an e-journal of the American Psychological Association.

More than half of the 47 studies found that patients on antidepressants improved no more than those on placebos, Kirsch says. "They should have told the American public about this. The drugs have been touted as much more effective than they are." He says studies finding no benefit have been mentioned only on labeling for Celexa, the most recently approved drug. The others included in his evaluation: Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor and Serzone.

Additional papers have been published regarding the benefits of atypical vs. typical antidepressants. These are timely papers given the need for evidence based medicine, as well as the cost of health care. Discussion of a key paper reviewing this topic titled "Quantitative analysis of sponsorship bias in economic studies of antidepressants" can be found at an an on line journal club

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Alternative medicine
Alternative treatments for depression such as the herbal remedy St John's wort and the amino acid derivative SAM-e have gained popularity in recent years. Clinical trials have shown the effect of acupuncture to be comparable with amitriptyline; in addition, acupuncture has been found to be more effective in depressive patients with decreased excretion of 3-methyl-4-hydroxy-phenylglycol (the principal metabolite of the central neurotransmitter norepinephrine), while amitriptyline is more effective for those with inhibition in the dexamethasone suppression test(World Health Organisation, Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials, 2002). Acupuncture has also been proven to prompt the body to produce greater levels of endorphins.[10] Clinical trials have shown SAM-e to be as effective as standard antidepressant medication, with many fewer side effects (Delle Chiaie et al., 2002; Mischoulon and Fava, 2002). Most studies conclude that St. John's wort is usually as effective against depressions as other modern medication, again with fewer side effects, and it is widely prescribed for depression in Europe. However, a recent study showed St. John's wort to be no more effective than a placebo in cases of severe depression (Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group, 2002). Tryptophan dietary supplements, although banned in many countries due to impurities that caused a blood disease, have also been used as natural antidepressants. Dietary supplements of 5-HTP, a chemical the body forms from tryptophan and uses to make serotonin, have shown some promising research results but need further study.