Can anyone help with anti-depressants?

[prozacalternative]

Hello,
I'm hoping someone can offer advice about ADs. Am nearing 40, and have suffered depression since my teens. Have been on and off Fluoxetine over the years.
My last spell on it was 2 years ago, and for some reason I reacted really badly to it. Was sweating buckets and night and it really didn't help my mood, so I gave up on it and never went back to GP

I've been really suffering from low moods the last few months. Have no desire to see friends or family, and end up being irritable and snappy if I do. I feel like a horrible person when I'm like this, and who wants to spend time with a horrible person? My thoughts are constantly tied up with feeling guilty that I'm 'absent' and trying to engineer life so that I can be 'absent'. I need to go back to GP. Can anyone offer an alternative that I could maybe suggest or at least recognise if the GP suggests it?

The other factor in this mess is that I've also suffered eating disorders in the past, and am totally terrified of taking any sort of pill that may result in weight gain. (This fear is almost phobic, and have had CBT and counselling in the past to try and sort it).

If anyone has any advice on ADs that don't have weight gain as a side effect I'd be really grateful

God I sound like a right barrel of laughs don't I!

Thank you for reading if you have got this far! I don't think I'll get a chance to check back tonight but will come back tomorrow.

[reckoner]

I am on venlafaxine and I am not aware of weight gain or noticed any myself. It's been the one AD out of the four I have tried (others are Seroxat, Prozac and Citalopram) that makes a slight bit of difference. It does have other side effects (or rather withdrawal symptoms - the brain zaps) that are annoying, but they are common in other ADs too.

Good luck with talking to the GP. Have you had any counselling or have you tried ways of self-help?

[Chocattack]

I've experienced weight-loss on venlafaxine but then I've never gained weight (for any significant period of time anyway) during any of my previous times on ADs (fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, mirtazapine). I know that weight loss is a listed side effect of venlafaxine so probably not good if you're underweight. I do recall many people complaining of gaining weight on mirtazapine so probably one to avoid. Good luck.

[anonymum11]

Not sure if paroxetine would be suitable for you - ask GP - but I don't think it has weight gain as a side effect.
Hope you find the answer.

[ChoccyJules]

Hi, I have been on Citalopram for two years and haven't noticed any particular weight gain (am overweight and have stayed constant!). This is for PND, PTSD and anxiety. Good luck and ask more questions if necessary.

[prozacalternative]

Hello

Thanks all of you so much for replying. Reckoner I did have a year's counselling with an eating disorder clinic in my 20s, which helped me hugely. A lot of the bad thoughts and behaviours crept back in and I had CBT in my 30s to try and help me deal with stuff in better ways. I'm now knocking on the door of 40 and wondering if I'm ever going to feel grown-up and in control!

I'll note down these names and talk things through with my GP when I pluck up the courage to go. Do you find they're helping you? I feel so disconnected from life at the moment. Earlier this week my phone was ringing and my Instant Messenger was pinging on my PC and I just sat there in tears and wishing people would leave me alone. I really don't want to feel like this any more. I know I have to make massive efforts to engage again, but think I'll have a better chance of doing it if I can somehow lift my mood.

I'm now at the point where I'm forgetting what kind of person I am when I don't feel like this, and that's a bit scary!

Thanks so much again

[Keziahhopes]

Hi - I have used citalopram, prozac, sertraline and venlaflaxine and unlike other posters found I put weight on with venlaflaxine as it made me so hungry all the time. Guess all medciations can have different side effects with people. I have found venlaflaxine very helpful but it was horrible to go on and come off plus I had to be under a psychiatrist for venlaflaxine as in my PCT that is their rules. Sertraline for me worked very well and has least side effects but worked much better than the others. There is also a medication that is quite new called escitalopram that is meant to help.

Hope your Gp can find you a medication that suits your symptoms and needs and works for you.

[Sazbrilla]

I'm on fluoxetine and haven't noticed any weight gain. Have been the same weight for years and haven't changed since starting these. Hope it helps

[prozacalternative]

Hello!
I finally went to the GP and she prescribed me mirtazapine, mainly to help with my sleeping.
Since getting home I read that people have gained large amounts of weight on this AD (reading threads on here and on the web in general).
Does anyone know if you gain weight even if you don't eat more? (ie. your metabolism slows) or whether the weight gain is simply because you eat more, due to an increased appetite?
It's really scared me off taking it and I'm really loathe to try it just to see, and then put on weight. (Sorry, this makes me sound lilke an idiot, but weight gain, even temporary, is something that really scares me!)
Chocattack I notice you said you didn't gain weight, but I wonder if you are the exception to the rule!
Many thanks in advance if anyone has any info about this AD

[MrsMuddyPuddles]

Make another apointment with your GP or talk to the pharmacist about the mechanism for this weight gain.
Good luck!

[Keziahhopes]

Hi I think it is the incease in appetite with mirtazapine which can cause people to increase weight. It is meant to help with sleep if taken at night. Worth talking to gp or pharmacist about it though. If you choose not to take it, perhaps try another SSRI such as sertraline or escitalopram if offered by Gp.

[Irishexile]

I'm on sertraline and have lost some weight due to initial tummy upset side effects.

[prozacalternative]

Thanks all for your replies
I'm really not sure whether to take these. I have such a bad history of EDs that any drug that might make this worse is just not for me. I think I could be okay if any gain is simply due to eating more, but the fear of uncontrolled weight gain - well I'd sooner be depressed! (sorry if that sounds flippant but it really is true!).
From what I've read, it would seem that this is possibly the worst AD to be prescribed if you have a history of EDs!
I have to go back to see GP in a week or so, so I think I will hold off starting them until I see her again and talk through the appetite / weight gain aspects.

[orangeandlemons]

I was told by a consultant, that all ad's cause overeating to some extent. Some are worse than others, and if you are susceptible (and I am) you will be affected.

My Gp told me lofepramine and trazadone were the best for not overeating. I can't take either of those, but I have found sertraline to be OKish. Prozac was worse than sertraline for eating

I have been on loads of Ad's (and I mean loads as am v senstitive to bloody side effects)

Worse for eating were mirtazipine, chlomiprimine, and amitriptyline.
Imipramine was OK, but I couldn't take that one either.

Hth

[orangeandlemons]

Escitalopram was bad too

[prozacalternative]

Thanks orange
Hope you're feeling better now and have found the one that works for you.
I'm definitely going to hold fire until I see my GP again. If my eating gets out of control I'd be in a far worse place in my head than I am even now so I'm not going to risk it.
What put me off even more was reading that vets prescribe it to dogs and cats to help stimulate appetite . I wasn't shocked by the idea that we share types of drugs with our pets, but that it was specifically administered to boost appetite, not for me!!