AD without weight gain

[mrsurqhart]

Hello
Anyone have a good recommendation for antidepressants which doesn't cause weight gain please?

I am slightly overweight and have arthritis so can't afford to gain more and make that worse.

I'm asking here as I find recommendations from those who have actually tried a drug are so much more accurate than that of doctors who just hand them out.

Everyone has a different experience but for me Sertraline (50mg) didn't make me gain weight. In fact it made lose weight because I wasn't emotional eating anymore. I was on it for 10 months.

I like your name! Brilliant.

That's useful to know. Thank you.

Anyone else have any recommendations?

I'm opposite to the pp, I rapidly weight gained when I was on sertraline, about 1.5 stones. I also felt pretty numb on it - I know not what you asked but thought I'd mention. Now on citalopram and I feel great on it, no weight gain so far.

Strongswans yikes. That's not good.
Thanks for that.
Hoping for some more suggestions.

I’m 10lb up on mirtazapine, so avoid that one.

I’m overdue a review with GP so will ask to change.

Thanks potplant. That's useful.

Are they going to be prescribed by the GP?
If you are in the UK you will most likely be offered an SSRI as these are the medications that NICE guidelines advise are prescribed as the first treatment .

People have vastly different experiences with these drugs anyway, so I don't know how helpful recommendations will be.

Weight gain is a very common side effect of mitrazapine but I would have thought it would be unlikely you were offered that as a first treatment anyway.

I was worried about this too. Citaopram doesn't seem to have caused weight gain 4 months in.

Rustnot
Yes by GP but they said I could choose and reeled off a bewildering list.

So I came here to see what others were finding useful. Or even what hasn't been good and why.

Tbh. I've gone off the idea. I can't see how they can be of help. All the side effects sound unpleasant.

I've only been on sertraline for 5 weeks buy no weight gain yet. Although I'm actively trying to lose weight so maybe I'm counteracting it? The problem is everyone is going to react differently. I can say sertraline has had a positive impact on my mood though.

If you're worried about side effects I have a thread going about starting sertraline that might help.

I’ve been on Venlafaxine no weight gain, no side effects

Quetiapine though is a different story

Well, it depends really. I gained weight on citalopram because I was so miserable before that I couldn't physically eat and once I felt better, my appetite returned. I lost weight on sertraline because I went from binge eating and not wanting to get out of bed to eating normally and exercising. Mirtazapine has a reputation for increasing hunger and therefore leading to weight gain. In other words, weight gain or loss is based on what you eat rather than the drugs themselves. The drugs may cause a change in your eating habits depending on the extent to which your emotions impact your appetite but it's not a given at all and it's within your control. I've tried most ADs and never really had any significant side effects from any of them; certainly none that have lasted more than a week or two and been anything more annoying than a mild headache or feeling very fidgety.

FWIW, my 'favourite' has been sertraline. It worked really well for me for several years although I'm currently on duloxetine just to try and change things up a bit!

@Rustnot I was prescribed Mirtazapine as a first treatment.

I went To see the GP with racing anxiety, panic attacks, low mood and poor sleep. It definitely has helped with all those things, especially sleep, I sleep like the proverbial baby.

I hadn’t done any research beforehand, if I had I might have asked for something different because of the weight gain. I know it’s pretty shallow in the grand scheme of things but I’d lost a ton of weight in the previous few years which I was pleased with.
I am aware that I’m putting the food into my mouth, so it’s not really the pills fault.

Sorry @Potplant, I hope you didn't take my post as a dig at you at all because it wasn't meant to at all. I think the impact on weight isn't really considered enough by doctors and the knock on impact that can have on people's mood - what would help more is acknowledgement and strategies to help deal with the changes.

@Potplant perhaps because of the anxiety symptoms? I was just saying in the majority of cases SSRIs would be offered first.

@mrsurqhart I'm sorry your GP doesn't sound particularly helpful. I think the problem is that all of these drugs are tolerated in different ways by different people - it can be trial and error to see what works for you and your body. The side effects listed can seem overwhelming, but you won't necessarily experience all or any of them. What has your GP asked you to choose between?

@mynameiscalypso no offence taken. It’s frustrating that I appear to have lost my willpower after losing 2 stone through dieting.

@rustnot my GP really latched onto the lack of sleep and to be fair these really do help with that. And actually With CBT I am feeling much calmer (well apart from the worldwide health crisis).

OP - how strange the GP asking you to choose. Surely they know more than you. I wouldn’t have a clue.

Have been on chlomiperamine for donkeys years. Weight gain is listed as a side effect but my weight only goes up when I am being a sloth and a pig and I don't think they have any bearing on whether I get fatter or thinner.

It can be a little daunting when you read the list of possible side effects, remember to check the heading it will say 1 in 10, 1in 100 or 1 in 1000. Even the most common side effects might not affect the majority of those taking it.

Medication that is associated with weight gain can do so in a number of ways - increased appetite as has been mentioned (it is also worth noting that most of the genes they have been associated with appetite which might explain why some people are more susceptible than others). Some medications can change the foods you crave to be sweet or higher in fats for example and others can reduce your metabolism a little or combinations of all three.

If you're in America try Bupropion. In UK, good luck. I've tried 7 and piled on weight with all of them. Bastards.

I’ve been on them all. They all make me eat, some worse than others. Here’s my ranked list with the worst at the top.

Paroxetine
Chlomipramine
Amitryptiline
Fluoxetine
Sertraline
Mirtazapine

You can get Bupropion prescribed in the UK privately - I've had it although I didn't get on with it.

Hi OP here - NC to cooler name.

GP rattled off a list that I could choose from but I didn't write it down.

Having looked at info online and your info here, I decided against the idea.

Part of the issue is the arthritis and the original magic solution from GP was either amytriptyline or Nortriptyline. I tried Nortriptyline.
I had a really bad allergic reaction to it. From one single 10mg. Dose I had 12 hours of palpitations and sweating (no sleep!) I got an itchy blistering rash all over arms legs and chest. My head was pounding. It was a bit scary.

So that experience coupled with other information makes me think that the side effects are too much.

So when GP phoned back today I told her no thanks and she gave me some sleeping tablets instead. Zolpediem or something like that.

Hopefully I'll get some sleep and feel better. That's a start anyway.

Thanks for the brilliant info. I felt really adrift when she just rattled off a list and said choose one. It was great to get information so I could understand more fully what the upsides and downsides are.