fluoxetine weight gain

[peanutbuttercup]

Does anyone have any experience or advice? DS age 9 ASD and not diagnosed but probably ocd with extreme anxiety had been on 10 milligrams fluox since age 6 no negative side effects. End of last years dose was upped to 20 milligrams as behaviour had really deteriorated and anxiety and ocd type behavior increased assumed he had outgrown the dose.

Behaviours improve again (somewhat) but mostly anxiety and ocd disappear. However his weight began to sneak up and his appetite increased particularly seemed to crave sweet foods. Theres been a gradual but noticable increase in weight over the year. however today i was looking at video footage of him a year ago and he is slim a normal weight for his age. Now he looks bloated and on the verge of being noticably overweight. What do i do? On the one hand the anxiety is unmanageable without medication but on the other hand i cant set him up for a life time of being obese which seems to be where he is heading. What can i do? Yet another thing to have to worry about him.
Peanut

my dd went up from size 12 to size 18 in 6 months on fluoxetine, they changed her to sertraline and it's a lot better, dd is a lot calmer on sertraline, but it depends as everone is different.

Wow that is quite a quick increase in weight, I can see it going that way for DS. Thanks so much for the advice I am going to bring it up at our next CAMHS appointment.

My ds didn't gain noticeable weight on fluoxetine - just went back to normal after being underweight.

However his OCD was better on fluoxetine rather than sertaline. I think the response is very individual and you just have to experiment to get the right balance of therapeutic effects versus unwanted side-effects.

Thanks NoHaudin I think you're right we might have to experiment although that is a daunting prospect as we've never tried anything else.

DD1 is on fluoxetine.
It has definitely increased her appetite..however as she previously suffered from anorexia (severe) I am very glad to see her a normal weight (size 10) as opposed to a 5 stone 10 girl at 5 ft 9 in height! Unfortunately this has meant some issues as to her being a size 10 is 'fat' :/

BUT..and she is a young adult now, she can see that the reduction of anxiety and depression is more beneficial to her and so she accepts it, reluctantly.
It is defo worth discussing other meds.. and also to really keep an eye on food intake if he is gaining weight and managing it with sensible eating , as at 9 it should be possible to control what food is available and fill him with less fattening alternatives.
Also a 9 he may well be chunking out naturally ready for that whopping height increase that will occur shortly at puberty! My DS1 was a bit square at that age and I was concerned but then became an unfillable skinny teen!

Thanks Medusals, I do hope its the latter that a big growth spurt is coming. Have discussed with CAMHS and they will be keeping a close eye on it.

Fluoxetine had an opposite affect on weght for us was very skinny while on them but do agree there great for ocd and anxity ur boy is 9 so might just be puppy fat try and replace the sugary foods with fruit naterale sugers bananas are great

Having same experience with ds and risperidone - wants something to eat every 5 minutes practically. Also seems to be disrupting his sleep so we may also have to rethink the medication - a shame as it does help a bit with the anxiety. Already ruled out fluoxetine on the grounds of taste and sleep issues so not sure if there is an alternative.

OneInEight Ds also takes a very small dose of aripriprazole which is essentially an updated version of risperidone. It is supposed to have fewer side effects especially in young people.
Ds still had some side effects so his dose was reduced but now has none.
It might be worth exploring for your ds?

Thanks NoHaudin - I'll look that one up and discuss with ds's psychiatrist when we see her next week.