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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Laurie on July 13, 1999, at 21:27:19
Hi. I'm new to this board and am very ignorant about the different depression, so please bear with me. My sister was diagnosed with a masked depression; it was affecting her speech. Her Dr. put her on Effexor. She really liked this drug except it made her gain weight. A lot of weight. She was getting so upset about the weight gain, that she threw out the pills. Her Dr. gave her something else to try but she was wondering if anyone knows of a drug that she can take with the Effexor to combat the weight gain. I've read on this board about the drug Topamax - would this work? Her Dr. doesn't seem to know anything because weight gain is not one of the listed side effects of Effexor. She works out regularly and has always been slim (not skinny, but just right) even after having 2 children. She would really appreciate any help you could give her.
Thank you
Laurie
Posted by Racer on July 13, 1999, at 23:43:33
In reply to Effexor and weight gain, posted by Laurie on July 13, 1999, at 21:27:19
Weight gain is a common side effect of many anti-depressants, but Effexor is usually a stimulating drug, which doesn't put on weight. I've gained huge amounts on all the other drugs, but on Effexor I've lost weight. Not always a good thing.
Is it possible that your sister has been masking an eating disorder all this time? I know that my anorexia comes back when I'm depressed, and that getting over the depression always means gaining weight, even without the drugs. If she's been suffering from something like that, it could be that she's finally eating more normally, and putting it on for other reasons. That's just one thought though.
Most drugs interact differently with every patient, though, so it may just be that she metabolizes Effexor in a way that's not common. In that case, maybe one of the other drugs would work without this side effect. Good luck to her, and I'll be interested in seeing what other people here have to say about this.
Posted by Laurie on July 14, 1999, at 20:00:13
In reply to Re: Effexor and weight gain, posted by Racer on July 13, 1999, at 23:43:33
> Weight gain is a common side effect of many anti-depressants, but Effexor is usually a stimulating drug, which doesn't put on weight. I've gained huge amounts on all the other drugs, but on Effexor I've lost weight. Not always a good thing.
>
> Is it possible that your sister has been masking an eating disorder all this time? I know that my anorexia comes back when I'm depressed, and that getting over the depression always means gaining weight, even without the drugs. If she's been suffering from something like that, it could be that she's finally eating more normally, and putting it on for other reasons. That's just one thought though.
>
> Most drugs interact differently with every patient, though, so it may just be that she metabolizes Effexor in a way that's not common. In that case, maybe one of the other drugs would work without this side effect. Good luck to her, and I'll be interested in seeing what other people here have to say about this.Thanks for your reply. My sister has never had a eating disorder. She eats normally and has always been healthy. As I said before, she is a normal weight for her height and is not or has never been underweight. She just always stayed around the same weight range all her life (she hits the big 40 this year). Hopefully this new drug she is on will work but she really liked the Effexor except, of course, for the weight gain. Thanks again for the reply and I'll let you know how it turns out.
Posted by catherine on July 18, 1999, at 19:07:18
In reply to Re: Effexor and weight gain, posted by Laurie on July 14, 1999, at 20:00:13
I've put on 4 stone in the 18 months I've been on effexor. I haven't changed my lifestyle or eating habbits.
I've justed started to try and come of them because despite being the first med to help the deppression the weight gain has started makingme deppressed again.
KEEP IN TOUCH cATHERINE
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