# How to lose weight on Nardil??



## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

I was 120lbs before taking Nardil (and have been around that same weight from high school to age 29). I gained 20 lbs since September on 60mg of Nardil. 

Initially I was eating pretty poorly because I had a big craving for sweets and fast food and decided to go with it. I'm back to eating my regular healthy diet now but the weight is not coming off! I feel like a new pair of pants suddenly doesn't fit every time I do laundry.

How much weight did you guys gain on Nardil? Did you have any success in losing the weight without quitting the drug? Do I need to do extreme calorie restriction and hours of exercise? Do you think the weight gain is worse/faster at 90mg vs 60mg?

Also, if I were to lower my Nardil dose to 15mg for a few weeks, would any of the weight go down quickly on its own? If anyone quit Nardil, did you lose the weight quickly (faster than normal diet and exercise would take)?

Also, has anyone taken anything else with Nardil that helped them lose weight/maintain their normal weight?


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

I gained almost 40lbs on Nardil within 9 months. I also had a horrible craving for sweets and never felt satisfied. Weight gain was one of the reasons I stopped Nardil because it was causing edema in my legs and feet. I've been off of it for 5 months now and am almost back to my normal weight with diet and exercise. I had asked my doctor for a appetite suppressant but she just told me to exercise and eat better. Of course, this was very difficult to do. Exercising was hard because I was always so tired and felt dizzy when I got my heart rate up. 

Anyways, I was really frustrated with the weight gain and felt like I was going to gain weight on Nardil even if I completely stopped eating. I know some of it was water retention, too, which my doctor gave me a diuretic for. That might help you out. I think you have to make sure you are getting enough potassium when you take a diuretic or you can have heart complications.

I plan on going back on Nardil this week and am going to try to eat right and exercise to counteract the weight gain this time. Hope it works because Nardil helped me in so many ways. I'd also like more suggestions on how to counteract weight gain!


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## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

Thanks Iza. Yup, I feel like I'm going to keep gaining weight even with exercise and diet. I'm trying to eat a very low carb diet. But as someone who has always been able to eat whatever I want without exercising...I don't feel like I can maintain this diet forever.

How much of your weight do you think was water retention?


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## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

I would guess if its going to be really difficult you might need to log your food intake (see myfitnesspal.com) and be very strict with yourself on measuring etc and find your maintenance calories and make a deficit. That is if you can't lose without logging. i find it helps you stay on target more. 

Med induced weight gain tho is nasty. I think you will be able to lose though, it just might mean a very uncomfortable deficit 

Not sure if there is anything you can take to counter the weight gain effects tho


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

I think most of the weight gain was from poor diet and just a few pounds from water retention. I guess the water retention causes bloating. You might want to try a diuretic and see if that helps. I had one prescribed but barely used it. I wish there was a tried and true way to reduce the Nardil bloat. I wonder if exercising two hours a day and restricting calories would help? Even restricting fluid intake? I wonder if a diabetic diet might help.. since diabetics are very limited on how much fluid they can take in per day or else they experience similar issues. 

The weight gain from whatever source is frustrating for sure. There must be a way to counteract it. I started 15mg today so I plan to closely monitor my weight. I can't believe some users have reported losing weight on it. I am on a vegan diet now so maybe that will help. I know you're on a low-carb diet now but I found that plain steel cut or rolled oats mixed with a handful of chocolate chips and some PB2 (powdered peanut butter) is very filling and satisfying. I hope this gets me through any sweet cravings. I think the powdered is fine as far as Tyramine content but still use caution.

Weight aside, is it at least helping you with the reasons you started taking it?


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## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

I started taking it for social anxiety. It's really helped with anticipatory anxiety (anxiety over social things that will happen in the future) and with obsessive thoughts (which I didn't fully realize I still had, but now I'm glad they are gone). I'm still pretty shy, but a lot of it is a life time of avoiding social situations. It is EASIER to have conversations with strangers but not really EASY. I don't get physically anxious like I used to. So, while Nardil wasn't everything I hoped for, it's still the best drug I've ever taken by 1000%. 

So I really don't want to stop taking it, so I have to get the weight gain under control. I had really bad cravings for candy, cookies, and cake initially and I really gave into it...but I know I wouldn't have gained this much without the Nardil. I've been eating my old normal diet lately and am still gaining. I still really crave carbs...and once I start eating them it's hard to stop. So that's why I'm trying a low carb diet. I've only been doing it for 2 days so far, so lets see how long I can keep it up. I'll eat mostly lean meats and vegetables, green smoothies, and a limited amount of fruits, nuts, and unflavored yogurt. 

I moved up very slowly when I started taking Nardil. I'm pretty sure I did not have any weight gain until I reached 60mg. If necessary I'll move down to 45mg, as long as that has a decent treatment effect. There is no additional benefit for me between 60mg and higher doses like 90mg...just more weight gain.


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## Sweep (Dec 31, 2013)

Hi. I have been on Nardil for about 9 months and despite focussing on my diet and exercising approx 2.5 hours every day I have gone from a size 12 (aust) which I have always been I am now a size 18. Whilst the Nardil worked better than anything for the depression it has not helped my social anxiety as I now dread going out in public because of the way that I look. I don't experience sweets cravings because my doc gave me metformin so at least I don't have to struggle with those cravings. My appetite has not increased. I have also in the past kept a food diary to make sure I wasn't eating additional things that I would not usually eat. I have been on 60mg for 8 of the 9 months and in the first month I gained no weight but after that every month, or less even, I was growing out of my clothes. In the past four weeks I have been reducing the dosoage down as I thought if I halved the dose it would still have some therapeutic effects (my doc said some people can take as little as 15mg a day as a maintenance dose). I am so terrified of the depression coming back but at the moment I am a hermit and I literally hate the way I look. Something like clothes shopping that I used to enjoy is now a complete nightmare. I am tired of turning down invitations which I now feel like accepting because I am not depressed in the true sense of the word like I used to be, but I cannot bear for anyone who hasn't seen me for a few months to look at what I look like now. I am embarrassed and disgusted by the fat, in particular around my waist. I was hoping that maybe someone else on here could actually say yes I lowered my dose and I started losing weight. It would give me some hope...


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

Kinda simple.

Eat less, exercise more. (Don't give me any bs this won't work, it's simple logic and all human bodies work the same in this regard, although rate of metabolism/absorption may vary while on an AD)

Lower dose of Nardil means the body binds less water -> less bloating/water weight.

When people stop Nardil you quickly lose the water weight, which may or may not be a drastic change. The fat you accumulated while on Nardil won't go away any faster than fat did before you went on Nardil.

Wanna go the simple route? Add metformin (midodicarbonimidic diamide)


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## Sweep (Dec 31, 2013)

BTW my doc described it me as the way the medical community now think it happens is that all calories that you eat from any type of food instead of getting used up in the usual way (so you eat breakfat maybe you walk an hour to work and you burn those calories up), they automatically get stored as fat so your body basically becomes totally inefficient at burning any calories that you consume. if that helps... I know Not really though


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## Sweep (Dec 31, 2013)

Chope suey. The problem is that your body stops behaving in the usual way when you are taking some antidepressants and antisychotics. There's plenty of literature on this.


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## forgetmylife (Oct 1, 2011)

Exercise?


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

Sweep said:


> Chope suey. The problem is that your body stops behaving in the usual way when you are taking some antidepressants and antisychotics. There's plenty of literature on this.


Swe eepe. Did you know, when it rains outside, the grass will grow. And when the sun shines, it will get light outside.


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## zendog78 (Jan 27, 2010)

Intense exercise. Also metformin, maximum dose everyday. Won't make you lose weight but may stop u putting more on


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

Nardil really helped my SA but I didn't feel better tapering to a lower dose. It felt more like withdrawing when I went down one pill. I guess that's why I didn't try to go down in dosage to see if a lower dose was therapeutic. It's much harder for me to go down in dosage so that's why I'm hoping to just keep it lower this time and not go up to 90mg again. 

I'm pretty sure the Nardil slows your metabolism way down so even if you try to lose weight on a low carb diet, it's not going to happen as fast as it would if you weren't on the medication. Obviously it is going to be a lot easier to maintain weight than lose it. Even if the calories are immediately stored as fat, you still can't go on living without some of those fat calories being converted to energy. I still feel exercise, even if it's a commitment of a few hours a day, will make a difference in weight. I don't know yet if that will turn out to be BS but that's my plan. 

I'd try Metformin but I don't think my pdoc is going to prescribe it. I'm only on day two at 15mg and I think I'm already getting cravings. Maybe due to allowing only a 3 day washout out period between stopping Parnate and restarting Nardil.

Anyways.. just know losing the weight will be rough since your metabolism is slowed down. Weight gain does hurt confidence so if you feel the Nardil isn't working as well it might just be due to self-esteem. I know I went through that, too.


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

Sweep said:


> Chope suey. The problem is that your body stops behaving in the usual way when you are taking some antidepressants and antisychotics. There's plenty of literature on this.


This. Although it should help to control the urges for fast food and candy. Maybe even chemically?



ChopSuey said:


> Swe eepe. Did you know, when it rains outside, the grass will grow. And when the sun shines, it will get light outside.


This just seems rude.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

Sweep said:


> Chope suey. The problem is that your body stops behaving in the usual way when you are taking some antidepressants and antisychotics. There's plenty of literature on this.


Are you saying the "laws of physics" don't apply?


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

watertouch said:


> Are you saying the "laws of physics" don't apply?


Alters your metabolism as well as how you process glucose.

Makes you hungrier and stores higher % calories as fat. There is water retention as well of course.

(Antipsychotics do this too albeit by a different mechanism, they cause hyperglycemia whereas Nardil causes hypoglycemia.)


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

But it's false hypoglycemia, right? I mean, I don't actually need to eat due to low blood sugar. It is more the same feeling of hypoglycemia where your body is tricking you into eating. At least I hope so or trying to restrict calories isn't going to help.


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

I did look up foods that act like a diuretic.. oats were one. I was going to eat them anyways to stay full and combat the hunger issue. Hopefully, they work on water retention, too. But that's food combating a chemical.. so not sure how effective it would be.


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

It seems Metformin ER might be a promising solution for weight loss while on Nardil. I read a post from a woman who gained so much weight on Nardil she didn't want to leave the house. She told her GP about the information she had found on the web about the efficacy of certain drugs to counteract the weight gain of antipsychotic meds. Her GP prescribed Metformin ER and apparently she was able to lose weight on 2000mg of Metformin and it took the food cravings away. She also had more energy and felt much happier.. which could be directly or indirectly related to the Metformin. Supposedly there is no contraindication for using Metformin with Nardil either. 

I'll probably see if my GP will prescribe it after I've been on Nardil for a little while longer. I don't want to balloon from 130lbs to 170lbs again.


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## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

I've been using over the counter diuretics for the past few days (Diurex Max) I haven't weighed myself, so not sure if I've lost any weight, but my stomach is definitely looking better.

I don't know about you guys, but my weight gain is freakishly mostly located in my stomach and it looks big and round and pregnant. Taking 2 diuretics per day and constantly drinking water and tea has made it look much better...still not flat like normal though. I didn't consult a doctor on this though. Hopefully it continues to look better in the next few days and I'll check to see if I've actually been losing some water weight.


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## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

Also, this is not related, but in case anyone has the side effect of anorgasmia, I just started supplementing with L-Tyrosine a few days ago. A few years ago I was experimenting with supplements and amino acids. I found that L-Tyrosine made me depressed to the point that I was always crying for no reason and increased my sex drive substantially (so it was definitely doing SOMETHING unlike other things I tried). I think the depression was due to an imbalance with the increase in dopamine caused by the L-Tyrosine and serotonin. But since Nardil increases serotonin much more than it does dopamine, I'm guessing/hoping it won't have a depressing effect because things will be more balanced. After a couple days I can already orgasm again easily!! (with a vibrator at least). Again, this is not doctor approved but I read a study that L-Tyrosine is not dangerous when combined with MAOIs...I didn't read anyting about possible effects though


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

I'm so trying both of those.. weight loss and ability to orgasm again.. almost seems too good to be true lol :clap thanks for sharing!

How much L-Tyrosine did you take?


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

Darn.. seems L-Tyrosine is contraindicated with Nardil.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

Iza707 said:


> Darn.. seems L-Tyrosine is contraindicated with Nardil.


Try it, low doses first of course and watch BP...
Phenylalanine though, well i tried it but... Be more carefull there.

I was gonna link to a report to cover my rear, but i don't have the energy...:blank


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## voodoochild16 (Jan 20, 2009)

Since I already have an addiction to food, I think Nardil might not phase me on gaining weight. I am always around food at work so I have learned to stay away from crap food, even at home.

Since I was going to make a thread on this.. do you guys feel that working out is harder to do while on Nardil?.


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

voodoochild16 said:


> Since I already have an addiction to food, I think Nardil might not phase me on gaining weight. I am always around food at work so I have learned to stay away from crap food, even at home.
> 
> Since I was going to make a thread on this.. do you guys feel that working out is harder to do while on Nardil?.


Fitness training is pretty much impossible, but lifting weights is no problem.


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## voodoochild16 (Jan 20, 2009)

ChopSuey said:


> Fitness training is pretty much impossible, but lifting weights is no problem.


What about jogging?/running on a treadmill?. If you work out for 2 hours in the gym do you feel okay afterwards or during?. Thanks.


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

voodoochild16 said:


> What about jogging?/running on a treadmill?. If you work out for 2 hours in the gym do you feel okay afterwards or during?. Thanks.


No kind of fitness training is doable for me anymore, jogging or running makes me tired/out of breath really quickly. But weight lifting feels exactly the same as before.


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## Iza707 (Nov 13, 2014)

Any cardio was pretty difficult the first time I was on Nardil. I'm trying to take the dosage slow this time so I can keep working out and see how it effects me. I also keep track of my BP and heart rate because it seems to spike my heart rate more. I wonder if it's safe to exercise on Nardil if you are able to push yourself to do it.


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## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

I read a study that l-tyrosine is safe with MAOIs. I'll try to link it later. But, i'm giving up on that, its making me depressed and irritable, just like when i tried it before nardil. I was just fired and will probably have to move...so i have reason to feel sad, but i usually have a life goes on attitude with nardil alone. Eith the l-tyrosinr i've been morr in a "i want to take alk my pills, whats the point of living?" Mood. The sexual benefit was goid, but not worth the hopeless feeling. But i'll try it again sometime when things are going well anf i have no reason to be depressed. I still recommend trying it, thats just my reaction, no dangerous side effects. Oh, also with nardil i used to have bad hypersomnia, still cant watch a movie without falling asleep...but with l-tyrosine i difnt feel tired and had insomnia. 

I think it improved my carb cravings too. I've been eating paleo (mostly)with no problem for a few days

So, try with caution. Using the diuretics is still going well, dont think i'm getting smaller anymotr, noe its just to keep my stomsch smaller.


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## ShyNardilUser (Jul 22, 2014)

Nardil does not impair myability to exercise anymore. I had a lot of side effects for about2 months when i began taking 60. My limbs felt very heavy. I went hiking and had to take a lot of breaks. I couldnt go running like that. My heart and lungs also felt slow (loved that feeling though). But now i can run on a treadmill and it feels normal. I would guess this is temporary for most people, unless you are taking very high doses...well above 90. I didnt try 90 until the major side effects of 60 were gone, and they didnt come back.


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## voodoochild16 (Jan 20, 2009)

ShyNardilUser said:


> Nardil does not impair myability to exercise anymore. I had a lot of side effects for about2 months when i began taking 60. My limbs felt very heavy. I went hiking and had to take a lot of breaks. I couldnt go running like that. My heart and lungs also felt slow (loved that feeling though). But now i can run on a treadmill and it feels normal. I would guess this is temporary for most people, unless you are taking very high doses...well above 90. I didnt try 90 until the major side effects of 60 were gone, and they didnt come back.


Thanks dude thats great to know. Hope things work out for you in terms of work. I've been there. Hopefully my experience with Nardil will be a good one in the near future.


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## SSRIManiac (Jun 14, 2014)

To be honest, there's not much you can do other than exercising and eating less which may or may not work. 

Nardil and many medications will just put on pounds regardless of what you do, it raises cortisol levels and holds water and fluids in the body longer. That will only go away if you stop taking it.. 

Maybe it's possible you can use Topamax for weight loss with it, but you'll need to ask your doctor if it's a safe combination. I had weight problems with Paxil and Topamax helped a lot.


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## voodoochild16 (Jan 20, 2009)

SSRIManiac said:


> To be honest, there's not much you can do other than exercising and eating less which may or may not work.
> 
> Nardil and many medications will just put on pounds regardless of what you do, it raises cortisol levels and holds water and fluids in the body longer. That will only go away if you stop taking it..
> 
> Maybe it's possible you can use Topamax for weight loss with it, but you'll need to ask your doctor if it's a safe combination. I had weight problems with Paxil and Topamax helped a lot.


The only issue for me is fighting the cravings of food. Maybe that's what Nardil enforces against our will?. Though I am not taking it yet, anyone else taking it now, let us know if you think this is one of the main problems with Nardil and weight gain.


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## sadness (May 9, 2006)

I went down to 45 mg for 10 days. No drop in bloating. I am going to have to find something to augment with a low dose of nardil. You're right that the pregnant looking stomach makes you feel less about yourself and going outside.


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