# what exactly makes you gain weight on paxil?



## i.breathe.in (Sep 25, 2006)

i was recently prescribed paxil and have heard lots of bad things about it. i am going to give it a try for a month and hope for the best, if it doesnt work im going to ask for efexxor.

my question is what makes you gain weight on these pills. does it make you hungry so you eat more? or does it just mae you fluff up out of nowhere?

im an exotic dancer and i cant afford the weight gain. hope someone can answer this for me.

oh and im new, hello  :hide


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## arthur56 (Jul 31, 2005)

IMO all anxiety sufferers if not familair with antidepressants should start with a very low dose, about a quarter of the lowest effective dose and work up

despite the passionate belief of many, antidepressant meds dont cause any weight alteration, this happens if you eat differently and/or exercise differently
some gain, some lose, most stay the same
remeron is sometimes associated with causing compulsive eating which of course causes weight gain
paxil is a different type,being one of many prozac types


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## Rindy (Aug 11, 2004)

I've gotten several different answers from different doctors when I asked this question. Some say the drug slows down the metabolism and some said that because you feel better you eat more. The answer that made the most sense to me was that for some reason Paxil makes you crave sweets and carbs. So who knows?
Anyway...there is a way to keep from gaining weight while you're on it. Don't eat any carbs, or STRICTLY limit them. Drink at least two liters of ice water a day (the ice is essential. Converting the ice to a digestible temperature burns extra calories.)

It's hard at first, but you can get used to it, especially since your livelihood depends on keeping your body in perfect shape.


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## Rindy (Aug 11, 2004)

arthur56 said:


> IMO all anxiety sufferers if not familair with antidepressants should start with a very low dose, about a quarter of the lowest effective dose and work up
> 
> despite the passionate belief of many, antidepressant meds dont cause any weight alteration, this happens if you eat differently and/or exercise differently


Then how did I gain 50 pounds in a year while still eating healthy and working out four times a week?

Given the fact that every doctor I've spoken to has a different answer, I don't think anyone knows the exact reason why certain people gain weight on SSRI's.


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## californiademise (Aug 28, 2006)

Well it reduces testosterone production, I think that has a negative effect on the metabolism. If you've ever seen eunuchs in a movie, they are usually very fat.


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## D.B. Cooper (Jul 21, 2006)

I've never seen any empirical evidence that supports the metabolism theory. The reality is very simple, the more serotonin in your brain the less dopamine in your frontal cortex. The less dopamine the more hungry you become. This is why amphetamine/methamphetamine is so good at causing weight loss, it causes the brain to increase levels of dopamine in the frontal cortex.

Unfortunately, theres no way to fix this because when you start increasing the amount of dopamine the levels of serotonin are going to go down. It has a seesaw effect.


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## arthur56 (Jul 31, 2005)

the paxil discontinuation syndrome is possible but doesnt seem to happen with any other prozac type med, so I would avoid paxil and chose another, generic prozac is probably as good as any
in fact severel leading psychs presdcribe prozac as their first choice antidepressant


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## jealibeanz (Oct 1, 2005)

californiademise said:


> Well it reduces testosterone production, I think that has a negative effect on the metabolism. If you've ever seen eunuchs in a movie, they are usually very fat.


I sympathize with you. People don't believe those of us who say we gained witout eating more and while excercising. I gained 20 lbs on Wellbutrin while eating a very strict diet and workout out twice a day with my college team. I also gained on Effexor, same worout regime, while eating almost nothing because it made me nauseous. Yet... I still added 20 lbs in 7 wks. I do believe some meds seriously screw with "metablism"... this could mean so many things. It isn't always a matter of being hungrier or eating more because you're not depressed.


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## D.B. Cooper (Jul 21, 2006)

Ancedotal evidence (personal experiance) does not mean empirical evidence (scientific fact). It just means one human had one experiance, its not signifigant.


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## mayblue (Oct 1, 2005)

D.B. Cooper said:


> Ancedotal evidence (personal experiance) does not mean empirical evidence (scientific fact). It just means one human had one experiance, its not signifigant.


It might not be enough for publication in a scientific journal, but that doesn't mean people can't draw conclusions from their own experiences or those of others. :stu


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## D.B. Cooper (Jul 21, 2006)

mayblue said:


> It might not be enough for publication in a scientific journal, but that doesn't mean people can't draw conclusions from their own experiences or those of others. :stu


It means you cant draw complicated scientific conclusions from one persons experiance. Such as SSRIs effecting thyroid function to the point of lowering metabolism. Thats a huge leap in logic from "i put on some weight while taking SSRIs" which isnt at all impossible or weird considering a larger amount of 5HT receptor tweaking caues you to be hungry.

You can draw all the conclusions you want but if you start making claims than you have to support it with studies. There could be all matter of unknown co-existing conditions that effect the outcome of a drug.


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## jealibeanz (Oct 1, 2005)

I think those of us who experience this side effect just would like to be validated by our peers, doctors, and the pharmaceutical companies. If we are certain that there were no outside factors that led to such substancial changes (I personally ate less and worked out more while on meds) in our bodies, it is logical to conclude that the medication was responsible. I'm not saying that there's a known cause, or that the cause is the same with everybody who experiences weight gain. We may be a minority, but we do exist. This is how our bodies react to certain medications.


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## Jinnix (Jul 6, 2006)

arthur56 said:


> IMO all anxiety sufferers if not familair with antidepressants should start with a very low dose, about a quarter of the lowest effective dose and work up
> 
> despite the passionate belief of many, antidepressant meds dont cause any weight alteration, this happens if you eat differently and/or exercise differently
> some gain, some lose, most stay the same
> ...


Many many people would disagree with you. 
http://www.ocfoundation.org/organizedch ... 003_06.php

Personally I'm starting prozac this week and I'm 16. I can eat all day long and I never exercise so I'm gonna record my weight while on prozac and if I notice any differences in weight(unless it goes down) on my regular diet/excerse (none) I will stop right away.


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## Jinnix (Jul 6, 2006)

The problem is that the drug companies haven't done enough long term resears on antidepressants. The weight gain for medication like prozac only begins months maybe even a year after you start taking it.


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## itsmemaggi (Sep 26, 2005)

I didn't gain weight on Paxil. It helped my depression and anxiety considerably after a few weeks, but it made me very tired. Because I was so lethargic, maybe that's what'd eventually have made me gain weight. But it DID increase my motivation.

xoxo
Maggi


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## quat (Sep 27, 2006)

I actually lost a bit of weight with Paxil, it really suppressed my appetite so I'd be eating 1 meal a day. It did make me really lazy when I took it, but I would only be sleeping 3 hours a night on it. Paxil was messed up for me.


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## Robert Copeland (Sep 10, 2011)

wondering the same thing... I didn't gain any weight on zoloft or prozac, but really want to try paxi, since it's supposed to be the best Ssri or SA. 

Is it true though that paxil really lowers testosteron levels, like a poster in the thread claimed?


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

No it's not true.


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## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

There are a lot of Serotonin receptors in the gut. SSRIs increase Serotonin levels in the body and this can stimulate the digestive tract. Some people get hungry, others get nauseated. It varies from person to person. This usually only lasts a few days however as the body adjusts to the increased Serotonin levels. Paxil increases Serotonin levels more than the other SSRIs. This may explain the weight gain from increased appetite.

An exotic dancer with SA??? Interesting...:con

----------------------

EDIT: Just noticed this thread is nearly 6 years old. LOL

*sigh* Oh, well.


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## softshock11 (Jan 9, 2011)

probably makes u so happy that u see food and need to inhale it


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## Naef Basile (Jul 18, 2012)

The regulation of saiety takes place in the hypothalamus (in the brain). Because neuromodulation from antidepressants likely affects the hypothalamus, the normal sense of saiety provided by leptin may be disrupted. 
While D.B. Cooper (who should be working at Wikipedia, deleting all of mankind's unreferenced contributions) is probably right about the tweaking of H1,H2, H3, etc. receptors causing possible changes in appetite, the question is HOW, isn't it? Mr. Cooper's statement about dopamine depletion also sounds logical. In the endj, though, the incredible pound-packing that is caused by Paxil begs the question "What is the MAIN reason that certain antidepressants cause carbohydrate and sugar craving"? I have traveled through most of the landscape of antidepressants' side effects for 24 years. The worst food cravings were produced by Paxil and Nortryptiline; (separately, not together).
In second place, I would say that desipramine, Celexa, doxepin (Sinequan) and Effexor really did a number on me. Please, sweetheart, don't take Effexor. It raises norepinephrine to a degree which will have you eating so fast that you won't even realize how much you have stuffed in. If your problem is mostly anxiety, ask your doctor to prescribe 
Buspar 20mg. BID. It blocks adrenergic receptors in the amygdala, and produce a very subtle sense of calm. If you are mildly depressed, ask your doctor for the liquid form of Prozac. It comes in a brown bottle containing about 3-4 oz. of a slightly syrupy liquid. You would need to buy a dropper which measures milliliters. Each milliliter contains a milligram of Prozac, which would allow you to take small, accurately measured doses. You will NOT gain weight from Prozac, but it can be very activating after one emerges out of the depression. That is why I am suggesting the liquid, for small dosages.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

D.B Cooper the airplane robber? 

Been on Notriptylin, loved bread. But yeah it had that Histamin effect.


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## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

Well ultimately it doesn't matter much whether SSRI's cause an increase in appetite or slow metabolism. The vast majority of dieters (who mostly don't have mental health issues) are unable to keep weight off, i.e. they are unable to restrict calories for a prolonged period. Someone with mental health issues like depression and anxiety will have far less chance of making a deficit due to likely feeling like crap about themselves (and if SSRI's increase appetite, its effectively a deficit which relies on the same willpower). Furthermore the cravings might be even _worse_ than those caused by dieting.

Result being, SSRI's will cause weight gain in those that get cravings, even if its not a metabolic issue (I suspect it is btw), and virtually nobody will be able to resist it with willpower.


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