Posts by smallis

Forum	Topic	Date	Replies

Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	Jul 15 2007 17:47 (UTC)	5
Laurasump -- That's a horrible reason to be put on medication!! As I've said, I finally lost about five pounds about a month of being completely clear of the drug that was making me gain. I'm satisfied to be able to stay under 150 without counting every calorie and denying foods I really wish I could eat. I did that for seven months while I was on the medication and I'm tired of it. I am still not to my goal, which would be to lose another five or ten, but I'm happy for right now, maybe I'll get back into high gear sometime later. As for withdrawal symptoms, I never really had any (my other meds cause vertigo, so I couldn't tell you if that was a symptom or not). But I do really notice that without the medicine for my OCD (the one that was gaining weight), it is getting pretty bad again. I have problems with picking at my hair and skin and it's back in full force. It's still better than being on that drug, but it really upsets me that I can't control it myself (but I guess that's why I was on the drug in the first place). Does anyone have any advice, or is anyone on a drug for OCD that doesn't cause weight gain? Thanks!
Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	Jul 12 2007 15:50 (UTC)	10
Kaddy, I'm actually only on two drugs now (plus birth control, which without insurance was $60!!), but I need two different dosages of each. For example, I take 450mg of Wellbutrin a day, so I needed refills of 300mg (which I do get generic, but that only saves me like $9) and 150mg (which doesn't come generic). Then I'm on 250mg of Lamictal, which doesn't come generic at all, so I needed refills of 100mg and 25 mg. After this staggering bill, however, I am doing what you do and altering my own dose. I felt okay at 200mg of Lamictal, in fact I feel significantly stupider on 250mg, so I'm going back to 200mg. That takes away my need for the 25mg pills altogether. So maybe next time (if I don't have new insurance by then, god forbid), I will only have to pay $450. Sigh. I lived in Austria for a while where every prescription you would ever need, be it sinus medicine or antidepressants, was 4 Euro (about $5). So I could get my entire "cockt ail" for like $15. Those were the days...
Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	Jul 09 2007 23:30 (UTC)	14
Cymbasux -- Kaddy is right, it takes a while for the drugs to get out of your system. I weaned off Risperdal for about a month and a half and I didn't see weight loss until a month after the last pill touched my lips, even though I started cutting it down weeks and weeks ago. Your rant against psychiartists really struck a chord with me, as my doctor, too, talks to me for like three minutes and then suggests a drug. She is not the counselor I see weekly, so wtf does she know? On another note, however, I realized last week how expensive these drugs actually are, and now I'm more pissed at the pharmaceutical companies. While in grad school I had the good fortune of being covered by school medical insurance. Well when I went to the pharmacy to pick up my meds last week the pharmacist told me that I had maxed out my prescription limit (or something like that) and that I now had to pay full price for my drugs--$662.24 for a month's worth! I was floored!! How can people afford to be sick with prices like that?? I guess they just can't...
Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	Jun 16 2007 16:26 (UTC)	19
Well after losing no weight for six months despite good diet and exercise (while on the drug), now that I have been off Risperdal for five weeks I have already lost five pounds, even though I'm not even counting calories as closely and haven't been able to go to the gym as much as I'd like. Stupid drugs!!! I knew it!! Finally!!!!!!!!!!
Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	Jun 08 2007 02:07 (UTC)	21
Hi suspendedtear - I haven't been on Lexapro since last December because it stopped working for me and killed my sex drive. The medicine that was making me gain weight (I'm now on Wellbutrin XL and Lamictal, which are both weight neutral) was Risperdal, for OCD. I did wean off that and have been not taking it for about four weeks. I do notice that my OCD is coming back a bit (trichotillomania where I pull out my hair, also I had one episode of obsessive thoughts that lead to two days of constant crying and immobilization). But on the whole, I think I'll be okay without it. I have been hesitant to weigh myself though because I REALLY don't want to see that even without this medicine I still have not lost weight. I have been watching my food VERY carefully these last four weeks and going to the gym every other day, with the exception of last week when I was on vacation. I'll weigh soon though and then update this post. One side effect I am really starting to notice with the Lamictal is ridiculously bad short term memory and difficulty spelling words. I have always been a straight A student all through college and grad school, so yesterday when I misspelled "indulge" and didn't realize it till hours later I freaked out. Anyone else have this problem on Lamictal?
Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	May 20 2007 05:35 (UTC)	30
r_newt: Lexapro was the first drug I was put on (along with Oxazepam for panic attacks, I don't think Lexapro did anything for panic attacks). It did take a month or so to really kick in, but when it did it worked for me--for a while. I stopped taking it maybe six months later because it just stopped working (plus I was noticing the sexual side effects; I did also start to gain weight, but I think that was more environmental). I then switched to Wellbutrin which, after several dosage increases and the addition of Lamitcal, seems to finally be working correctly. Risperdal (for OCD, in my case) was the drug that really made me gain crazy weight (and killed my sex drive), and I just came off that so I have my fingers crossed that my exercise and healthy diet will finally start paying off (and that I don't backslide and have to start taking it again, that would make me very very sad).
Health & Support	Bipolar friends needed!	Apr 13 2007 21:35 (UTC)	11
I'm not bipolar but I have "treatment-resistant" unipolar depression for which I have just started taking Lamictal, a drug usually for people with bipolar disorder or epilpsy (so I'm hoping that qualifies me to be in your group!). I also have OCD (the medicine for that is what makes me gain weight) so I can relate, Missyrayn! I make so many charts and graphs and binders full of stuff to track my weight and exercise, not to mention all the little gadgets like pedometers and kitchen scales that I buy compulsively off the internet (which my boyfriend thinks is really funny). It's the only thing that makes me feel like I have a handle on my weight at all. In fact I just made a post about how annoyed I am with the weight gain the drugs cause; I feel like at this point, losing ten pounds would make me feel better about myself than any drug could.
Health & Support	Strech Marks	Apr 13 2007 21:24 (UTC)	3
My understanding is that once you have stretch marks, you have them forever (unless those lotions really do work!). When they are white it means they are old; reddish ones are new. So I'd get really pissed if I saw a red one, but there's nothing you can do about the ones you already have. I have a male coworker who bulked up his chest and upper arms a few years ago (with muscle) but now he has stretch marks around his armpits because the muscle gain was so fast. Guess it happens to everyone.
Health & Support	Anyone else on anti-depressants or other weight-gaining drugs?	Apr 13 2007 21:19 (UTC)	74
Thanks for the responses! I knew I couldn't be the only one. In terms of switching medicines, I have already done plenty of that. I used to be on two SSRIs, which cause weight gain, and I switched off those to Wellbutrin (which actually has a side effect of weight loss--not for me apparently) and Lamictal (which is weight neutral). So it's just the Risperdal (for OCD) that I'm on now, but coming off, of course under my doctor's supervision. I would never stop taking an effective drug just because it made me gain weight, though I want to all the time. Myfooddiary, I totally feel your pain, I wish I had some advice but I'm in the same situation. I'll cry with you though!
Weight Loss	if I don't start losing weight soon I'm going to punch someone	Mar 15 2007 14:17 (UTC)	4
Thanks for all the replies! I keep reading, however, that a calorie deficit of 500-700 a day is "healthy" for weight loss (and right now my deficit for inactive days is only 400). Should I really eat more? It just seems so counter-intuitive (but everyone says that I guess).
Weight Loss	Can we talk about poo? Again?	Mar 09 2007 17:33 (UTC)	5
When I first became vegan five years ago I started pooping ALL THE TIME, multiple times a day, and I actually thought something was wrong and called my mom crying "I can't keep anything in!" But dairy just plugs you up, and when I stopped eating it I started pooping like no other. Lately though, I have been very irregular, crapping two times a week if I'm lucky. I eat buttloads (pun intended, I guess) of fiber so I didn't understand what the problem was until this week when I went on vacation for a few days. I didn't have access to the internet to keep track of my calories, plus I was eating out a lot, so I decided to just have a four-day vacation from counting and I have since crapped five days in a row. So I think there's definitely a thing as too much fiber and my little less-than-healthy food vacation seems to have cleaned me out pretty well.
Weight Loss	armpit fat!	Feb 24 2007 16:07 (UTC)	16
YES! No matter how much I weigh or how toned my arms get I still have fat rolls in my pits. I hope someone has a solution to this!
Weight Loss	Was I flirting with famine mode?	Feb 07 2007 23:09 (UTC)
Wow, I can't believe all these responses, this is great, I feel like a celebrity. First off, alysiabrooks, I have had a thyroid test within the last year and nothing was found. Anxious1, thanks for that article, it was really interesting. Also, you're right, the weight I've gained is not much--2ish pounds--but that doesn't mean it's not annoying. Thanks for all the advice everyone! I guess I'll just keep eating more (that sounds so weird)...
Weight Loss	Was I flirting with famine mode?	Feb 07 2007 15:39 (UTC)	8
Okay well then I have a question. Here is my highly annoying dilemma: I have been exercising 4-5 mornings a week since November, and I reduced my daily calories to 1000. Know how much weight I have lost to date? A big fat goose egg. So I thought I would read on here if anyone else was having this problem, which of course people are, and they said--as you all are saying--that what worked wonders for them was to increase their caloric intake, as they were in "starvation mode." So for the last few weeks I have been eating more (not crap food, but nuts and fruit and all that stuff everyone recommends when you increase your calories) and I have now officially gained weight. I'm extremely annoyed and in need of a solution to this problem before my head explodes. I'm 5'6'', 150 pounds, and I would be ecstatic if I could lose just 10 or 15 pounds. And everyone says, "Well you're probably gaining muscle, which weighs more," but no, I've been measuring my chest, waist, and hips and I have lost a total of only 4 inches in these three months which equals zero pants sizes for me. So please, suggestions?
Weight Loss	Worst thing someone can say about your weight?	Jan 30 2007 16:56 (UTC)	13
When I was 15 I was at a rock music festival with a friend, who was thinner than me (though I was by no means overweight). It was summer and very hot so we were both wearing tank tops. We were walking to go get nachos or something, she walking in front of me, and when we passed a group of nasty old men they of course went nuts for her, whistling and whooping. When I passed, however, they actually booed me. That's great for the self-esteem of a 15-year-old girl. Makes me mad just thinking about it now!

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