Best anxiety meds with NO weight gain

[Anonymous]

Paxil

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so I did gain weight on zoloft (15 pounds). I went off of it and quickly lost the weight by counting calories. But the anxiety got bad, so I went back on it. This time, though, I kept an eye on my calories and did not gain weight. Then, I had a medical scare and my anxiety went crazy and I lost another 15 pounds and was actually pretty underweight. All of this happened while I was still on Zoloft, so I realized I can lose weight on Zoloft. Anyway, most likely, it wasn’t the meds making me gain weight so much as the anxiety making me not want to eat.

Bottom line is that SSRIs are not somehow slowing down your metabolism or magically piling on the pounds. You do have to pay attention to what you’re eating.

Came to say this...zoloft does not make you gain weight, it stops your anxiety from suppressing your appetite. Zoloft got me back up to a normal weight but did not make me gain more than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so I did gain weight on zoloft (15 pounds). I went off of it and quickly lost the weight by counting calories. But the anxiety got bad, so I went back on it. This time, though, I kept an eye on my calories and did not gain weight. Then, I had a medical scare and my anxiety went crazy and I lost another 15 pounds and was actually pretty underweight. All of this happened while I was still on Zoloft, so I realized I can lose weight on Zoloft. Anyway, most likely, it wasn’t the meds making me gain weight so much as the anxiety making me not want to eat.

Bottom line is that SSRIs are not somehow slowing down your metabolism or magically piling on the pounds. You do have to pay attention to what you’re eating.

Came to say this...zoloft does not make you gain weight, it stops your anxiety from suppressing your appetite. Zoloft got me back up to a normal weight but did not make me gain more than that.

Good for you but you’re wrong to assume your experience is representative of everyone’s. there is research on SSRIs and insulin secretion and SSRIs and diabetes as well as evidence that long term SSRI use is linked to weight gain, insulin resistance and diabetes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to do a telehealth consult and get some. I absolutely cannot cope with my life right now. Once my kids are both in college I will be fine, but no amount of exercise, relaxation or eating right is helping with the high levels of stress I feel all the time lately. Can you recommend something than made you feel happy and not anxious at all? Weight gain is an absolute NO as I am borderline right now on BMI.

What grade are they in? Just curious. Mine are junior twins and I’m stressed out. Am about to toddle (close to waddle) to get a crumb of diazepam which I’ve not taken for months but need today. I’m the one who tried lexapro and put on 30 lbs that stuck.

Side note - when you microdose the valium, how much are you taking? Asking for a friend.

Actually I had a 5 mg long acting so I just took it cause it’s hard and can’t be broken. Typically I break 2 or 5 into smaller pieces. Maybe a quarter of one.

[Anonymous]

Cigarettes. You'll knock out the anxiety AND cut weight. Bada bing bada boom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to do a telehealth consult and get some. I absolutely cannot cope with my life right now. Once my kids are both in college I will be fine, but no amount of exercise, relaxation or eating right is helping with the high levels of stress I feel all the time lately. Can you recommend something than made you feel happy and not anxious at all? Weight gain is an absolute NO as I am borderline right now on BMI.

What grade are they in? Just curious. Mine are junior twins and I’m stressed out. Am about to toddle (close to waddle) to get a crumb of diazepam which I’ve not taken for months but need today. I’m the one who tried lexapro and put on 30 lbs that stuck.

Side note - when you microdose the valium, how much are you taking? Asking for a friend.

Actually I had a 5 mg long acting so I just took it cause it’s hard and can’t be broken. Typically I break 2 or 5 into smaller pieces. Maybe a quarter of one.

PP And this isn’t Micro dosing today. I needed to calm the hell down. I tried tapping, meditating, talking w a friend, lying on heating pad, sipping tea……I also just filed for divorce today (in addition to the jr twins) so I am taking the evening off. My jaw was clenched tight. Not now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paxil

Are you posting this with personal experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cigarettes. You'll knock out the anxiety AND cut weight. Bada bing bada boom.

Joking aside, try non-tobacco nicotine, like Zyn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cigarettes. You'll knock out the anxiety AND cut weight. Bada bing bada boom.

Joking aside, try non-tobacco nicotine, like Zyn.

Not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

I had the worst panic attacks on Wellbutrin, but could not eat either and lost tons of weight.

[Anonymous]

I lost weight on Zoloft because o could control my eating better when I was on it. For example, it was Easter and I wasn’t even tempted to eat the Reese’s peanut butter eggs in the kids’ baskets. My doctor said it just evened things out so so it affects people differently.

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds like you need two medications. One for anxiety and one for insulin. I recommend lexapro and metaformin. This must be in addition to therapy though.

[Anonymous]

Try an SNRI rather than an SSRI.

Cymbalta has been a godsend for me. Weight LOSS is actually a side effect because you lose interest in food/eating. That’s actually super annoying for me because I love food and to cook, but I can deal with that for the better mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cigarettes. You'll knock out the anxiety AND cut weight. Bada bing bada boom.

Joking aside, try non-tobacco nicotine, like Zyn.

Not a good idea.

Why not? Nicotine has the fewest side-effects of the any of the drugs recommended so far. Some of the cocktails being recommended are astounding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, it's not like restaurants or resorts where crowdsourcing and reading reviews will help you identify the appropriate choice FOR YOU. Even reading research data will only provide so much information, because genetics, complementary treatment modalities, your neurotype, trauma history, current circumstances, and actual diagnosis will influence how a given medication works for you and what side effects you may or may not experience. There's so much trial and error.

If you are truly desperate and can't do anything else to help yourself, you have to try a first line medication to treat your symptoms of anxiety and see if it helps you access better self-care. You may find that any incidental weight gain is negated by your increased ability to establish healthier habits, or you may have to try a different med. But you have to start somewhere.

The bolded is so true. Several pps have said they had weight gain and/or side effects from Lexapro. For me, it was a life saver. I didn’t gain any weight and had no serious side effects. The worst thing I noticed was that I almost couldn’t cry, which was not necessarily a bad thing since my anxiety left me in tears SO often. Overall, I was utterly grateful that it managed my anxiety to the point that I could focus on therapy and get a handle on my life. I did experience some brain fog when weaning off, but just slowed down my taper and that resolved pretty quickly.