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I was put on several antidepressents the last one was Zyprexa where I gained 40lbs for Bipolar/Hypomania. I was diagnosed diabetic 2 years ago and I have lost 50 lbs so far! I will never be put on another medication like that ever again. I would much rather put up with the hell of the Bipolar/Hypomania.
Nurz
Zyprexa is one of those meds that can cause enormous weight gain. It is in another class of drugs, not actually an antidepressant but used as you experienced for bipolar disorder. I am glad you were able to lose your weight after you stop taking it. What we need is for new research to develop meds that will take care of the emotional disorders without making people gain so much weight they develop other problems like diabetes or high blood pressure etc.
I also had this problem with Zyprexa. I was 150 and ended up 220. I didn't know and wasn't told by my shrink it would cause weight gain. At the time I just wanted the voices to go away.
Anyway I went off the zyprexa but it took years to get the weight off. One thing to consider for me was that the lithium I was also on increased my desire for carbs while zyprexa made me tired and hungry. I can't believe the amount of food I was eating!
No one is really sure why lithium increases food intake and weight but that is a major side effect. The way we try to fight it is to strengthen the power of serotonin to cause satiety or satisfaction. And since there are no drugs which will do this, the best we can do, as I mention in the Serotonin Power Diet, is to use therapeutic amounts of carbohydrate to increase the brain's ability to make more serotonin. Carbs don't make serotonin itself but they start a process which ends up with more serotonin in the brain. I hope someday soon there will be other ways of doing this but for now, this is it.
I had my paxil increased and within 3 months I had gained 25 pounds. I went to a different doctor and was distressed because my eating habits had not changed. She then explained that anti depressants make you gain weight. She took me off paxil and put me on generic prozac. I am no longer gaining but haven't lost any of the wieght I gained. Theories haves susggested that these meds mess with your metabolism.
One of the side effects of certain meds is that they slow you down; you don't move as much, you may lose muscle and your metabolism may also get slower. So as you said, even if you don't eat any differently you will gain weight. YOu can lose it but it comes off slowly. When I ran a weight loss center that cared for people who gained weight on antidepressants, we combined our special diet with gentle exercise . Eventually people were able to exercise more vigorously , put on muscle and combined with the diet that controlled their appetite, they did lose weight .
im sorry but i had to comment on this, i am overweight and have fibromyalga. is there any thing else you can throw in there. you cant go out because of the pain. you cant drink because of the anti depressents. so all you do is wait to die. as if you care that your'e gaining weight. nobody has any care about people any more. why do people loose weight ? so they can look good and feel good about themselves. but when your in constant pain. the work is doing your cleaning and cooking. at least this woman still has her husband. when i got sick my husband left, and left me with all the bills. the only thing i have to live on is social security. and beleave me its not enough. all i ge is people calling me for bills that he left. i dont know where he is. he never paid me child support or wife support or anything. nobody can find him.i know where he works but they cant touch him . so count your blessings because it could be worst.
I, too, was put on antidepressants many years ago and realized over time a significant weight gain. I did manage to lose 70 pounds 2 years ago but, that was because I spent more than 3 hours EVERY day for over 4 months walking, aerobic pool exercizes, and stationary gym workouts, and help from a weight loss clinic. Because of certain medical and physical disabilities, and the expense, I eventually had to give it up. I have consistently argued with my health care provider about the weight and he blamed it on my thyroid dysfunction. He did not appreciate the effects of the antidepressants I was on and told me I could not consider being taken off the medications. My anticoagulation management team supported me when I made a huge decision to stop taking those meds. I have not taken antidepressants for over a week. It was rough at first but, guess what? I feel so much better mentally, and have lost several pounds in one week. Through psych-therapy, I have learned to manage my depression and anxiety very well and refuse to ever be "told" I need to take those nasty meds. I do realize that there are those who really do need to be medicated. I am confident that I will lose unwanted pounds over time and get back to my ideal weight.
Hi ! I am on Cymbalta 60 mgm bid and Lyrica 75 mgm bid. I was on 75 mgm tid but my doctor cut one dose to help me lose weight. That was only 2 weeks ago. I have Fibromyalgia ,Major Depression and anxiety. I also have severe DJD for which I have had 2 cervical fusions in my neck in 1999 and again in 2004. The DJD has severely affected my lumbar area and limits my ability to exercise. I want to lose 15 to 25 lbs. I am 177 and 5'5". I know I should weigh less but I do not want to. Any assistance is welcomed. Thanks IrishRed
MIREN DE POR SI LA DEPRESION ES UN INFIERNO Y LUEGO LE SALEN A UNO CON QUE TE SUBE DE PESO??????
POR FAVOR NO DESALIENTEN A LA POBRE GENTE QUE TIENE ESTE PROBLMA, SOBRE TODO SI ES NUEVO EN ESTO.
TENGO CASI 3O AÑOS DE TOMAR ANTIDEPRECIVOS Y NO SUBO DE PESO. DESDE IMIPRAMINA HASTA FLUOXETINA.
NO LE BUSQUEMOS MAS BIGOTES AL GATO.
CON TODO RESPETO. ANGEL SU AMIGO.
"Next to Normal" is a Broadway musical dealing with the common, but rarely sung about, problems of mental illness and the impact this has on the family. Despite its theme, the musical is often very funny while being uncannily accurate in depicting the symptoms of bipolar disorder and how current therapies affect the patient. In one very long musical sequence, the patient, the mother of the family, is put on a variety of medications to stabilize her out-of-control mania. In scene after scene she comes back to tell her psychopharmacologist about the side effects of the various medications he is trying and their lack of efficacy. To my amazement, she sings that one medication took away her appetite and then made her gain 10 pounds. " Did you hear that?" I whispered to my husband as people around us laughed. "They sing about weight gain from anti-depressants on stage but psychiatrists still won't talk about it."
As we left the theater, I felt hopeful that this hidden cause of obesity might finally become mainstream. If it could make its way into the lyrics of a popular play, then maybe weight gain due to antidepressants and drugs used for bipolar disorder might be recognized as contributing to the epidemic of obesity In fact, the only part of the song that did was not entirely accurate was the weight gain of l0 pounds. Of course, this was supposedly after only a few weeks of treatment. Many drugs, especially those used for bipolar disorder, can produce weight gains upwards of 70 pounds over six months or so.
One of the saddest aspects of medication-induced weight gain is that people who experience it were often a normal size before drug use and without any history of eating problems or obesity. In our weight-loss center at a Harvard University hospital, we saw many clients who not only had been thin but also had led physically active lives. They would tell us that they did not recognize their own bodies after several months on their medication. Not only were they unable to control their eating, they no longer could exercise as their extreme weight gain left them fatigued and often with back or leg pain. Their family and friends did not understand what was happening and these formerly thin people were subjected to unkind and sometimes abusive statements about their new size. A few became recluses because they could not bear people looking at them. One of our clients, in high school at the time, refused to go to school because of the way she looked. Her mother had to home-school her.
And yet, as we point out in our book, The Serotonin Power Diet, this does not have to occur. The side effect of chronic hunger produced by the medications can be aborted by getting the brain to make more serotonin. No one is sure how the weight-gaining medications affect food intake but serotonin's role in turning off hunger has been known for at least 35 years. It would be ideal if a drug existed that turned serotonin into an appetite terminator but there isn't any. The only safe and effective way to get serotonin to function more potently as an appetite suppressant is to make the brain manufacture more of this chemical. This is easy to do and it is too bad the Broadway show didn't mention it. Serotonin is made when non-fruit, starchy or sweet carbohydrates are eaten. As long as the food is eaten without protein and with very little fat, serotonin is made within 20 minutes or so. And as soon as it is made, it acts to shut off further eating.
Clients in our hospital weight-loss center and our private practice were given a diet we have reproduced in our book. They were told to consume a carbohydrate drunk, which we had developed for the clinic. It allowed the brain to make serotonin very quickly. They were also allowed to substitute a carbohydrate food for the beverage, if they wished.
Weight loss was immediate and easy because the additional amount of serotonin seemed to diminish or remove entirely the need to eat all the time. Some of the clients had to stay on the weight-loss plan for many weeks because they had gained so much w eight from their medication. They all told us they wished their psychopharmacologist had told them about our diet when they first started gaining weight and not after their weight gain became a major side effect.
But who knows? Now that weight gain from antidepressants and mood stabilizers is put to music, maybe some songwriter will tell the audience about eating carbohydrates to lose weight.
Yes I too was a normal very slender weight before beginning anti depressants. I could also walk several miles a day to work and back. I am glad to hear you say that you think this is contributing to the obesity epidemic. I often wonder where anti depressants fit into that picture as many many Americans are on these medications and plenty of others that have a weight gain side effect, for example "prilosec" for heartburn. Before gaining all the weight that I have (in the course of one year) I was healthy. Now I have a hiatal hernia and gastritis and prilosec was prescribed to me, there is no way I would take another medication that can cause weight gain. I have also switched over to wellbutrin. In your experience is this medication REALLY an effective weight loss medication? Or is it the reverse? Im very confused about that.
Dear Joslyn, After our book, the Serotonin Power Diet was published, my co-author who is a physician and myself tried to engage the interest of the psychiatric community in the problem of antidepressant weight gain. No interest was shown by anyone. We have tried through web sites such as this one to alert people going on antidepressants, mood stabilizers etc. to the likelihood of weight gain and to suggest that they follow our diet plan to prevent the weight gain. Even though we have had a good response from people who are on meds, this still has not carried over to their physicians . Even worse, the docs often recommend high protein diets that will decrease serotonin levels and lead to more depression and anxiety. If you have any suggestions as to how to make the psychiatric community more aware of this problem, I welcome your help.
Re: wellbutrin. It is not a weight loss drug. It just doesn't cause the weight gain that other drugs cause. However it usually is prescribed along with other meds which do cause weight gain.
Ok very interesting about the wellbutrin. Many people are hoping to lose weight on it, but as long as it enables me to lose weight through exercise I will be happy. I really think the danger of weight gain increases if you already have a thyroid problem. If you need to take synthroid and go on an antidepressant you will most certainly gain weight. I really think in time the drug companies will be the ones to pay more attention to public concerns. As people request the more weight neutral drugs, I HOPE this will motivate them to pay more attention to the issue. But maybe I am being naive. I really dont understand why psychiatrists are not interested in helping patients with the weight gain side effect. I suppose they feel it is not their job. Many seem unconcerned and removed about their patients. I dont know.. In my experience the first MD that I tried to address my concerns with said that weight gain from antidepressants should not be more than 10 lbs (!). The second one I saw during my pregnancy and he also dismissed my case (probably thinking yeah lady your pregnant of course you will gain weight) even though I explained that I had gained 30 lbs prior to becoming pregnant. He looked up whether celexa was safe during pregnancy, and I saw the section that said weight gain is a side effect. I was very pleased to point this section out to him, and he became snippy with me! I really think that reaching out to those who are on the anti depressants is very commendable and I think that the more patients are aware of this issue the more they can tell their doctors. I plan on telling my current MD about the carbohydrate plan. Also on an interesting note, my anxiety went from moderate to SEVERE after I went on a mainly protein and vegetable diet. My doctor had suggested maybe I was allergic to grains and this could be causing my anxiety ( he had an interest in natural medicine). I kept asking him, how come I feel so good after eating a piece of toast? And he had no real answer. Now I can finally understand why!
Dear Joselyn, You confirmed what I have heard from other people whose docs are both nutritionally ignorant but arrogant. Ask your doctor how serotonin is made and when he gives you the wrong answer ( he will say after protein is eaten) show him the text in our book that references the research.
I am sorry that every psychiatrist you have contacted has had the same uninformed response.
RE: synthroid. If you are given the correct amount, your weight should not be affected. But it does require constant monitoring.
Exercise will increase serotonin because after strenuous exercise, amino acids in the blood are rearranged so tryptophan gets into the brain ( this is what happens after you eat carbs of course). But the problem is life! You can't spend all day exercising unless you are part of the NFL or whatever. So eating timed, therapeutic snacks of any carbohydrate ( except fruit carbohydrates) will increase serotonin. Our book suggests when you might want to eat them to get the most benefit in terms of serotonin synthesis.
Toast is good.
Judy
i take venlaflaxine for depression, i have been taking it for 6 months. it has made me go froma size 12 to a size 14/16. i have developed a serious eating disorder, where i make myself sick due to feeling fat and ugly.
mt consultant only thinks of my mental health, he dismisses the weight gain, saying your mental health is more serious than a few pounds of fat.
well its not cos ive gained 1 1/2 stone in the last few months.
ive had enough now, im coming off it. im still depressed on it so whats the point. the reason for my depression, my fat, especially my stomach. i dont even want to go on holiday,because ill have to go on beach in costume.
i want my consultant to really understand how depressed i am due to taking this medication.
i am diagnosed with a personality disorder and bipolar, for which i take quetiapine. yes this also causes weight gain, but not as much as venlaflaxine.if you have gained weight recently, just consider it may be due to u medication and not what u eating.
I am really sorry but not surprised at the lack of understand and indeed information of your consultant. He has only to look at the label of the medication you are taking to learn about its weight gain side effect. Don't become too discouraged because it is possible to lose weight even while on the medication. It may take some time because sometimes metabolism slows down and also if you are tired, it is hard to exercise. But if you follow our suggestions on our face book and web site ( the serotonin power diet) you will find that it is possible to overcome the effects of the medication on your appetite. Don't give up. There is a thin body waiting to be released and if you eat carbs as we suggest which will help serotonin make you feel full and if you exercise. the weight will come off.
Been there. My doctor refuses to agree that these meds can cause weight gain. An increase in appetite doesn't seem to be my problem tho. I eat less but still am gaining (over 50 pounds in the last 10 years). All he can say is "quit eating so much and exercise more". Not helpful. Made me cry because he was so hateful.
When will it stop? When will doctors admit that weight gain is a major consequence of taking antidepressants. The weight may be gained because of overeating or decrease in metabolism or both. Next time take the information available on the internet or in the Physician Desk Reference or in the package insert and show it to him/her. But don't depend on your physician to help you lose the weight. You may have to examine your eating habits to see where you can cut out calories ( don't forget the trick of eating carbs to decrease your appetite) and increase your exercise. It may seem unfair that you have to do this just because of your medication and I agree. But what else can you do? The weight will come off and it is important to try to lose at least some of it for health reasons. Please write back so we can continue to help you.
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I think part of this person's problem is that she is getting antidepressants from a physician and not a psychiatrist. My psychiatrist has always explained the side affects and any added benefits of taking particular drugs. For instance with Depakote, he told me it could cause weight gain but that it also might help my migraines. He was right about both. However, when I asked him if there was something else that I could take that was similar to Depakote but didn't have the same weight gain potential, he switched me to something else. With the Depakote I was hungry all the time. My stomach actually growled. Nothing seemed to satisfy it for long. Anyway, the new med. doesn't have that problem but is working just as well, even on the headaches.
Anyway, yes some antidepressants cause weight gain. The trick is to finding a good psychiatrist who can find you the right meds that will help you without the negative side affects.
I have gained almost 2 stone since I started taking SSRI for anxiety and panic attacks,
I o watch what I eat, mostly salads and fish, or chicken, and small portions, I have a cereal in the morning with skimmed milk, now and again I may have a scone, never take sugar, I really am carefull what I eat, and yet the weight does not come off.
I do see a pscychiatrist, and he says I have a choice, to take the pills and put on weight, or have the panics and depression, which by the way I still get.
I am addicted to Valium, for over 4o years, butthey never made me put on weight. Any suggestions for me. I also suffer with agoraphobia Thankyou, from Blossom
i dont take antidepressants for depression. they do help other things like my menapause hot flashes. dont always think that just because they take them that they are depressed. i can not take hormones due to the type of breast cancer that i had so until you know everything that antidepressants are used for dont judge other people.
sincerely,
tbears13t
Thank you for your helpful comment and I hope the person whose wife needs help, reads it. What will also help is for patients to request information about the weight gain side effects of their meds, as you did, and then have the physician or psychiatrist try to find more acceptable replacements. If none exists, as I mentioned in my blog, it is important to help the patient follow a food plan that takes away the hunger caused by the meds and an exercise plan to burn off some of the extra calories if overeating does occur.
One of the problems with some SSRIs and Lexapro may be one of them is that they reallly slow you down and make you feel tired. This makes it harder to do a lot of physical activity which would of course help with the weight loss. However if you can get yourself to do some sort of fairly active exercise, you might see your weight coming off even if you do not change your diet. But the other problem is that you are eating the wrong foods to help your appetite and weight. As I mentioned in my book, serotonin is made ONLY when you eat carbohydrates: sweet and starchy foods. And you must eat them without protein. This has been known since l973. Fruit although it is a carbohydrate will not help the brain make new serotonin. You have been avoiding these foods according to your comments. So your antidepressant has been working on perhaps inadequate levels of serotonin all this time. Moreover serotonin TURNS off appetite ( it is another function). So if as I suggest in my book, you have one meal a day that is only carbs and vegetbles, and two snacks a day that are carbohydrate,you would feel better and have less of an appetite and lose weight.
I don't know if the hormone you can't take due to cancer is estrogen, but there is a lot of new information about bio-identical progesterone (brand name Prometrium), 300 mg at night, as being a huge help in the mood swings, hot flashes, and poor sleep often associated with the time leading up to menopause (called perimenopause). There is a lot more information on this site of an endocrinologist doctor at the medical center of The University of British Columbia: http://www.cemcor.ubc.ca/
I just had to respond to this as I didn't knowanything about the carbohydrate intake for making serotonin. Very enlightening, I gained weight after my son died 6 years ago, by switching to Effexor from Serzone and upped my dosage of Wellbutrin. Serzone was a sedating antidepressant according to my Psych DR. and changed me as I couldn't get out of bed. Then after I noticed I was gaining weight, which can happen when depression keeps me in bed and ,low activity for a year after always being active before.
I did notice I didn't really have an appetite with my meds, but eventually changed to cymbalta. I still wasn't losing weight and still gaining, but did start a weight loss and fitness program at the club. Also, before this I had surgery and stayed on a low carbohydrate diet that I was very weak and started eating sweets again and was able to do things.
I did quit the gym, after spring arrived and worked in my garden, but started suffereing from carpal tunnel syndrome and eventually, my activity slowed down. Then I had surgery on both hands at different times. So I just wasn't losing weight and really was getting tired of Cymbalta as I do believe it was affecting my weight loss and other things.
So I switched to Serzone, but it was different then when i took it 6 1/2 years ago. I dont' know the difference but can only suggest that I was slowing down, my hormones were changing, life was changing. So I found this medication to cause me to have blurry vision, dizziness, memory loss, lack of concentration, tired all the time, and I started to trip and fall. Also, just hopping out of bed and going down the hall was very scary, I felt I was walking at an angle.
I finally after a good try with them, quit as it was affecting everything. It was hard quiting, and even the lowest dose was giving me all of the bad symtoms.
Anyway, I did lose weight after I went off of Cymbalta, had more talk therapy and I'm still losing and feel so much better off of the Serzone. I still feel sickish and take my Well butrin, but I really don't think I need to take the high dosage I was. But also I can't go cold turkey either.
I really haven't had much of an appetite either, but do feel better if I haven't eaten to have a carbohydrate of some kind. So I guess that is what is needed right now while i have these headaches and sickish stomach. Also, some nervousness. I can only surmise some of that as withdrawals. I also do not suffer from high blood pressure, so I don't need a sedating anti-depressant. I do take Temazepam for RLS and sleeping with a snoring DH.
I don't see my med dr until later this month, but I know I will not go back on Cymbalta or Serzone or any other antidepressant except for maintaining Wellbutrin. Since being able to fit into my clothes again, and have physical relations with my husband is worth it.
Plus life is less stressful or I am just healthier. I don't know, as we still get disappointing news, stumbling blocks, losses. I just am doing better these days I think...
I have MS. I take LDN (low dose naltrexone) which helps everything. I have pain, depression and anxiety. I have recently gone off cymbalta and now only on LDN and my MS med Copaxone. If you google LDN also google skips pharmacy as he is an expert in it. He is not who I use, but will stear you in the right direction of what and how to take it. Most docs are not aware of it for its low dose usage as it is not a big pharma drug. It is at least worth looking into. Best wishes for help with solving your problem. I also have upped my vitamin D (take a lot, FDA doesn't begin to cover what most of us need), 1200 mg of calcium and 90 mg of K2. That in itself has helped me lose weight more than anything. If you research this and try it, watch for side effects of toxicity and the adjust if you suspect anything or monitor through blood work. Toxicity reverses once lowering dosage. I myself take 50,000 IU daily of D and have no problems. That said, most with MS are deficient. The bonus of taking a higher dosage us MSers find is loss of weight. Just food for thought. As everything, run things by your doctor. Of course, most will say 1000 IU of D is good enough. A standard dose for people now recommende during the winter months is 3000-5000 IU daily. You a have to take the 1200 mg of calcium no matter what to make the D work and the K2 keep the blood calcium from getting to high.
Thank you for sharing your own experience and good for your psychiatrist for recognizing the weight gain problem. Many of my weight loss clients do not have such positive experiences with their docs, either general or psychiatrists and are often handed a diet and told to exercise. They certainly do n ot know the relationship between increasing serotonin by eating starchy carbohydrates and feeling full, more satisifed and satiated even though this information has been around for more than thirty years.
Lexapro almost always causes weight gain because it not only makes people want to eat even when their stomachs are full but often leaves people tired so they don't want to exercise. Our book the Serotonin Power Diet is based on a successful weight loss program I ran at a Harvard University psychiatric hospital. Our mission was to stop the cravings by increasing serotonin 's ability to turn off the appetite and also to get our clients to exercise. As you would see in the book,eating a therapeutic dose of carbohydrate on an empty stomach two or three times a day increases serotonin and makes the cravings go away. But if you combine carbs with protein, no serotonin is made. This has been known since l973 but alas, many docs don't know their basic science.
Dear Judith, I thankyou fof the reply to my message and weight gain.
You mentioned a book that has been written, could you please tell me if it is possible to buy this book.
My pscychiatrist will not change the Cipralex, but I have been on them at least 6 years, also as previously stated the Valium which I am addicted to , also propranalol, but still have bad depression and anxiety attacks.
I take the cipralex in the morning at 7.30am, but fall back to sleep until about 10am, and wake up feeling very tired, with tension up the back of the neck, and a kind of muzzy feeling head.which does not help the depression,and feel crying all the time.
I do not do much exercise as I am a senior citizen, please let me know about the book and if it is for sale, and cost Thankyou so much from Blossom
Dear Judith, I have written to you before regarding gtaking Cipralex, also addicted to valium and am on propranaolol, I have gained over 2 stone since being on Cipralex, and on reading tne messages elow, I read that a book has been published to lose weight on Cipralex, Would you please e mailme tro see if the book can be purchased.
I am so depressed at the present time, as my husband has Altizimer, and I am not coping, I keep lying in bed all day to avoid the crying every day. I do mean every day. I have agoraphobia, and monophobia, and panic attacks.
I am a senior citizen, I am at my wits end, the pscychiatrist will not change te tablets. Please will you e mail an answer to this message. URGENT Thankyou
PLEASE from blossombargh@hotmail.com
Yes the book is for sale and it is available in paper back . It is called The Serotonin Power Diet, published by Rodale and I am sure you can order it on Amazon or have your book store get it for you. I used to run a weight management center at a Harvard Hospital and many of our clients gained weight on their antidepressants, mood stabilizers etc. I developed the weight loss plan that is in the book for use in the clinic. It is based on about 25 years of research at MIT that I did with my husband who discovered in the l970's that eating carbohydrates is the only way the brain can make new serotonin. Since serotonin not only makes us feel better, it also turns off the appetite, I developed an eating plan that makes sure people eat the right amount of starchy carbohydrates at the right time so serotonin is always active and shutting off appetite. The serotonin has to fight the tendency of the drugs that make people eat more but the diet plan works. WE published a research article on this a few years ago. Please e mail me if you need help. YOu can get my e mail by going to www.serotoninpowerdiet.com or our face book, serotoninpowerdiet.
I will help you directly.
HI THANKS FOR THE INFO, I HAVE A REALLY SLOW MATABOLISM AND ALSO HAVE JUST RECENTLEY DEVELOPED MINOR SEIZURES (CURENTLY TAKING DEPAKOTE FOR SEIZURES)AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE I HAVE INSOMNIA DUE TO STRESS WHAT DO U REALLY THINK WILL HELP MY DEPPRESSSION AND AT THE SAME TIME HELP ME GAIN WEIGHT? THATNKS FOR THE ADVISE...
Dear Mee, I assume you have looked into the reasons for your slow metabolism ( thryoid problems?) . If there is no medical reason for the slow metabolism, the only thing you can do is try to increase it naturally. If you build up your lean body mass by increasing the size of your muscles, you will be using up more calories. So if you can, try to do some muscle strengthening exercises and ask a good trainer or even physical therapist to help you get started. And try to work physical activity into your life as much as possible . The depakote will increase your appetite so turn it off by eating carbohydrates and increasing serotonin. Go to our web site :www.serotoninpowerdiet.com for suggestions.
Was this study to stop the cravings while on or off antidepressants??
what foods do you recommend? Rice and vegetables??
Dear Joselyn, The key to reversing weight gain from antidepressants is to get the brain to turn off your appetite. The only effective way, so far, to do this involves serotonin. I know that the drug increase increases serotonin ability to improve mood but I am talking about something else that serotonin does. Serotonin acts on other brain cells to turn off eating ; to cause what scientists call satiety or feeling full.
We know from other research that serotonin is made only when non-fruit carbohydrates are eaten. Carbs like potatoes, rice, bread, cereal, corn or corn meal like polenta, pasta, beans and lentils should be eaten, without protein . When they are digested , they start a process that allows the brain to make new serotonin. And this new serotonin turns off the appetite.
in our book, the Serotonin Power Diet, we have a very specific timetable for eating carbohydrates so that the appetite is turned off. I don't have room here to go into details but our diet plan allows dieters to have 2 or 3 carbohydrate snacks a day ( all very low in fat as well as protein) and the dinner meal is mostly carbohydrate. The reason for this is that protein prevents serotonin from being made. See whether this approach works and write back with more questions.
What is the medicine compared to Depakote that does not have as much weight gain potential?