Hi Trish

I have been on an SSRI antidepressant for the past two or so years (I can't remember exactly when I started on them). I take Paroxetine which very closely related to Sertraline. The brand names are Aropax (Paroxetine) or Zoloft (Sertraline) here in Australia.

I take Aropax and I can't say what a difference it has made to my general health and wellbeing. After many years of what I call "anxiety eating", by which I mean eating to relieve the nervous "gnawing" sense of anxiety in the pit of my stomach, I am now free of this horrible feeling!

I did not gain any appreciable weight on Aropax, and have been now on LC WOE for 19 weeks and have lost 24 lbs.

If you need to treat your depression/anxiety it is important to do so. You will probably find that when feeling better psychologically, you will also feel better physically and be better able to deal with the demands of daily life.

This WOE is not a miracle cure for being overweight, but it is by far the simplest, easiest and best way of losing weight gradually that I have ever tried (in more than 30 years of weighing more than I should). I believe it is also one of the healthiest ways of addressing the problem of weighing more than is comfortable

Go for it Trish!!!

Regards and good luck

Gemma

It does work indeed...

I've been on Atkins for 6 months now and have dropped slowly to 200 pounds... Just weeks away from finally fitting into size 34 pants, but I just started Wellbutrin (probably spelled it wrong) about 1 month ago and it has really worked wonders for me... Depression runs strong on my mother's side of the family and I have battled it for my whole life... This new medication is working great and I'm still losing weight on Atkins in OWL mode ;>)

Jon out here in semi-warming up California

Hi Jon

My family also has a strong thread of anxiety and depressive disorders. I can't believe the difference actually treating the problem has made to my life.

I put off seeking "chemical" treatment for years though I tried counselling etc, but I realise now I was only half living! I feel fortunate to have found a Dr who picked up on it quickly - my previous Dr retired. Now I just feel at peace with life in general - the absolute opposite to the constant sense of anxiety and regular dips into depression - never severe enough to stop functioning, but always enough to rob me of any feeling of enjoyment - and enough to send me to the fridge for relief from the "gnawing" anxiety.

Now with this new WOE I am just on top of the world!

Good luck

Gemma

I wouldn't recommend prozac or effexor, for people who have weight problems. I gained 40 lbs on prozac in a year and 20 more lbs when I changed to effexor. I'm still on effexor right now but i'm hoping to switch to wellbutrin which is supposedly much better at helping one lose weight while also treating depression. If you're a smoker, wellbutrin is a great antidepressant for you because it is the same as zyban, the smoking-cessation drug...

I've been on Wellbutrin for about 1 1/2 months now... I'm really pleased with the results - much improved outlook and I'm very "evened" out - It is much better than the Zoloft and Xanax I've been on at different times...

My weight is dropping fast too... I'm noticing the pants just get easier and easier to fit in...

I was curious, how many grams were you on? I'm on 20g and I haven't gained any weight.

150mg - once a day - timed release I think... Works great

Has anyone heard of Aropax? it's maine ingredient is Paroxetine. It's an anti-depressant.

I've been trying to stop taking it, but the phyical withdrawl is terrible, I keep getting that electric shock feeling and my GP doesn't even know what to do.........

I'd really appreciate some help.


Frances

I take Aropax as well, the withdrawals are really bad for me too. I haven't talked to my doctor about going off them but, know from forgetting to take them for a couple of days. I always thought that you could wean yourself off them, but hearing what you have said worries me. I have been considering going off them as I don't want to inhibit my weight loss. I feel pretty confused about the issue.

I assume you are an Aussie also as I think aropax is an australian brandname.

Anyway good luck and keep me posted.

Why not look up the drug on a medical or pharamacutical website and see if these withdrawel symptoms are covered there - if there is one thing I have learned, if it exists, it has been covered somewhere on the web...

A quick yahoo search yielded this:

http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/_disc560/00000289.htm

"I too went through the same thing. I did not take my daily dose for 5 days and was getting the horrible dizzy electric shock feelings in my head. This occurred because the drug was stopped abruptly. When coming off aropax, you need to slowly decrease the doses over a period of 2-3 weeks. This is supposed to decrease or prevent these symptoms from occurring. I am yet to try again"

Also: http://paxil.bizland.com/archives_34.htm

Hope that helps...

Jon

Hey guys, I get those electric shock waves that go through my head from elavil.......I strongly suspect that the elavil is messing up my wieghtloss.............Shelly..................

Sounds like it's a come problem..........I'm off to another doctor this afternoon for another try. I've been cutting back on the tables slowly.....I get down to half a tablet a day the shocks start.

Since I've started taking these things, when my son died, 9 months ago, I've gained about 10 kilos..........I don't know if it's the tablets or depression, but I know putting on this amount of weight isn't helping the despression either.

I'll get back to you tomorrow hopefully with some good news.

This is what happened....

He changed me from Aropax to Luvox because the Aropax are a higher dosage tablet 20mg, Luvox is 100mg tablets so I can cut down more gradually on the Luvox..............makes sense.

Next he said if the side effects continue while reducing the dosage, it can also mean that I'm not ready to come off them.

Because the medication if correcting an imbalance in the brain that is causing the anxiety or depression, if we stop taking the medication to soon - less than a year. We will get those shocks no mater what.

This is scary...........and I regret ever having started them.

I was wondering if Celexa had any weight effects? I take 20mg a day. I just started it a few weeks ago but if it's going to do that, I'll either quit it or have it changed. You guys are great!!

I was on Serzone, 300mg, for 2 years. No problem with weight gain. I then was changed to Remeron. Well, I instantly gained 15 lbs. last fall. I'm now down to 15mg, from 45 mg. Hoping this will help me lose faster. Good luck to all.