Anti-Anxiety Medications & Weight Gain

[katebar]

Date: 3/28/2009 11:35:59 AM
Author: House Cat
Fellow chronic anxiety sufferer here...

What I have learned...

The only long term solution to chronic anxiety is therapy. There really IS a reason for the anxiety. I know that you might feel that your anxiety/panic attacks come out of nowhere, but they really don''t. If you get into meaningful therapy, you will find your reason and you will be able to heal the issue. If you do this, you will probably find that you have no need to take the paxil anymore. You will also be given tools to deal with the anxiety, without meds, in therapy.


There is a therapy out there that is called EFT. It isn''t used much in the US, but it is highly regarded in Europe. The therapist basically taps on your accupressure points while you do talk therapy and the healing comes very quickly. It is also something you can do at home when you feel anxious. The thing is, it is body therapy, tapping on the accupressure points calms all of the various centers of the body and either allows you to speak freely in therapy or when you are at home, it allows you to calm down very quickly.

As someone who has been prescribed valium to take 3 times per day, every day for her entire life...I can tell you that EFT really works. I very rarely take valium. I actually take a quarter of a pill about once every 3 months or so and my one month supply usually expires.

The problem with EFT is that when you google it, the websites that come up seem very infomercial to me. But you CAN google it and there is information about it out there. If you can get past the infomercial feel, you can learn to do it yourself. Although, I have found that learning to do it with a practitioner is much more effective.

Even if this therapy seems ''hokey'' to you, you might really want to consider some kind of therapy. I can guarantee that there is no weight gain involved with it and your solution will be long term.


By the way, wellbutrin is known for increasing anxiety. Any doc that puts you on wellbutrin for anxiety shouldn''t be prescribing psych. meds. All of the SSRI antidepressants are known for weight gain because increasing serotonin in the brain brings on the munchies. The only SSRI that I am aware of that might be the most weight neutral is Celexa. The benzos, like xanax, ativan, valium, they can cause weight gain too if taken regularly.

Anxiety is insipid and terrible. I''m sorry that you are dealing with all of this.

Hi House Cat its really interesting that you wrote about EFT or emotional freedom technique. I am a psychologist and use EFT a lot in practice particularly for my anxious clients. It really has been an amazing adjunct to therapy in my opinion because it is so simple and puts the person "back in control.
I agree there is lot of sites hyping this as a cure for ''everything'' and I believe you need to see a therapist who is very well trained and experienced.
For those interested this is the original site where you can get info and practitioner information
http://www.emofree.com/
This is an Australian site and the doctors I did my training with were fantastic and do seminars world wide.
http://www.eftdownunder.com.au/

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 3/28/2009 11:35:59 AM
Author: House Cat

By the way, wellbutrin is known for increasing anxiety. Any doc that puts you on wellbutrin for anxiety shouldn't be prescribing psych. meds.

This is a pretty ridiculous claim. Almost all antidepressants can cause some people to become more anxious instead of less. I have anxiety (GAD) and actually do very well on wellbutrin. Is it for everyone? No. But it doesn't mean that it isn't the right med for some people even if anxiety is their issue.

 

[House Cat]

Date: 3/28/2009 9:31:56 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 3/28/2009 11:35:59 AM
Author: House Cat

By the way, wellbutrin is known for increasing anxiety. Any doc that puts you on wellbutrin for anxiety shouldn''t be prescribing psych. meds.

This is a pretty ridiculous claim. Almost all antidepressants can cause some people to become more anxious instead of less. I have anxiety (GAD) and actually do very well on wellbutrin. Is it for everyone? No. But it doesn''t mean that it isn''t the right med for some people even if anxiety is their issue.

Hi neatfreak,

I didn''t mean to offend.

I''m glad that Wellbutrin is working for you. I do know that there are always exceptions to the rule and that side effects listed don''t always effect everyone. It wasn''t wise of me to make a sweeping statement. I''m sorry.

 

[missjae]

Thank you Kate and House Cat,

I am awaiting my appointment with a counsellor and am on a wait-list for a Psychiatrist as well. I really hope I can get to the bottom of the problem because the band-aids don''t seem to be so effective after ten years, if they ever even were in the first place. I don''t know the person they have made me become. I am severely botherd by the excessive weight gain, the apathy I feel, the EXRTREME exhaustion and the numbness to life.

I wrote earlier that I was starting to decrease the dose of Paxil I have been taking and I have now been on 20mg for about two weeks and I feel crumby and anxious, the withdrawl is terrible, I feel nauseous with head-ache and dizzyness and exhaustion, I have put on a couple pounds instead of lost any as of thus far and now instead of being exhausted all of the time and sleeping at the drop of a hat...I am exhausted and I am lying awake at night until 5, 5:30ish...the past two nights I took a sleeping pill so that I could get the proper amount of sleep at the proper sleeping time as the two nights before that I barely slept and when I tried to nap in the day, was woken the minute I fell to sleep. Tonight I am not going to take one as they are prescription and I only use them if necessary, so we''ll see how sleeping goes.

I really appreciate the information and the support. This is the worst of the struggle so far, but I feel hope that greater days are to come if I can just make it through this detox/withdrawl, get in shape and have success with a councellor.

Thank you again!
xoxo

 

[aveda6]

MissJae,

I have been through all of what you''re describing. I was put on Paxil back in ''95 or so and I was on it for ~11 or 12 years. In that time i gained about 50-60lbs. I had always assumed it was lack of excercise and not eating well enough (and that may very well be true but I think the paxil had a lot to do with it as well). I took the paxil for anxiety and I was up to 60mg by the end. It ended up losing all effect on me by the end. My anxiety was just as bad as it had ever been. Now, I should state that in the 12 years I was on paxil there were a few times that I tried to switch to something else due to the massive effect that paxil had on my libido (it killed it completely). I tried all of the standard meds (prozac, wellbutrin, buspar, seroquel, effexor, etc). None seemed to help as much as the paxil. I also tried getting off meds altogether and let me tell you, stopping Paxil is the worst experience of my life. The withdrawals are absolutely horrifying and beyond anything I could have imagined....

A few years ago i started on Lexapro and that seems to have helped. I was able to transition off the paxil without a problem and there doesn''t appear to be an effect on my libido. As for the weight gain, I think the lexapro is a little better and I''ve started on weight watchers and excercise and I''ve been able to lose about 25 lbs in the last few months.

I do have to take sleeping pills (ambien right now but my doc is going to have me try rosarum soon) but I''ve always had sleep issues so I don''t think it''s related to the lexapro.

Stay strong through the switch off paxil. the nausea and dizzyiness is horrible and you may feel "zaps." No other way to describe it, but they feel like eletrical pulses down your arms. It would be way better if you had something to wean you off of the paxil first. A drop from 60 to 20 mg is huge and I hope you''ve been going slowly. Definitely talk to a pyschiatrist that specializes in medical management. it took forever for me to find one but it does seem to help....

good luck....
jim