Posted by Elizabeth on April 17, 1999, at 22:22:39
In reply to Re: antidepressant weight control with wellbutrin?, posted by phyl on April 2, 1999, at 10:42:35
I never gained weight on SSRIs (Prozac for 3 years, and unsuccessful trials of Zoloft and Paxil (about 6 weeks each) later on) - actually it kind of amazes me to hear these stories. I did, however, gain ~50lbs on Nardil. It turned out that Nardil would poop out after about 6-8 months each time I tried it, but I had been considering adding bupropion as an appetite suppressant (most appetite suppressants, such as the over-the-counter PPA and the then-pre-ill-fated Redux, are contraindicated with MAOIs, and the only stimulant I'd tried adding (pemoline) caused some tachycardia and hypertension). For me, Wellbutrin was definitely an appetite suppressant - and it's not as though I had much appetite to begin with.
The thing is, although Wellbutrin seems like a good bet for losing weight a little faster after you've stopped another antidepressant that made you gain the weight, I'm not sure it would work quite as well in *combination* with another antidepressant. From what I gather, it's not just appetite stimulation (or rather, satiety suppression) that makes you gain weight on some antidepressants; they also cause some sort of metabolic change. Still, I know that the way I was eating while I was taking Nardil can't have helped matters any!
(Evidence suggesting that chocolate should not be a restricted item on MAOI diets: the number of times I ate a 1lb bag of M&Ms in a single sitting
while taking phenelzine without cardiovascular consequences. Yeah, I know...gross!)
poster:Elizabeth
thread:4325
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990401/msgs/5002.html