Posted by JohnL on June 13, 2000, at 4:25:59
In reply to Hi. I'm new. And other stuff. :-), posted by Amy Salloway on June 12, 2000, at 21:40:58
Hi Amy. Welcome.
I too researched Meridia at one time. I looked mostly at the websites where you can order it online without a prescription. (Instead you pay them a fee to have them issue you a prescription) The only thing that made me look at other things instead was that to order it I would have also had to pay the consultation fee. Fill out a questionnaire and get charged for it, and then some physician on the other end issues a prescription. I guess that's not a bad way to go though if one's own local physician isn't open to trying it, and if one is well-researched and experienced enough to be responsible with self medication.
I never tried it for two reasons. First, I was reluctant about the consultation fee. Second, I just never seemed to respond well to any kind of reuptake inhibitor. Doesn't matter whether it's serotonin, NE, or dopamine, for some strange reason my chemistry just doesn't agree with that mechanism of action. I've found personally that stimulating existing levels of neurotransmitters works a lot better than merely increasing the levels.
Meridia is actually more than an SSRI. It is actually more like Effexor. That is, it inhibits the reuptake of not just serotonin, but norepinephrine and dopamine too. Somewhere in there is the weight loss component. I would suspect it has to do with norepinephrine more than anything else. But that's just a guess.
I don't know of anyone who has tried Meridia.
I do recall reading about patients who tried Meridia for weight loss who were also pleasantly surprised to discover their long standing depression went into remission as well, where previous antidepressants had failed. So yes, it could possibly be an antidepressant and a weight loss agent all in one. As with everything though, your mileage may vary. And there's no way to tell without a personal trial. But on paper at least it looks doable to me.
JohnL
poster:JohnL
thread:37093
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37122.html