For example:If you gain weight after starting an antidepressant, discuss the medication's benefits and side effects with your doctor. And once that voice in their heads telling them to eat junk food was turned off, they had no problem going back to the way they had always eaten. Some people gain weight when taking a certain antidepressant, while others don't.Generally speaking, some antidepressants seem more likely to cause weight gain than others. "Even if you don't lose weight immediately, you can begin controlling the gain and help your body to stabilize for a while," says Heller.Moreover, a steadily growing body of scientific evidence suggests that increasing your daily exercise may affect not only weight loss, but also help your depression. Advair (fluticasone propionate/salmeterol) is a brand-name drug used to treat asthma and COPD. It didn't initially show up in the "This is clearly a problem for the majority of drugs used to treat Although there are a number of theories as to why antidepressants lead to weight gain, Sussman believes that both appetite and "I have had patients who swear that they are not eating any more, but still gaining weight, so that tells us there is some kind of metabolic influence going on; I have also had patients tell me that they are not only more Fincham says antidepressants may also simply help us to rediscover pleasure in our life -- including food.
While each person responds to antidepressant treatment differently, the following antidepressants may be more likely to … But he had no answer.Even though weight gain is now seen as an almost inevitable side effect of many antidepressants and mood stabilizers, strategies for preventing or undoing the overeating that cause it are lacking. Note that these medicines work differently as some may cause you to gain less energy while others are quite intense. Weight gain is a possible side effect of many antidepressant drugs.

Needed: A weight loss plan for those on medication. So when I go to these meetings and hear people talk about food being their best friend or using food to relieve boredom or anxiety, I don't know what they are talking about. The antidepressant fluoxetine or Prozac is actually equated with weight loss. We told them that their brains didn't care whether the carbohydrates they ate came from doughnuts or brown rice, but they had to eat healthy, low-fat, high-fiber carbohydrates for their general health and to decrease their calorie intake.But it turned out that this was never a problem. For example: Overeating or inactivity as a result of depression can cause weight gain. Many factors can contribute to weight gain during antidepressant therapy. But no medications that effectively treat emotional disorders have been developed which do not have the potential to cause weight gain. However, each person responds to antidepressants differently. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic. Although there are hundreds of diet plans and many weight-loss support groups available for people who gain weight the traditional way, almost nothing is available for the formerly thin individual whose weight gain is entirely due to his or her medication.As another client told me, "I may look like any other fat person, but I never had a problem with emotional overeating or using food to reward myself or dealing with stress.

Heller suggests enlisting the help of a registered dietitian: "In the same way you may need the help of a psychiatrist in dealing with your Although all the experts WebMD consulted believe it's certainly worth making any and all efforts to control your weight while taking antidepressant medications, they also point out that for one subgroup of people, weight gain will simply be an inevitable side effect of treatment. … They had always eaten healthily. I overeat because I have a persistent feeling of needing to. If the benefits outweigh the side effect of weight gain, consider managing your weight by eating healthier and getting more physical activity while enjoying an improved mood due to the medication.You can also ask your doctor if adjusting the dose or switching medications might be helpful — but again, be sure to discuss the pros and cons before making such a decision.Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. However, on average, patients may lose one or two pounds. This approach to reversing antidepressant weight gain, now detailed in The Serotonin Power Diet, is simple and effective. And no medication to halt the overeating has been found that is safe to take by people who are already on antidepressants and related medications.Fortunately, there is a strategy that seems to work. For example:If you gain weight after starting an antidepressant, discuss the medication's benefits and side effects with your doctor. But the medications that are used to restore a normal emotional state by increasing serotonin's control over mood somehow prevent serotonin from turning off the desire to eat.Our approach was simple. Some people lose weight as part of their depression. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.org," "Mayo Clinic Healthy Living," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.© 1998-2020 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). Weight Gain . Is there anything you can do about it?Experts say that for up to 25% of people, most antidepressant "This is a phenomenon that I first noticed years ago when Prozac first came on the market.