# Could my antidepressants make me stop losing weight?



## AmandaLee (Aug 13, 2014)

Entropic said:


> Only other drug that I'm per se taking though not a drug, is testosterone gel. No idea what the interaction would be there.


Likely none, but it's always worth checking with your doctor. Noradrenalin interacts with several other substances in the body that regulate appetite and blood sugar levels, including steroid hormones ands thyroid hormones. I don't know how long you have been on testosterone, but there is a slim possibility that additional testosterone interacts with your antidepressant in a way that causes changes in your metabolism. Just a hypothesis on my part but if you're in doubt, ask a medical expert. It's their job to know these things.

Is it your weight that you want to change, or your fat distribution?


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

emberfly said:


> Well, first of all, your appetite has nothing to do with weight loss or weight gain. Maybe it has to do with your _will power_, but certainly nothing to do with whether you have the ability to lose weight or not.
> 
> 
> Weight is a simple calculation. 3,500 calories is a pound. Basal metabolic rate determines how many calories you need to maintain your weight as it is right now.
> ...


Indeed, you are absolutely right, but now add in the fact that there is now a drug involved, a drug, whose most common side effects when taken, affect appetite and weight gain. 

Yes, you could be right, maybe I'm just not being thorough enough in my attempt to lose weight and maybe I have hit a plateau and maybe I should just try to even more to lose weight and it may not at all be related to the fact I take an antidepressant or maybe you could accept that there is a potential correlation involved? A correlation you do not have the facts nor evidence to either prove or disprove. (Also, implying that my problem is simply a lack of willpower is quite offensive. This is a common implication when it comes to discussions about weight loss in general. Maybe, you know, sometimes it's not a matter of willpower? I mean, I clearly possess willpower, sufficient willpower to go workout regularly and keep a workout routine for over a year. Could I try even more? Absolutely. There's a limit to what people can do about lifestyle changes though. You don't for example know that my work hours are very irregular and as such, I cannot always hit the gym whenever I want to because my work hours clash with the gym hours and so on.)

It's a little tiring to be told "maybe you aren't trying enough" when I've tried to lose weight for a year. I understand the argument that the closer to your body's ideal weight you are, the harder it is, but c'mon, I've been consistently doing cardio at least 2-3 times a week for over a year, and I haven't eaten in a particularly unhealthy way. If it's related to my eating habits, then I must be eating too much all the time which actually goes back to my antidepressant, because it increases appetite. How do you know whether my eating too much is related to taking an antidepressant or not? 

Yes, gaining and losing weight is about calories in and out, but it may be more difficult to regulate your appetite for example, and thus also the total calorie intake you have during the day, if you take a drug that is known to increase appetite. Even if it does so by a very small margin, that margin can still be significant when considering one's ability to lose weight because if I didn't have that increase and worked out the amount I do now, perhaps I wouldn't feel like I'm standing still.

The thread's purpose, which RedPanda didn't get either, is to discuss the relationship between trying to lose weight while on antidepressants and whether there is a correlation between taking antidepressants and my inability to gain weight. I am specifically looking for people who have taken antidepressants or are taking antidepressants and have also simultaneously attempted to lose weight while doing so, and whether they found that it was more difficult to lose weight while on the meds but easier when they got off them. 

Being suggested I've hit a plateau or I'm not trying enough isn't very nice and entirely circumvents whether this is drug-related or not. You pigeonhole and offer strategies of how to lose weight while ignoring the one factor I actually found relevant to the discussion which is the use of antidepressants. There are plenty of other threads in here that discuss weight loss in general and hitting plateaus if that's what you are looking for. This is not the subject of this thread, though.



AmandaLee said:


> Likely none, but it's always worth checking with your doctor. Noradrenalin interacts with several other substances in the body that regulate appetite and blood sugar levels, including steroid hormones ands thyroid hormones. I don't know how long you have been on testosterone, but there is a slim possibility that additional testosterone interacts with your antidepressant in a way that causes changes in your metabolism. Just a hypothesis on my part but if you're in doubt, ask a medical expert. It's their job to know these things.
> 
> Is it your weight that you want to change, or your fat distribution?


Both. And I am familiar with how testosterone affects metabolism. I've been on testosterone longer than I have this particular antidepressant. I am not seeing an endocrinoloigst because I've been self-medding since Febrary 2014. I've only got an appointment to meet my endo later this year, after the summer holidays. 

Regardless, I've made the decision to quit taking my antidepressants since I've had the feeling for quite some time that I probably don't need them anymore anyway. Even if it's not related to my antidepressants, it may create a placebo effect which may be positive, either way. 

Also, of course, I have no idea how my antidepressants affect my metabolism. You'd think that with the increase in mass that I gained, my metabolism would increase. I have not, however, from what I've noticed, increased my appetite in any significant way (it should be noted though, that I've always been a big eater in the sense that I've always had a fairly high metabolic rate. Putting it this way despite not having the mass of someone male-born and physically active as a teenager, I ate about the same amount of food they did). 

Obviously there could be things there that I have no clue about, which is why it's iffy for people to reject that it's related to lack of willpower and I just hit a plateau. Antidepressants are powerful drugs and affect human physiology in many ways, which could include changes in metabolism which is supported by the fact that side effects can include increase in appetite and weight. They may not even necessarily go together though of course, usually, an increase in appetite does tend to lead to an increase in weight. 

I did discuss this with my doctor but she thought the dose was so low it would probably not have any significant effect, but again of course, that's highly dependent on the individual (and I want to add that she supported that I was working out as a way to counteract any potential weight gain taking the meds could result in). Just like some people can take a very high dose and not experience those particular side effects, a person can take a low dose and experience a side effect in very significant ways like I did with Setraline. I took the same dosage as I do Mirtazapine, but the anorgasmia was so severe that it was impossible to experience an orgasm no matter what, and it got worse the longer I was on it (initially it was difficult and it just increased the time before I could orgasm, but as I continued taking it, it got worse and worse to the point I couldn't orgasm anymore). 

tl;dr and moral of the story is that antidepressants and their side effects even when very low dosages, can still have significant effects on your physiology. I am not ruling out that it is not just a plateau, but I just have a nagging feeling losing weight is still gonna become significantly easier once I quit Mirtazapine for good. It's one of those Ni things I guess, like I've known other things in my life without any real backing it up and it later turned out to be true.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Entropic said:


> Yup, I'm Asian.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well since you are Asian you are likely a bit on the overweight still. There's no point comparing yourself to what the Swedish normal is because of your different ethnicity, at least when it comes to BMI specifically. 
I can't find any different limits for the Swedish population, if you can please post them.

I suppose you could establish if your antidepressant is the problem by changing your approach in your weight loss by perhaps start counting calories or follow a specific program. If you start losing again then it was not the antidepressant's fault, at least not to the point where it would be impossible.


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## aendern (Dec 28, 2013)

Entropic said:


> * *
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is an incredibly mature and thoughtful response.

From my perspective, I just didn't want to see you fall into the trap that so many other people fall into of thinking that they're victims of something that they have no control over.

I view that as a very defeatist mindset, and a lot of people have it. And it prevents them from losing weight. Well, it prevents them from everything else they want, too, but one most often finds it among people who are trying to lose weight.

You don't seem to have that though. I misunderstood.


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## AmandaLee (Aug 13, 2014)

Entropic said:


> Both. And I am familiar with how testosterone affects metabolism. I've been on testosterone longer than I have this particular antidepressant. I am not seeing an endocrinoloigst because I've been self-medding since Febrary 2014. I've only got an appointment to meet my endo later this year, after the summer holidays.
> 
> Regardless, I've made the decision to quit taking my antidepressants since I've had the feeling for quite some time that I probably don't need them anymore anyway. Even if it's not related to my antidepressants, it may create a placebo effect which may be positive, either way.
> 
> ...


I say this as a nurse:

If you're going to quit, do not quit cold turkey. I cannot emphasize this enough. You absolutely must not do this. It could seriously jeopardize your mental and physical health. Gradually lower your dosage under a period of at least 3 months. Your body has gotten used to the drug and adjusted its chemistry according to it, so if you quit cold turkey, you are going to shock the system. 

How many mgs do you take a day?


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

AmandaLee said:


> I say this as a nurse:
> 
> If you're going to quit, do not quit cold turkey. I cannot emphasize this enough. You absolutely must not do this. It could seriously jeopardize your mental and physical health. Gradually lower your dosage under a period of at least 3 months. Your body has gotten used to the drug and adjusted its chemistry according to it, so if you quit cold turkey, you are going to shock the system.
> 
> How many mgs do you take a day?


15 mg/tablet. I take 1/day, though I've cut now to half a day, starting with yesterday.



emberfly said:


> That is an incredibly mature and thoughtful response.
> 
> From my perspective, I just didn't want to see you fall into the trap that so many other people fall into of thinking that they're victims of something that they have no control over.
> 
> ...


Thank you for understanding my point of view. For someone who feels like I need 110% control of my life and I am responsible for everything that happens to me, you can guarantee that I'd take responsibility for every ounce of weight I gain or lose. Knowing today that I ate that ice cream for example, I know that's counter-productive but then I also went and worked out for 50 minutes and burned over 300 calories doing cardio and I've otherwise eaten very little, so it's not an issue of attitude in this case.

Yes, there are some people who sit and whine all day but if I have a problem I'll solve it. I figured one way to see if this is an issue with my meds or not is to quit. If the issue persists then, yes, you're probably right, it's a plateau and I have to figure out how to circumvent that in other ways like going to the gym more often (in fact, I've been to the gym every day this week because my current work hours permit that I can do that). 

I wish my gym was open 24/7 instead of closing about the time my job closes. That way I could go how often I want, whenever I want. I've been considering changing to another that is open 24/7, but the fact that my gym is just around the corner where I live makes it extremely convenient for other reasons because I don't need to change clothes at the gym, which seeing my situation being transgender, can be tricky. It's going to be easier once I have my top surgery, I guess, but until then I can't do much about it.


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## drmiller100 (Dec 3, 2011)

is there a hurry? 
maybe take a half a pill every other day and a whole pill every other day for a week. 

After that week, cut to half a pill every day. stabilize a week. or two.


Those drugs are weird. they are insidious. They help you feel better, but when you cut them back, it takes a long time for your body to increase the hormones to stabilize you back to where you need to be.

There is no hurry. You are feeling good, you are active, things are going well. Please take your time in cutting them back so your body can adjust and keep you at the "good" level. 

Meant well, 
D


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

drmiller100 said:


> is there a hurry?
> maybe take a half a pill every other day and a whole pill every other day for a week.
> 
> After that week, cut to half a pill every day. stabilize a week. or two.
> ...


Only in the sense of feeling impatient and tired of not having my weight going anywhere outside of when I purposefully bulk up or down, anyway. 

The only noticeable changes past months is that I've lost weight at certain places according to fat redistribution. Gotten skinnier wrists, for example, which I know because my veins have become more visible and the length where they are visible have increased. And yes, you are right, they are insidious. In retrospect I feel like I should have done this long time ago.


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## Dragheart Luard (May 13, 2013)

It's good that you decided to slowly quit your antidepressants, as they're probably not helping you at the moment, specially if you've spent at least one year taking them. I never have used those meds, but I'm aware that weight can be messed up with them, so even a low dose may not let you to achieve your goal as that stuff depends a lot of your metabolism. Take your time though as one of my friends forgot to take her own meds during a few days and she got severe withdrawal effects, like vomiting and other annoying stuff.


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## AmandaLee (Aug 13, 2014)

Entropic said:


> 15 mg/tablet. I take 1/day, though I've cut now to half a day, starting with yesterday.


1/2 of what you normally take might work, but if you experience withdrawal symptoms, you might want to consider taking a 3/4 dose for a few weeks. I know insomnia is a common symptom of withdrawal, so be watchful of that. A steady sleep schedule is very important to maintain if you're having issues with depression. Also, you need to make sure your blood pressure does not drop to dangerous levels. Noradrenaline is needed to keep a healthy blood pressure, so a sudden drop in that signal substance might present as hypotension. If you don't have a cuff for measuring it by yourself, go by this rule: if you stand up suddenly and feel dizzy, it's probably too low.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

AmandaLee said:


> 1/2 of what you normally take might work, but if you experience withdrawal symptoms, you might want to consider taking a 3/4 dose for a few weeks. I know insomnia is a common symptom of withdrawal, so be watchful of that. A steady sleep schedule is very important to maintain if you're having issues with depression. Also, you need to make sure your blood pressure does not drop to dangerous levels. Noradrenaline is needed to keep a healthy blood pressure, so a sudden drop in that signal substance might present as hypotension. If you don't have a cuff for measuring it by yourself, go by this rule: if you stand up suddenly and feel dizzy, it's probably too low.


I don't experience any real problems with depression anymore but then again, I also seriously considered whether I have a mild form of alexithymia today, as I am extremely poor at telling whether I am actually depressed or not. I don't really experience feelings of depression unless I have suicidal thoughts. Then I know I'm clinically depressed through again, I don't really experience the sadness of depression or whatever, as something overly conscious. It becomes this background noise, really. Also, when I am depressed, my sleep pattern tends to remain pretty unchanged. I may sleep more because I feel less motivated to do things though, so I end up sleeping out of boredom and lack of stimulation. 

The only problems I occasionally still experience are anxiety-related when I get very emotionally stressed out, as stated in the OP. This is something antidepressants can't do anything about anyway. I did ask to have an appointment to get stronger anti-anxiety meds but it just of got pushed and then I didn't bother. I usually don't experience any real problems anymore except very occasionally, nowadays.

Also, seeing how low my initial dosage is, is 3 months as a period really necessary? I understand 1 month, but 3 is eeh.


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## AmandaLee (Aug 13, 2014)

Entropic said:


> I don't experience any real problems with depression anymore but then again, I also seriously considered whether I have a mild form of alexithymia today, as I am extremely poor at telling whether I am actually depressed or not. I don't really experience feelings of depression unless I have suicidal thoughts. Then I know I'm clinically depressed through again, I don't really experience the sadness of depression or whatever, as something overly conscious. It becomes this background noise, really. Also, when I am depressed, my sleep pattern tends to remain pretty unchanged. I may sleep more because I feel less motivated to do things though, so I end up sleeping out of boredom and lack of stimulation.
> 
> The only problems I occasionally still experience are anxiety-related when I get very emotionally stressed out, as stated in the OP. This is something antidepressants can't do anything about anyway. I did ask to have an appointment to get stronger anti-anxiety meds but it just of got pushed and then I didn't bother. I usually don't experience any real problems anymore except very occasionally, nowadays.
> 
> Also, seeing how low my initial dosage is, is 3 months as a period really necessary? I understand 1 month, but 3 is eeh.


If you still have persistent thoughts about suicide, you definitely have some form of depression. 

Besides, there are antidepressants with (mild) anxiolytic capabilities. Selective betablockers can also be used to treat the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as heart palpitations. It won't do anything about the actual root of the anxiety, but it stops your body from responding to stress. It's counter-indicative if you have asthma or low blood pressure, though. 

Ever considered the possibility of dysthymia? It's a form of depression, but the symptoms are very mild, yet persistent. It manifests as a general sense of anhedonia and inability to find pleasure in, well, much of anything, but the afflicted individual can still somewhat normally function with work, chores, self-maintenance and responsibilities. 

FASS's recommendation for this drug is at least a 3 month period of gradual weaning, so that's where I got that information. Again, I'm not a doctor, and I don't know your personal anamnesis or lab results, so I don't feel comfortable advising you on this any further. I'm not qualified to answer any medical questions with any level of certainty. Speak to a doctor; preferably the same one who prescribed you these meds.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

AmandaLee said:


> If you still have persistent thoughts about suicide, you definitely have some form of depression.


No, I just meant that's how I know I am depressed lol. I never had suicide thoughts during this depression. It was way back when I was clinically depressed and I self-identified myself as such because I showed all the major symptoms of it. This depression was never that severe and it was pointed out by people in my environment that I seemed depressed (because again, if I don't have suicide thoughts I don't know I am feeling depressed because emotionally retarded). 



> Besides, there are antidepressants with (mild) anxiolytic capabilities. Selective betablockers can also be used to treat the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as heart palpitations. It won't do anything about the actual root of the anxiety, but it stops your body from responding to stress. It's counter-indicative if you have asthma or low blood pressure, though.
> 
> Ever considered the possibility of dysthymia? It's a form of depression, but the symptoms are very mild, yet persistent. It manifests as a general sense of anhedonia and inability to find pleasure in, well, much of anything, but the afflicted individual can still somewhat normally function with work, chores, self-maintenance and responsibilities.


No, I don't relate to dysthymia, because I don't experience the loss of lack of interest in things. The anhedonia I do experience seems to be related to other things. I've always been a low-energy kind of person. 



> FASS's recommendation for this drug is at least a 3 month period of gradual weaning, so that's where I got that information. Again, I'm not a doctor, and I don't know your personal anamnesis or lab results, so I don't feel comfortable advising you on this any further. I'm not qualified to answer any medical questions with any level of certainty. Speak to a doctor; preferably the same one who prescribed you these meds.


Right. Yeah, I guess I'll file it away on Mina Vårdkontakter, but I don't expect a timely answer anytime soon zzz. I like how the healthcare goes incognito in this country during the summer.


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## HermioneG (Jul 1, 2015)

Maybe change up your eating a little bit. Try the military diet. It is only 3 days - just enough to shake up your metabolism a little bit and give you something new to focus on. Be sure you are drinking plenty of water - at least 2 liters a day.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

Entropic said:


> I don't think I need them anymore because I feel overall psychologically stable. I never took a high dose. One of the side effects is weight gain due to increase in appetite.
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think so, because I'm still slightly overweight and I'm not as thin as I was when I was younger. My BMI is pretty much 1/1, because I weight 58-59 kg, and I'm 159 cm tall. That's too much and it's visible too, because I got a lot of chubby fat on certain body parts.


I'm sorry. I'm American so normally I think of people in pounds and feet rather than kg and cm....but even so, people have different builds, some are small, medium or large framed, some are endomorphic, ectomorphic, or mesomorphic, or a blend of two of the types. So if you are are a medium framed endomorphic type, you'll never have the lean lithe build of a small framed ectomorph, nor the huge build of a large muscled mesomorph. So be mindful of this when reflecting on your body.

Also you might feel better because the medication is working, so I make no recommendation either way on that. 

Talk to your doctor about your concerns. Talk to two doctors, primary care and psych, just to be careful.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Thalassa said:


> I'm sorry. I'm American so normally I think of people in pounds and feet rather than kg and cm....but even so, people have different builds, some are small, medium or large framed, some are endomorphic, ectomorphic, or mesomorphic, or a blend of two of the types. So if you are are a medium framed endomorphic type, you'll never have the lean lithe build of a small framed ectomorph, nor the huge build of a large muscled mesomorph. So be mindful of this when reflecting on your body.
> 
> Also you might feel better because the medication is working, so I make no recommendation either way on that.
> 
> Talk to your doctor about your concerns. Talk to two doctors, primary care and psych, just to be careful.


As a teenager I could probably best be described as an ectomorph so I very well know what frame I have and how I could look like. That's not a problem.


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## drmiller100 (Dec 3, 2011)

my depression was persistent long term, or dysthymia as the new fancy word I learned this morning describes.

(smiles).

It is as described. I was depressed for many years, and did not know it. Suicide entered my thoughts. loss of interest in fun activities, etc. 
I did not know. 

I quit 2 years ago. Winter time, and lack of sunshine has ALWAYS affected me (SAD). 

What does it hurt to taper the meds off over a long period of time? Is there a downside?
If you taper them too fast, you could find yourself back in depression, and it is a bitch to crawl out of that hole once you figure you are in there.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

drmiller100 said:


> my depression was persistent long term, or dysthymia as the new fancy word I learned this morning describes.
> 
> (smiles).
> 
> ...


The longer it takes for me to quit the meds, the longer it's going to take for the effect to wear off, and the longer it's going to take for me to get to the weight I want to have, pretty much.


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## AmandaLee (Aug 13, 2014)

Entropic said:


> The longer it takes for me to quit the meds, the longer it's going to take for the effect to wear off, and the longer it's going to take for me to get to the weight I want to have, pretty much.


At the end is comes down to a cost-benefit analysis. If you have reached a level of mental wellbeing that works for you, is it worth jeopardizing because you want to lose a few kilos faster?


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Wanted to inform that I guess I kind of quit the meds about a week ago. It initially happened that I just forgot to take them once in a while after cutting it down to half the dose and after forgetting them in a couple of days in a row I just decided to fuck it. I haven't noticed any problems thus far. 

I also did lose a kg during my vacation though I expected to gain. I am unsure if it is because I didn't workout much during this period though I spent a lot of time walking and had odd eating habits. I don't notice any real strength loss though. Since I'm back to working out again, we'll see whether it was muscle mass loss or something else.


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## drmiller100 (Dec 3, 2011)

Entropic said:


> Wanted to inform that I guess I kind of quit the meds about a week ago. It initially happened that I just forgot to take them once in a while after cutting it down to half the dose and after forgetting them in a couple of days in a row I just decided to fuck it. I haven't noticed any problems thus far.
> 
> I also did lose a kg during my vacation though I expected to gain. I am unsure if it is because I didn't workout much during this period though I spent a lot of time walking and had odd eating habits. I don't notice any real strength loss though. Since I'm back to working out again, we'll see whether it was muscle mass loss or something else.


Good for you!

Stating the obvious, continue to monitor yourself. Sometimes there are ripples, or things are good when they are good, but when something upsets you, it might hit you harder than usual.
That's ok, and if you can sort of see outside yourself, and forgive yourself, and recognize it, it makes it easier.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

drmiller100 said:


> Good for you!
> 
> Stating the obvious, continue to monitor yourself. Sometimes there are ripples, or things are good when they are good, but when something upsets you, it might hit you harder than usual.
> That's ok, and if you can sort of see outside yourself, and forgive yourself, and recognize it, it makes it easier.


Yes, I am. The antidepressants could never deal with the more temporary attacks to begin with anyway, so I think I just need to learn to live with them and see where my therapy goes. But it does feel better to be without regardless of what effects it will have on my weight or not.


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