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mental health medications

i was physically fit before taking prescription drugs for a mental health problem 4 years ago. within 5 months of starting the prescription, i had gained 40 pounds, went up 4 pants sizes. this fueled my need for continued medication. i am finally off the drugs, and cannot lose a pound. has anyone else experienced this?

Mon. Apr 10, 9:20am

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I also gained weight while taking medication for mental health (Lexapro + Neurontin + Ambien). I asked my doctor, and he said the Neurontin would have caused the weight gain. It took me a long time to lose any weight. I went a year keeping calories to a reasonable amount (1300-1800) and exercising 4-5 times per week and never lost any weight. Blood tests never showed any problems. I stuck to it and eventually started losing weight (after 1 year of following my plan). However, mental health can cause binging, emotional eating, etc, which could sabotage weight loss efforts. I would say that you should just try to stick to it. Don't get frustrated if you can't lose weight right away. Maybe try a different approach (I finally lost some weight when I used South Beach rather than simply minimizing calories).

Monday, April 10, 2006, 9:47 AM

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Add-on to 9:47 post

FYI, I was off the medication for almost 2 yrs before I lost any weight.

Monday, April 10, 2006, 9:48 AM

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it seems like my whole metabolism shut down when i started taking mental health meds. but all labs show no problem.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006, 10:51 AM

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I've been on a variety of drugs to get my manic depression under control and many of them are notorious for causing weight gain (because they slow your system down to keep you from becoming manic).

I'm still taking the meds although at a much lower dose but for the life of me can't seem to get the weight I had gained to budge. Honestly, I have no advice to offer the OP but can say that you are most definately not alone in the situation

Thursday, April 13, 2006, 8:35 AM

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It really depends on the medication. There are a lot of different medications out there to treat a variety of mental health conditions and they all have different side effects. Treating mental illness is very important.

Thursday, April 13, 2006, 9:55 AM

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