Is Your Antidepressant Making You Fat?

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Antidepressant and Weight Gain

While not all people experience weight gain during treatment, antidepressants and antidepressant treatment have long been linked to weight gain. Unfortunately, a lot of people are unaware of this fact since most antidepressant medications only list common side effects like drowsiness or nausea. Depending on your lifestyle and health condition, you may experience either one or both of the following side effects of treatment related to weight gain:

Regain of lost weight

When you suffer from depression, you tend to lose sleep and experience a decrease in your appetite. Even if you appear to indulge in emotional eating, the loss of sleep and increased anxiety caused by the depression can still make you lose weight. If you lost a lot of weight during your depression, then regaining the weight back during treatment is a positive sign of health restoration.

Gain of excess weight

Gaining weight over or more than what you weigh prior to the depression can be a negative reaction to the mechanism of action of fluoxetine or whatever antidepressant you are using. As fluoxetine and other antidepressants work by affecting brain chemicals, they can slow down people’s metabolism in varying degrees. As such, some people suffer from excessive weight gain while others only gain a few pounds or so.

Antidepressant and Weight Loss

While weight gain is a significant side effect of antidepressant use, a small number of people report to experiencing weight loss during treatment. A study on the relationship of antidepressant use to weight loss has been conducted to favorable results by Duke University. While no antidepressant drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for weight loss treatment yet, the study used antidepressants with a weight loss program founded on proper nutrition and exercise.

Avoiding Fat in Chasing the Blues

Since gaining weight can put a strain on your antidepressant treatment, you must practice several weight management techniques in order to keep your weight ideal. Here are some tips that you can use in fighting flab while chasing the blues away:

Exercise regularly.

Aside from the mood-boosting properties of exercise, regular physical activity can also speed up a sluggish metabolism. Instead of relying on sugars to keep you up, walk, stretch, or jog to get your blood flowing.

Eat small but frequent meals.

Depression can make eating a less-than-pleasurable experience. Nevertheless, try and eat small but frequent nutritious meals with lots of grains, vegetables, and fruits. Eating light meals frequently can boost your metabolism since your body learns to expect a regular supply of food. As such, it will speed up your metabolism since it does not need to stock up on calories.

Talk to your doctor.

Consult your doctor about changing prescriptions for your depression. There are many kinds and brands of antidepressants sold in local and online pharmacies. Ask your doctor for a change in prescription especially if you feel that the excess weight is a danger to your health and inhibits your recovery.