What Causes Weight Gain, Excessive Sleep And Lethargy Inspite Of Taking Antidepressants?

Posted on Sat, 3 May 2014

Question: I am a 71 year old male overweight, and have no energy at all, sleep a lot of my day, I suffer from mostly anxiety. I am taking celexa, but my doc want to try me on fetzima, I am worried about taking it as I have read a lot of bad side effects and read a lot of bad reviews. I am at my wits end and don't know what else I can do, I have had this issue for several years. I have been retired for 19 years,, with no hobbies Don't tell me I need a hobby--I know that . but I just can't get the energy to do anything. is there anything else that I could try other than the fetzima that would not have the side effects?

Answered by Dr. Surendiran Gaj (3 hours later)

Brief Answer: Follow, Detailed Answer: Hello sir, Nice to meet you here, Most of the anti-depressants develop tolerance on long term usage, leading to uncontrolled depressive symptoms like weight gain, excessive sleep and Lethargy,so only your treating psychiatrist want you to change over your drug from celexa [citalopram] to fetzima [ levomilnacipran]. I agree with you, the usage of fetzima is associated with increased side effects like [headache, constipation, dizziness, insomnia, hot flush, hyperhydrosis, vomiting, palpitations, increased heart rate] compared to other anti-depressants,that is why i usually treat my patients who are showing tolerance to celexa with another drug named PROZAC[fluoxetine] an anti-depressant which is effective in reducing weight, anxiety and prevents excessive sleep, with minimal side effects compared to fetzima , so have a word about this drug with your psychiatrist. This drug has to be used under the guidelines of a registered medical practitioner, kindly visit your nearby psychiatrist and get treated accordingly. Hope helped you, Take care, Dr.surendiran.g

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Surendiran Gaj (3 hours later)

I fear that the Prozac would make the anxiety worse? I should mention that I have had panic attacks and I get anxious when in a large group. I think part of the depression stems from the fact that I worry about having a panic attack. what about Cymbalta, what is your opinion on that? I took Effexor for a while, but it made me sweat like crazy, to the point it was embarrassing. so I went off of that. thank you

Answered by Dr. Surendiran Gaj (10 hours later)

Brief Answer: Follow, Detailed Answer: Welcome back, Nice to meet you again, No Prozac won’t provoke the episodes of anxiety, as I said already it will reduce the panic attacks and keep the anxiety out of your mind .It also help to check over your depression and helps in reducing weight. If you are still worried about anxiety, I suggest you to take anti-anxiety drug [alprazolam] in combination with Prozac. (But dose adjustment is mandatory while using this drugs as advised by the psychiatrist.) Coming to Cymbalta [duloxetine], it is an anti-depressive having similar effect like Prozac, but its use is limited to major depression and peripheral neuropathic pain. I want you to understand that every anti-depressant has its own side effects, the prescription are made on calculating risk-benefit ratio of the patients. So, I advice not to keep on changing the drugs, as it cause tolerance to all the drugs which makes difficult to treat the underlying condition. Hope helped you, Take care. Regards, dr.Surendiran.G

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D