Can someone give me some advice. Effexor does me no good and made me gain a lot of weight?!


Question: Can someone give me some advice. Effexor does me no good and made me gain a lot of weight.?
http://www.steadyhealth.com/The_effexor_...

I know it says Effexor 75 does not cause weight gain.. my weight has reached astronomical proportions.. I used to be a tiny 110 lbs 5ft4 woman... I am on Clonazepam as well.. I was given Klonopin or Clonazepam 2 mgs twice daily.. and it worked fine for me for 6 years, no weight gain.. I was diagnosed with GAD... I don't feel anxious ever.. but I get severe chronic pain.. chest pain like in a heart attack and severe shortness of breath.. All of this was looked into in great detail by pneumonologists and cardiologists, I even went to Newport beach .. this allows to see the heart arteries if they contain any plaque.. and the scan makes angioplasty unnecessary.. Anyway, according to the doctors, my severe chest pain is not heart or lung related.. My scan in California was absolutely normal.. I have no high blood pressure, I have no high cholesterol.. 2 years ago because I got tolerant after 6 years to Clonazepam my doctor added Effexor 75 mg one tablet daily.. ever since then.. my weight went absolutely out of control...I am so tired from the Effexor and I don't suffer from depression.. I just wonder.. is there a medication .. that I can take against anxiety which acts in a way that it relaxes my muscles.. I believe my diaphragm goes into spasms.. and Clonazepam was given to me because it has muscle relaxing components.. it also acts to prevent seizures.. How can I get off the confounded Effexor .. they have absolutely no benefit on me.. I am now like Oprah.. I fell off the bandwaggon entirely.. I went from 110 lbs.. which for me at age 46 is too low.. to now a BMI of 25... I am at the very high edge of overweight.. I really don't want to cross over into being obese from which I am just a heartbeat away.. how can I convince my doctor that this medication is not helping me.. it is destroying me.. and what can I take instead.. I do need something else apart from Clonazepam but I don't want to spend my days asleep and then have increased appetite.. and now look like Oprah at her worst .. only that she does not need prescription meds and she probably is back on the bandwaggon by now.. I definitely don't want to be just a step away from being obese.. I can live with being in the middle of normal.. 110 lbs is a thing of the past.. Now I would be glad to weigh 145 lbs and that for the rest of my life...Any suggestions.. I don't suffer from depression .. I was diagnosed with GAD or anxiety disorder.?Health Question & Answer


Answers:
I used to take Effexor and even if the manufacturer says it does not cause weight gain, I believe it made me gain weight too. However, I took it because I was very seriously depressed and needed it for that. Effexor is a blend of two different brain chemicals (serotonin and norepinephrine) and thus sort of evens out two different areas in the brain that need boosting. There are lots of other psychotropic drugs that are more directed towards anxiety than depression; I take Xanax myself and it helps enormously. I too have GAD although don't have severe symptoms very often. A good dialogue with your prescribing physician is essential in making sure your drugs are treating you correctly.

If possible, increase your exercise level to help ward against the weight gain. Antidepressants themselves sort of have a reputation for weight gain; maybe because depressed people are less likely to get out there and exercise. also, the naturally-occurring endorphins generated by exercise help some people into feeling a little better, at least for a while, and will ease minor anxiety symptoms.Health Question & Answer

Personal experience; dialogue with own psychiatristHealth Question & Answer



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