Does Anxiety Medication Make You Lose Weight?
Anxiety is a psychological disorder characterized by increased, unexplained, and unending fear. Such disorders may be categorized as phobias, medication-induced, panics, selective mutism, etc. Therefore, a person shall be classified to have an anxiety disorder if they are diagnosed with any of the following; panic attacks, separation anxiety, general anxiety disorder, social phobia, agoraphobia, etc.
Anxiety disorder treatment
Like we said earlier, anxiety is a psychological condition. It is therefore treated psychologically using psychotherapy. At times, anxiety can be extreme hence necessitating the use of medication. These medications include;
- Antihypertensive drugs such as clonidine (Catapres), propranolol (Inderal, Betachron E-R, InnoPran XL), nadolol (Corgard), and atenolol (Tenormin).
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as paroxetine (Paxil), escitalopram (Lexapro), sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), and citalopram (Celexa).
- Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as venlafaxine (Effexor and Effexor XR) and duloxetine (Cymbalta)
- Tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine (Tofranil) and clomipramine (Anafranil)
- Benzodiazepines, especially in emergencies suchas lorazepam (Ativan), clonazepam (Klonopin), and alprazolam (Xanax).
- Anti-anxiety drugs such as buspirone (BuSpar).
Generally, anxiety disorders are treated using antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antihypertensive, among other antianxiety drugs.
Anxiety attacks can be disruptive to the victims in that the fear may become intense to the point they become self-destructive. Some may develop anxiety towards their body shape, hence causing eating disorders such as binge. Anxiety in itself can make a person gain or lose weight. Antianxiety drugs may equally cause weight gain or weight loss in the patients. It depends on which drugs one takes. For instance, let us look at the effect antidepressants have on a person’s weight when prescribed for anxiety disorder treatment.
What is the effect of antidepressants on weight?
A healthy number of antidepressant drugs have been proven to cause weight gain. When these drugs act on the brain neuroreceptors and transmitters to alleviate the mental health issues such as anxiety, they impact the body’s metabolic rate. These changes in basal metabolism are what many experts believe to be causes of weight gain – this, however, is people’s opinions and not scientific proof of what really causes many of the antidepressants administered to treat anxiety to cause weight gain.
Other theories working on why weight is affected by these drugs claim that some drugs act on histamine and serotonin, which regulate a person’s appetite. This results in weight gain or weight loss.
Antidepressants that cause weight loss
The list of antidepressant drugs is lengthy, but only one on that list has been proven to cause weight loss in a specific group of people. Wellbutrin., also bupropion, is the only prescribed antidepressant drug that can cause weight loss.
A study conducted to discover the effect of bupropion on weight in two smokers and non-smokers yielded interesting results. It was discovered that the drug caused loss of weight in the group of non-smokers. It was found that there was no observable change in the weights of those in the group of smokers. This means that the drug seems not to be efficient when mixed with nicotine.
Wellbutrin seems to be efficient in weight loss maintenance as well. This is proven by including it in Contrave, or naltrexone-bupropion, which is a popular weight-loss drug. Contrave is FDA approved.
Wellbutrin side effects
Wellbutrin is an FDA-approved drug used to treat a major depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder, anxiety, ADHD, and obesity.
- Loss of appetite
- Constipation
- Dizziness
- Drowsiness
- Dry mouth
- Flushing
- Hair loss
- Headache
- Increased sweating
- Insomnia
- Joint aches
- Nausea
- Nervousness
- Restlessness
- Tremors
- Vomiting
- Weakness
- Weight loss
- Abdominal pain
Additionally, some side effects may manifest in serious and life-threatening ways. To avert such a possibility, you should visit your health provider or see a doctor immediately you see some of the following effects;
- Development of Allergic reactions, including skin rash, itching, difficulty breathing, etc.
- Aggressiveness
- Agitation
- Changes in the menstrual cycle
- Changes in sexual desire or function
- Changes in vision
- Chest pain
- Confusion
- Dark urine
- Delusions or hallucinations
- Difficulty breathing
- Fainting
- Fever, chills, or a sore throat
- Hostility
- Impulsiveness
- Inability to sit still
- Pale-colored stools
- Panic attacks
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Seizures
- Severe headache
- Swollen, blistered, or peeling skin
- Unusual swelling
- Worsening depression and suicidal thoughts
- Yellow skin or eyes
The list of side effects is quite lengthy. Some may manifest as mild and some as severe conditions. According to the experts, some of these effects may show for a short time then recede after you have adjusted to the medication. If this isn’t the case, and your symptoms seem to be getting worse, you should seek medication at once.
More potent risks are seizures and developing suicidal thoughts. You should also note that seizures are four times more likely to occur when using Wellbutrin than any other antidepressant.
This means that you should not start medicating yourself with Wellbutrin if you have had seizures in the past; since a person with seizures, history will be more exposed. Let the doctor know before making a prescription so that you can take other meds with bupropion, such as Zyban.
People suffering from seizures disorder may also have eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. This group of candidates is also ineligible to take this drug.
Pregnancy in the early stages may also be affected by this drug. Therefore, unless your doctor believes the benefits outweigh the risks involved, you should not take Wellbutrin is it has been shown to cause adverse effects on fetuses at early stages in animals.
Does Lexapro cause weight changes?
Lexapro (escitalopram) is one of the drugs in the group — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). It is used in the treatment of sad moods, depression, and anxiety. SSRIs works by increasing the production of serotonin. Serotonin is the compound responsible for the regulation of a person’s mood.
People may increase their food intake as anxiety lessens and they become less moody. Or, the medication also increases people’s appetite. Whichever the reason is, Lexapro has been proven to enhance a person’s weight gain.
Some will argue that Lexapro has caused them to lose weight. Well, this is not completely false as the drug may affect people differently. For instance, if binge eating manifests to you as a side effect, you will likely lose weight over time as your eating patterns change, taking a worse turn.
So, what is the best antidepressant for weight loss?
I have listed more than half a dozen antidepressants that medical practitioners often prescribe for anxiety and other disorders such as depression. Of all these medication options, only one is effective for weight loss consistently. Bupropion or Wellbutrin is the only medication that is linked to weight loss. The rest are linked with different degrees of weight gain.
In Summary
Anxiety is a mental disorder that manifests in different forms, such as phobias. Most of these anxiety conditions are treated using psychotherapy and medications. Literally put, the shrinks will diagnose and prescribe you some medications.
These meds are mostly antidepressants. I have given a comprehensive list in this article above. However, the most common antidepressants prescribed are Lexapro and Wellbutrin. We have interrogated the effects of Wellbutrin and found that this drug also tends to cause weight loss among many side effects. This is the opposite of Lexapro, which tends to result in weight gain.
These drugs tend to have different side effects to different users, firstly, do not self-medicate; and secondly, seek medical attention once what you considered a side effect persists.
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