Wat is up with this??????

[SonnyBlack]

hey wats up bros...i have a very perticulay question to ask. Now i know most of have heard that most people that take antideppressants suffer alot of sideeffects...one of the most notorious beingfat gain. Ive read countless and countless post (on deppression boards) on this topic and most people agree that they gained huge amounts of fat while on antideppresants...prozac and paxil being one of the most common. Now these drugs increase seratonin levels right??Well im currently low carbing(very low...and ive neede some seratonin pick up since then) so i was thinking of starting supplementation with 5-HTP as i hear that it increases seratonin levels. or maybe even ST johns Wort. Now my question is this...seeing as how antidepressants usually cause fat gain...will these two supplements do the same thing for me....or do they work by different mechanisms or what??? I have been kinda deppressed ever since i came off my cycle and started dieting and i wanted to boost my seratonin levels...so is this a healthy choice...or will it make gain fat and contradict the diet alltogether. Also...does anybody know what it is with antidepressants that causes the fat gain???

 

[Par Deus]

Increasing serotonin modulates both appetite and energy expenditure in a way that is positive for a dieter. SSRI's typically cause weight loss the first few months, but then it reverses -- they do not know why, but I would guess that it is from a different mechanism than the serotonin system because pondimin worked via increasing serotonin levels and its effects on weight did not reverse with long-term use.

So, yes, a bit of 5-HTP would be helpful, but do not overdo it (stick to 100mg/day), which is theoretically possible given the concommitant use of an SSRI.

 

[MS]

Yes, many people find the first month or 2 on SSRIs result in weight loss due to the mechanisms Par Des said, plus there also seems to be a shift in water balance in some people (so less fluid weight). Nausea is also pretty common when starting Prozac, and explains a lot of the initial weight loss. The problem with SSRIs and trying to figure out their impact on weight gain/appetite is that it is simplistic and inaccurate to think of them as only increasing synaptic serotonin levels. SSRIs also modulate the acticivity of most other major neurotransmitters over time, and this may be why the shift in bodyweight occurs. Even at the serotonin level, the body may adapt by upregulating serotonin receptors or down regulating serotonin synthesis. St John's wort is less specific than SSRIs in that it inhibits not only serotonin reuptake but can cause an increase in dopamine and norephedrine activity as well (through reuptake inhibition). 5-HTP is a direct precursor to serotonin so it is prolly a better bet to try first.

This does not mean that Prozac or 5-HTP are short term diet pills. They are more likely to prevent weight gain than to initiate weight loss. Not everybody who takes Prozac loses weight, and most only lose a pound or two. One study found that 25 percent of Prozac users did gain weight, although this ratio still compared favorably to the 65 percent of users who gained weight on tricyclics. Researchers note that the heaviest people are those who tend to lose a few pounds on Prozac, while the slimmest users are the ones most likely to gain.

 

[Snooker991]

What I have read

and seen from friends on Prozac and Paxil....


It seems that the weight gain/loss may be more a result of psychological or emotional changes. A sign of depression that we are all aware of is a change in activity and eating habits. Depressed people tend to eat less and are less active. As the effects of the prozac
take their effect people become more active, at least more functional throughout their day. Then as they become more active, they begin to eat more, which may cause an increase in LBT (Lean Body Tissue). Now the differentiation between those who are thin and those that aren't may come from a happier (healthier) attidude so those that could stand to gain a few, gain a few and conversely those that could stand to lose a few, lose a few. <----I am not a physician nor am I psyychiatrist, just some punk who reads these studies, who feels he has a reasonable and educated opinion.

Peace-Snooker

 

[chillin408]

paxil and prozac= psychological casturation