Medication for panic attacks that DOES NOT cause weight gain?
Hi, I am currently taking celexa 20 mg for panic attacks. I have been on it for about 6 months, but prior to that, I was on effexor xr for 8 months. Ever since I have started taking antidepressants, I have gained 20 pounds and I really don’t eat that much or even any different for that matter. I was wondering if anyone knows of one that does not cause weight gain. This extra weight has just added to my anxiety and lowered my self esteem so I am afraid to go off it because my panic attacks were really bad. Any advice from anyone with similar experience? Thanks to all
Hi,
First of all let me just say that I can totally understand what you are going through right now.
I had my first real anxiety/panic attack back in 2003. It was the single most frightening experience of my entire life! Fear, physical impairment and sense of impending death struck me like a sledgehammer. I couldn’t eat for almost 5 ays through worry and thought that was it.
My doc at the time gave me strong sedatives but they just made things worse once they wore off. He then tried me on all manner of anti depressants and sedatives which just made me a wreck (not to mention me visiting a and e in the meantime thinking I was mad).
I worked out that my job was the root cause of my problems allied with the lack of grieving I did when my father died 8 years previous.
"ok so now i’ve worked it out what do I do?"
Well the panic attacks were being as bad as ever (no sleep knotted stomach etc). I asked a former colleague of mine who had battled a heroin addiction to help me. He explained that he had used a meditation technique, improved his diet and exercised a little (nothing aggressive just gentle swimming) to combat his fears / demons.
Well before my episode I was a typical ‘Alpha Male’ will no interest in meditation whatsoever. And as for exercise well……
BUT I offset these doubts as they could be nothing compared to the fear I was experiencing on a daily basis.
With much trepidation I began…..slowly.
I took in some basic meditation literature, improved my diet and began to do very gentle exercise (walking in quiet parks etc)
And guess what?
I actually began to feel a little better. Not much just a little. So I stepped it up a gear. Slowly.
And guess what?
I felt better and stronger again. I repeated this set of techniques from that day to this and if it hadn’t been for my loving family and friends who knows where I would have ended up.
I used so many sites and books during that period it was hard to remember but the main guys who helped me (in 2005 I think??) were aid foundation. http://www.aidfoundation.com
They were pioneering some new techniques last time I checked and seemed quite impressive.
Anyways, best of luck. I have two phrases that my wife used to repeat to me on an almost daily basis when it got bad:
Tomorrow is another day
There is no fear but fear itself.
p.s. If I was in the middle of the most horrific outdoor episode I started to imagine everyone I saw as babies playing in a nursery with building blocks!! It kind of helped 
William
Comments
Comment from the_blue_martini_69
Time January 4, 2010 at 12:47 pm
its diff for every1 but i gained 50 pds for paxil and 30 pds with seroquel and it effects every1 differently
References :
Comment from efxdc x
Time January 4, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Negative emotions (like sadness, stress, anger, etc.) causes your Serotonin production to be low; when your Serotonin level is low, you are more prone to getting Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Depression, etc.
Medication like Antidepressants (SSRI – Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) helps to boost Serotonin level.
But there are natural ways to do it without medication. There’s this strange herb called "St John’s Wort" – it is said to be more effective than Prozac. No, it is not for mild depression only and ignore those sayings. In fact, it does help anxiety and panic-attacks as St John’s Wort works like prozac. Other natural ways will be exercise, diet, more exposure to light, etc.
The problem is that, even if your Serotonin is balanced… you have that "learned behavior" in your mind. You need to break that initial cycle to destroy that learned behavior – Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) does this. A technique that you can use without CBT will be Distraction… There are several other techniques to help cope them!
Ok, to use Distraction: Firstly, try to….
Extracted from Source.
References :
http://PanicAttackResearch.blogspot.com
Comment from William s
Time January 4, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi,
First of all let me just say that I can totally understand what you are going through right now.
I had my first real anxiety/panic attack back in 2003. It was the single most frightening experience of my entire life! Fear, physical impairment and sense of impending death struck me like a sledgehammer. I couldn’t eat for almost 5 ays through worry and thought that was it.
My doc at the time gave me strong sedatives but they just made things worse once they wore off. He then tried me on all manner of anti depressants and sedatives which just made me a wreck (not to mention me visiting a and e in the meantime thinking I was mad).
I worked out that my job was the root cause of my problems allied with the lack of grieving I did when my father died 8 years previous.
"ok so now i’ve worked it out what do I do?"
Well the panic attacks were being as bad as ever (no sleep knotted stomach etc). I asked a former colleague of mine who had battled a heroin addiction to help me. He explained that he had used a meditation technique, improved his diet and exercised a little (nothing aggressive just gentle swimming) to combat his fears / demons.
Well before my episode I was a typical ‘Alpha Male’ will no interest in meditation whatsoever. And as for exercise well……
BUT I offset these doubts as they could be nothing compared to the fear I was experiencing on a daily basis.
With much trepidation I began…..slowly.
I took in some basic meditation literature, improved my diet and began to do very gentle exercise (walking in quiet parks etc)
And guess what?
I actually began to feel a little better. Not much just a little. So I stepped it up a gear. Slowly.
And guess what?
I felt better and stronger again. I repeated this set of techniques from that day to this and if it hadn’t been for my loving family and friends who knows where I would have ended up.
I used so many sites and books during that period it was hard to remember but the main guys who helped me (in 2005 I think??) were aid foundation. http://www.aidfoundation.com
They were pioneering some new techniques last time I checked and seemed quite impressive.
Anyways, best of luck. I have two phrases that my wife used to repeat to me on an almost daily basis when it got bad:
Tomorrow is another day
There is no fear but fear itself.
p.s. If I was in the middle of the most horrific outdoor episode I started to imagine everyone I saw as babies playing in a nursery with building blocks!! It kind of helped
William
References :
Comment from cynthia
Time January 4, 2010 at 12:30 pm
I gained 20 pounds after starting Paxil anti-depressant. I had to learn to change my eating habits. I read this book called The Flat Belly Diet, and realized how to eat and when and what to eat, and I have lost almost all 20 pounds since this past June. I can’t do without the anti-depressant so I had to change how I ate instead.
References :
just my life!