In this British Medical Journal response to a recent study of weight gain while taking antidepressants, Dr. Alain Braillon argues that, as a general rule, drug safety issues are too frequently overlooked. The following link provides the response and an audio interview about the original study.
Lost 35 pounds and still losing. My cocktail of crap more than doubled my weight. Losing successfully for the first time–in my forties. Thanks for morbid obesity, Psychiatrists!
I gained 15 lbs in 2 weeks with no change in diet or exercise. From the drugs only. Then the diabetes-like symptoms kicked in- stupor from blood sugar swings, constant extreme thirst and urination, swelling, and endless, insatiable hunger. I found myself having sudden daydreams of eating a loaf of bread whole. I slept for years in 2 hour shifts because of the constant urination.
I was really young. No doctor ever mentioned or monitored this. And discontinuation was so severe that I was stuck for years on drugs that fucked up my metabolism. I basically had diabetes, but because my fasting blood sugar was normal, it was never noticed.
I am off the drugs, and my weight is normal, and my appetite is mostly returned to normal. But I have to take medication to be able to tolerate carbohydrates. I have diabetic complications in my nerves and eyes and skin. And the psychological harm from spending my youth overweight, against my express wishes, still lingers.
I think the psychiatrist did it on purpose, since I had told her I would refuse drugs that caused weight gain. I suspect she saw this as noncompliance and so she lied to me.
