Do Antidepressants Stunt Growth?

I have been on every ssri plus prozac since 13. Im now 16 and my thighs look ridiculous and when i walk it looks like I am slanted back b.c. my thighs don't match the rest of my body. I also read przac can do this. If I stopThe Drugs will this go back to normal, is it permanant, how can I know, and what drugs can I take to fix it?
Thanks

[Hensley258]

I have never heard of any antidepressant doing such a thing.
Then again I suppose anything is possible.

[whodunnit]

Hi,

In 3 years you could not have been on every ssri.

No a/d's don't stunt growth.

[Hensley258]

I guess maybe he could have tried "every" SSRI, but in only three years that would be a lot to burn thru.

Then you still have all the SNRI's, Tri-cyclics, and even MAOI's

I have been taking meds for 18 years and there is still two SSRI's that I have never tried.

[LeftCoastChick]

I have to agree,  I have to say that when someone says they've tried all the meds, that simply isn't true. There are mood slabilizers, MAOI's and tryciclics.

I do recommend you get your hormones checked, that's more then likely the culprit. As well, people's shapes are different, especially with folks who might be overweight. See your doctor and get a check up.

[irishguy125]

I would strongly advise against taking prozac if you are still growing, women usually stop growing in their late teens early twenties while men can grow right up to mid to late twenties, the 3 studies below all show a correlation between lack of bone growth and prozac.

A study published in the journal Endocrinology (2004) reveals that giving Prozac to children may result in a loss of bone mass. The study was conducted on mice and showed an average 9.4% less bone formation in the thighbones of the mice taking Prozac, compared to mice who were not given the drug.
According to another study published in the journal Pediatrics (1999), infants whose mothers took Prozac while breastfeeding grew significantly less than infants whose mothers had discontinued Prozac after delivery. The study concluded: "The data set forth in this study indicate that infants who are breastfed by mothers who take fluoxetine [Prozac] track a growth curve significantly below that of infants breastfed without the medication."
Previously, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (1996) found that the birth weight of babies exposed to Prozac during pregnancy was less than those not exposed to Prozac during pregnancy.
A CLINICAL trial by the makers of Prozac has revealed evidence the
antidepressant could harm the growth and development of children.

The Sunday Herald  uncovered details of a 19-week trial carried
out by Eli Lilly where children aged between eight and 17 years old
who were given the drug gained an average of 1cm less in height and
1.1kg less in weight than others treated with a placebo.

The results revealed that treatment with fluoxetine, the generic name
for Prozac, was also linked to a decrease in levels of alkaline
phosphatase, an enzyme crucial to bone development.

Despite concerns from America's Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) in 2001, which requested that Lilly carry out a further
one-year trial to ensure the drug was safe to be used by children, no
such test has ever been done.

According to FDA documents seen by the Sunday Herald, Lilly refused
to carry out a more thorough trial, but was granted a licence to
prescribe Prozac to children a year later. In the FDA paper Andrew
Mosholder, medical officer for the FDA, writes: "Nineteen weeks
of fluoxetine treatment was associated with reduced growth velocity
relative to placebo."
imagine if they lost 1 cm in 19 weeks. that works out at 2 and a half a year. thats 15 cm or 6 inches over 5 years.
below is the link

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...ws/message/225  
      

[kmart742]

My daughter went on Zoloft at 11 years old. She was 5' 3 1/2". A year later and she is STILL 5' 3 1/2"! Her dad is 6'1". I think that says it all...