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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
On Paxil gaining weight, switched to prozac now I'm in tears
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
On Paxil gaining weight, switched to prozac now I'm in tears
by tears, Apr 07, 2003 12:00AM
I've been on paxil for 5 months, noticed I gained 10 lbs in that time. Asked my doc if I could switch to something else. He put me on prozac. I stopped taking paxil one day & started prozac the next. Three days later I'm a blubbering mess of tears. What is wrong with me? Should I have tapered off the paxil & on the prozac? If I go back to paxil, I'm afraid of gaining weight, what can I do to not gain the weight? Paxil was actually great as far as my mood.
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Apr 08, 2003 12:00AM
, Apr 08, 2003 12:00AM
You should probably stayed on both for a while, tapering your dose of paxil and increasing your dose of prozac. You can still do that, so talk to your doctor about the details.
A)taken the time to taper off of the paxil...trust me, I am no stranger to this area.
or
B)taken both at the same time, whilst slowly going off the paxil bit by bit.
But I don't think you are entirely to blame for this (if at all) we go to our doctors because we are NOT doctors and therefore we need THEIR expertise (or lack of it) in order to do what is best for our bodies. I just shake whenever I hear stories like yours, because they are not half as uncommon as people would like to think. Honey, in all respects, your doctor is irresponsible and foolish. He should have told you what to do in order to make a safe switch. This is his JOB.
Change doctors, find one who actually CARES about his patients (which is a rare thing these days, I regret to say)
God bless.
Peg