Weight gain as a side effect of antidepressants is very common and distressing. Patients may even stop their medication because they have gained so much weight. No one has a good explanation for how these drugs increase eating. Nonetheless, people report never feeling satisfied after a meal and continually craving carbohydrates. Sometimes they find themselves binging.
Our research at MIT, and at a Harvard University hospital weight-management center, helped us develop an effective way of preventing or reversing this weight gain. We know that serotonin, the chemical in the brain that regulates mood, also regulates appetite. Antidepressants work only on the mood function of serotonin and may in some way interfere with the appetite function. The solution to this, based on our research, is to increase the ability of serotonin to turn off the need to eat.
Here are simple tips that will work to prevent antidepressant weight gain. Before you take the medication, learn about the drug and how much weight people typically gain on it. If the medication suggested by your doctor is associated with substantial weight gain, ask if you can switch to another one. This seems obvious, but your doctor may not be thinking of the weight gain side effect when prescribing the drug.
- Before starting on the medication, get weighed and report the number to your physician. Most psychiatrists do NOT have scales in their offices. Be sure your weight is recorded so when you return for follow-up visits and claim that you have gained weight, there is no dispute.