Mirtazapine side effects weight gain

Effect of mirtazapine treatment on body composition and metabolism

Comparative Study

. 2006 Mar;67(3):421-4.

doi: 10.4088/jcp.v67n0313.

Markus Laimer¹, Karin Kramer-Reinstadler, Markus Rauchenzauner, Theresia Lechner-Schoner, Robert Strauss, Julia Engl, Eberhard A Deisenhammer, Hartmann Hinterhuber, Josef R Patsch, Christoph F Ebenbichler

Affiliations

Affiliation

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.

PMID: 16649829
DOI: 10. 4088/jcp.v67n0313

Comparative Study

Markus Laimer et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006 Mar.

. 2006 Mar;67(3):421-4.

doi: 10.4088/jcp.v67n0313.

Authors

Affiliation

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.

PMID: 16649829
DOI: 10. 4088/jcp.v67n0313

Abstract

Objective: Weight gain is a common side effect of psychotropic medications. Mirtazapine, a widely used antidepressant, induces adverse metabolic effects such as an increase in body weight. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of mirtazapine treatment on body weight, body fat mass, glucose metabolism, lipoprotein profile, and leptin and its soluble receptor in a prospective, controlled study design.

Method: Seven women who met the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode (ICD-10: F31-F33) were assigned to monotherapy with mirtazapine and observed for a 6-week period. Seven mentally and physically healthy female volunteers matched for age and body weight served as a control group. Data were collected from November 2002 to December 2003.

Results: The mean +/- SD body weight increased from 63.6 +/- 13.1 kg to 66.6 +/- 11.9 kg during mirtazapine treatment (p = .027). Fat mass increased in study subjects from 20.9 +/- 9.6 kg to 22.1 +/- 9.3 kg (p = .018). Insulin, glucose, and the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index for insulin resistance and lipid parameters remained stable. Leptin concentrations increased from 23.0 +/- 17.1 ng/mL to 40.9 +/- 27.2 ng/mL (p = .018), whereas the soluble leptin receptor concentrations remained stable during mirtazapine treatment. In the control subjects, the investigated parameters remained stable. Between-group analyses of change scores revealed significant differences for body weight (p = .010), body mass index (p = .013), fat mass (p = .035), and leptin (p = .013).

Conclusion: The antidepressant therapy with mirtazapine was associated with a significant increase in body weight, body fat mass, and leptin concentration. In contrast to other psychotropic medications inducing weight gain, such as some second-generation antipsychotics, mirtazapine treatment did not influence the glucose homeostasis.

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Mirtazapine Weight Gain: What You Should Know

Mirtazapine is an antidepressant approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating major depressive disorder (MDD), sometimes called clinical depression.

While it may help treat depression, mirtazapine can come with a side effect that some patients find distressing: weight gain.

Two of the most common side effects of mirtazapine are increased appetite and weight gain.

In this article, I’ll talk more about this medication, how it’s used, and other medications that it can interact with.

I’ll also explain how mirtazapine can affect your appetite, metabolism, and what you can do about managing weight gain while taking it.

What is Mirtazapine?

Mirtazapine is a type of atypical antidepressant medication that is approved by the FDA for the treatment of MDD. Mirtazapine is sold under the brand name Remeron, or as a generic.

Mirtazapine works by balancing brain chemicals called neurotransmitters and improving cellular communication in the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord.

It is not fully understood how mirtazapine works, but studies have found it to be equally as effective to other popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications like paroxetine (Paxil), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and citalopram (Celexa).

Mirtazapine also may work faster than these SSRI medications, and can cause fewer side effects.

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Uses

Mirtazapine is used for treating major depressive disorder and other types of depression.

Some healthcare providers may also prescribe it for sleep disorders or insomnia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, fibromyalgia, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The benefits of mirtazapine may be felt quickly. While many antidepressants take 2-4 weeks before they show beneficial effects, mirtazapine may lead to improvements within 1-2 weeks.

Patients taking mirtazapine were found to be 74% more likely to achieve remission of depression symptoms in the first two weeks compared to people taking certain SSRIs.

Dosage

Mirtazapine is available as an oral tablet or an orally dissolving tablet.

Dosages for both options are the same.

Tablets available in doses of 7.5, 15, 30, and 45 mg
Starting dose is usually 15 mg per day once daily
Usually taken before bed
May be taken with or without food

Dosage may be increased after 1-2 weeks to determine how the medication is working.

Interactions

A drug interaction is when a medication reacts to another drug or a food, herb, or supplement, causing the medication to become less effective or cause more side effects.

There are many possible interactions with mirtazapine.

Do not take mirtazapine with any of the following:

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs): These include medications like phenelzine, linezolid, methylene blue injection, isocarboxazid, and tranylcypromine.

Medications that change the way the brain responds to serotonin: These include lithium, triptans, or the amino acid L-tryptophan.

Heart rhythm medications: This includes amiodarone and others.

There are other possible medications that can interact with mirtazapine.

Ask your pharmacist for a complete list.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines and over-the-counter drugs you take, including any dietary supplements, herbs, minerals, or vitamins.

Causes of Weight Gain

Many antidepressants have weight changes as a side effect.

Mirtazapine has a more pronounced risk of weight gain, and may even be used off-label to treat lack of appetite or to help induce weight gain.

In a small study that sought to understand how mirtazapine specifically influenced body composition, the medication led to overall body weight gain, fat mass increase, and higher leptin concentrations.

Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells that tells your brain that you are full.

But increases in this hormone can lead to leptin resistance, a condition where the brain does not get the message that you are full.

Higher levels of leptin are associated with weight gain.

Mirtazapine did not cause changes to insulin, increase insulin resistance, affect glucose metabolism, or significantly increase lipids.

Mirtazapine can lead to weight gain because it:

Makes you feel hungrier, so you eat more
Changes the way that your body stores fat
Changes the way that your brain responds to leptin, so your brain does not get the message that you are full

How to Manage Weight Gain

Weight gain as a side effect of a medication can be frustrating.

While some weight gain may be inevitable for some people, not everyone will gain a lot of weight while taking mirtazapine.

To manage your weight while taking mirtazapine, have a plan:

Eat a healthy diet that is balanced with plenty of fiber, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy products.
Get regular physical activity.
Stay hydrated.
If you have trouble sensing when you should be full, measure out food portions to help prevent overeating.
Ask your medical provider for a referral to a dietitian to discuss a balanced meal plan.

Don’t stress. While too much weight gain may not be ideal, stressing over your weight will worsen your mental health.

Focus on the benefits you are getting from mirtazapine and work with your healthcare provider to decrease negative side effects in the ways that you can control.

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When to See a Medical Professional

If you are taking mirtazapine and are experiencing weight gain, tell your healthcare provider.

They can recommend supportive strategies to decrease side effects and find healthy ways to manage your weight.

If you are taking mirtazapine and feel that weight gain or other side effects are too much for you, do not stop taking it suddenly.

Tell your healthcare provider that you want to consider switching medications.

Depending on how long you have taken mirtazapine and what your dosage is, you may need to be slowly tapered off the medication.

Suddenly stopping can cause serious side effects or withdrawal symptoms.

If you’re having a mental health emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. You can also get free 24/7 support from a suicide and crisis expert by calling or texting 988. If you’d prefer to chat online, you can chat with a suicide and crisis expert by visiting the Lifeline Chat.

How K Health Can Help

Think you might need a prescription for mirtazapine?

K Health has clinicians standing by 24/7 to evaluate your symptoms and determine if mirtazapine is right for you.

Get started with our free assessment, which will tell you in minutes if treatment could be a good fit. If yes, we’ll connect you right to a clinician who can prescribe medication and have it shipped right to your door.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average weight gain on mirtazapine?

When patients gain weight while taking mirtazapine, weight gain is on average greater than or equal to 7% of overall body weight. So for someone who weighs 150 pounds, the average weight gain would be around 10 pounds.

Does everyone gain weight on mirtazapine?

Weight gain is one of the most commonly reported side effects of mirtazapine and is reported in 12% of patients in clinical trials. Around 8% of people who were taking mirtazapine stopped taking it because of weight gain.

Does mirtazapine cause long term weight gain?

Mirtazapine changes the way that the brain responds to appetite and hormones that regulate how full you feel after meals. While much of the weight gain with mirtazapine happens within the first four weeks, it is likely that weight gain will last as long as you are taking the medication.

K Health articles are all written and reviewed by MDs, PhDs, NPs, or PharmDs and are for informational purposes only. This information does not constitute and should not be relied on for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment.

K Health has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references.

A Review of Therapeutic Uses of Mirtazapine in Psychiatric and Medical Conditions. (2013).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC3907331/
Mirtazapine. (2022).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519059/
Remeron (mirtazapine tablets). (2009).
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2010/020415s023s024.pdf
Effect of mirtazapine treatment on body composition and metabolism. (2006).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16649829/
Elevated leptin: consequence or cause of obesity? (2007).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17485319/
Remeron. (2021).
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2021/020415s038,021208s028lbl.pdf
What is a Drug Interaction? (2021).
https://hivinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv/fact-sheets/what-drug-interaction
Label: Mirtazapine tablet. (2021).
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=f23631be-c7ae-46e9-b771-a70be17bc9f0

do they help, treat or relieve symptoms, are they addictive, do they make you gain weight

Daniil Davydov

medical journalist

Author profile

Human.

At the same time, the cures for this disease are surrounded by many myths. Antidepressants are accused of ineffectiveness and severe side effects, but often the problem is not with the drugs themselves, but with their misuse.

We collected 8 myths about antidepressants and found out how close they are to the truth.

Go see a doctor

Our articles are written with love for evidence-based medicine. We refer to authoritative sources and go to doctors with a good reputation for comments. But remember: the responsibility for your health lies with you and your doctor. We don't write prescriptions, we make recommendations. Relying on our point of view or not is up to you.

Myth 1

Antidepressants almost never help

Most likely, this myth arose due to the fact that antidepressants do not work in all patients - so even some doctors and scientists doubt their effectiveness. However, antidepressants cannot be called ineffective, there are just important nuances in the use of these drugs.

Antidepressants are a class of drugs that normalize the level of neurotransmitters, that is, chemicals that help nerve cells in the brain exchange information.

What are Antidepressants - International Drug Database RxLis

What Medications Help Clinical Depression in Adults - International Primer for Physicians UpToDate

How Antidepressants Help Pain - Mayo Clinic Bulletin

All Antidepressants Used to Treat Depression in Adults , work - The Lancet

Who Antidepressants Help and Who Don't - Clinical Guidelines for British PhysiciansPDF, 141 KB

These medicines help people whose problems are due to a deficiency or excess of neurotransmitters. Antidepressants reduce symptoms of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar affective disorder.

There is evidence that antidepressants are effective for chronic pain. Antidepressants increase the amount of neurotransmitters in the spinal cord, which reduces pain signals.

Most specialists have no doubts that antidepressants work. For example, according to the British Royal College of Psychiatry, 50-65% of people with depression who take antidepressants feel better - compared with 25-30% of those who take a placebo.

However, there are situations where the benefit of antidepressants is questionable. For example, antidepressants are good for treating moderate to severe depression, but do not work well for people with mild depression - psychotherapy is more suitable for them.

And there are situations when these medicines were prescribed by mistake. Then antidepressants really won't help.

When antidepressants don't help

Sergey Divisenko

psychotherapist

There are three cases when antidepressants most often cause problems.

The antidepressant didn't work because the doctor prescribed the wrong dose. Minimum doses of these drugs do not help in half of the cases. Then competent doctors increase the doses to those recommended in clinical guidelines, while illiterate ones refuse them.

Sometimes, in order for antidepressants to work, they need to be augmented—i.e., enhanced—with other classes of drugs. For example, second-generation antipsychotics, or normothymics, that is, drugs that stabilize mood. If this is not done, the person taking antidepressants will not feel relief.

The antidepressant didn't work because the doctor misdiagnosed and was trying to treat a condition that these drugs don't work for. To help a person, one had to either use other drugs or use non-drug methods of treatment: for example, psychotherapy, transcranial stimulation, or electroconvulsive therapy.

For example, in bipolar disorder, symptoms can be very similar to depression or anxiety. But with bipolar disorder, antidepressants help only if they are used together with other drugs - mood stabilizers. By themselves, they will either work for a short time, or they will not work, or they can cause a phase inversion - that is, a person will switch from a depressive phase to a manic one.

The patient was not helped by a particular antidepressant, but another might. Antidepressants differ in the principle of action - on this basis they are divided into classes. It happens that one antidepressant does not work, but another from the same or another class helps. If the treatment does not work, you should not stop drug therapy, but continue to look for a drug that will help this particular patient.

Myth 2

Antidepressants only relieve symptoms, but do not eliminate the cause of the disorder

In most cases, this is not a myth. However, in some situations, antidepressants act on the cause of the disorder.

Depression is a heterogeneous disease. Experts identify a different number of subtypes of depression - from 4 to 12. But for our purposes, depression can be divided into two large subtypes.

American Criteria for Depressive Disorders - A Handbook for Psychiatrists DSM-5PDF, 32 MB

Understanding Depression - An International Primer for Physicians UpToDate

associated with depression. Disorders that can be attributed to this group are more common.

If these causes affect a person long enough and he does not understand how to deal with them, depression may develop. In this situation, antidepressants act as drugs that alleviate the symptoms of the disease. To influence the cause of the problem, psychotherapy is needed.

Depression provoked by internal causes. Approximately 7% of people with depression have the right way of thinking, no internal conflicts and injuries, and no serious illnesses. In this situation, the cause of depression is the lack of neurotransmitters: serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine in the synapses of brain nerve cells. In such people, the antidepressant acts precisely on the cause of the disease, that is, it corrects the production of serotonin in neuronal synapses.

Myth 3

As soon as it gets better, you can stop taking the antidepressant

This is also not entirely a myth - it would be more correct to call it a belief that is true only for some, but not for all patients with depression.

It is generally advised to continue taking antidepressants for at least six months after remission. If the duration of the disease is short, that is, the person was ill for about two weeks, then for the onset of remission, one or two months usually need to take medication. If the duration of the disease is long, from several months or years, then more time is required for the onset of remission. It’s impossible to say exactly how much: different people with depression have different recovery times.

Some people have recurrent depression. In this case, the period during which you need to take the medicine depends on how many bouts of depression have already been during your life. If more than three, it is recommended to take antidepressants for several years or for life.

Myth 4

Antidepressants cause addiction

Perhaps the roots of this myth are that some people need to take depression medication for life. And at the beginning of treatment, some patients have to increase the dose. But in fact, antidepressants do not cause either true physical or drug dependence.

True physical dependence on a drug is a situation where a person becomes so addicted to a drug that when it is withdrawn, the symptoms of the disease sharply increase. People who are dependent on the drug have to increase the dosage, otherwise the drug stops helping.

What is True Drug Addiction—Bulletin of the National Institute for the Study of Drug AbusePDF, 7 MB

What is Drug Addiction—Bulletin of the American Psychiatric Association

Drug dependence may include physical dependence on a drug. But this addiction has a unique feature. Dependence can also develop in a healthy person who used the drug not to recover, but to enjoy it. But when he tries to quit the drug, he still experiences physical suffering, which is called the withdrawal syndrome. As a result, a person is forced to look for a new dose of a drug.

Although a person who takes antidepressants to treat depression gets better, the drugs themselves are neither pleasurable nor addictive. Taking them as drugs is useless.

Of all the drugs that are used in psychiatry, true physical dependence can only be caused by psychostimulants that activate mental activity and anti-anxiety, that is, benzodiazepine tranquilizers. Antidepressants are not included in this list, because there is no need to increase the dosage of correctly selected drugs from this group.

However, some people who stop taking antidepressants early sometimes experience withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, hand tremors, and some feel “shocks” in the head, similar to the sensations of an electric shock. Depressive symptoms return to patients who need to take the medicine for a very long time.

Antidepressants are sometimes abused, but they cannot cause addiction - Journal of Modern Psychiatry

To avoid unpleasant consequences, stop taking antidepressants only if the attending physician says that they are no longer needed. But even in this situation, it is necessary to cancel antidepressants slowly, that is, gradually reducing the dose. This will help avoid unpleasant side effects.

Myth 5

A person on antidepressants becomes lethargic and loses interest in life

This popular myth is based on real but outdated data.

These mental changes are seen in patients taking first-generation tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline. It has a sedative, that is, a sedative effect. A person who takes high doses of amitriptyline can indeed become sleepy and indifferent to the outside world.

Amitriptyline - Sedative - Drugs.com International Drug Database

SSRIs do not sedate - Drugs.com International Drug Database

Current second-generation antidepressants that are recommended to start treatment with, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs almost never cause drowsiness and apathy.

On the contrary, in most people with depression they return interest in life.

Sometimes SSRIs do cause drowsiness, but this has not yet been proven

Sergey Divisenko

psychotherapist

It is believed that in rare cases, modern antidepressants can provoke SSRI-induced apathy. But this condition is extremely rare.

And even then psychiatrists still doubt that the cause is precisely in the drugs, and not in the patient's condition. After all, some people during the time of taking antidepressants may develop other adverse mental states in which apathy occurs: for example, schizotypal disorder, which was not noticed before.

Myth 6

Antidepressants have many side effects

This is partly true: both SSRIs and antidepressants from other groups have side effects. But it is quite possible to deal with them.

At the beginning of treatment, when people first start taking antidepressants, many complain of increased anxiety, dry mouth, nausea, and trouble sleeping. But after a few days or weeks after the start of the course of treatment, these symptoms usually disappear. If the side effects do not stop, it makes sense to consult a doctor - he will replace the antidepressant.

Dealing with antidepressant side effects - advice from the Mayo Clinic staff

Here's what to do before the side effects go away:

take your antidepressant with meals, unless the instructions say otherwise, so the antidepressant will be less annoying stomach;
put a bottle of clean water on the desktop - if your mouth is dry, you can take a sip. Unsweetened lollipops and chewing gum also help with dry mouth;
take a walk for at least half an hour before going to bed to make it easier to fall asleep. If you can’t sleep at all, you can ask your doctor to pick up sleeping pills.

The second most common side effect is an increase in anxiety at the beginning of antidepressant use. To avoid this problem, psychiatrists resort to two effective methods:

titrate the dose - that is, start with the minimum dose of the antidepressant and then gradually increase it;
at the beginning of the reception, sedatives - tranquilizers are prescribed together with the antidepressant.

The third common side effect of SSRIs, especially sertraline, known as Zoloft, and escitalopram, better known as Cipralex, is decreased libido. Approximately 20-30% of people taking antidepressants from this group experience a decrease in sexual desire to one degree or another. At the same time, it is difficult to say how much the drugs are to blame, because approximately 35-50% of people with depression have already experienced sexual dysfunction.

Many people with depression experience sexual dysfunction before starting antidepressants - Harvard Medical School Bulletin

Switching to another antidepressant usually helps, but many people prefer to wait until the medication can be stopped. In some cases, psychiatrists prescribe antidepressants from other groups in addition to the libido-lowering antidepressant. Sometimes it helps to regain interest in sex.

Myth 7

Weight gain due to antidepressants

This is not a myth, but a half-truth. There are both antidepressants that contribute to weight gain, and those that do not have a similar effect.

The most common complaint about weight gain during treatment is people taking the tetracyclic antidepressant mirtazapine, which actually increases appetite. Another weight gaining antidepressant is paroxetine, better known by the trade name Paxil. But "Zoloft" and "Cipralex" do not contribute to weight gain.

If a patient feels that an antidepressant is causing them to overeat, it is wise to consult a doctor and discuss a change of drug.

Myth 8

Antidepressants are expensive

True, but not for all patients. Most people can cure depression and not go broke.

Antidepressants from different groups vary greatly in price. There are both very expensive drugs and relatively low-cost drugs among them. At the same time, both of them work equally well. However, there are situations when a cheap antidepressant cannot be dispensed with.

On the left - inexpensive "Zoloft" for 327 R, a drug based on sertraline, on the right - the most expensive antidepressant "Ixel" based on milnacipran for 2453 R

For example, there is a good antidepressant venlafaxine. The maximum dose of venlafaxine can reach up to 375 mg per day. If these are inexpensive tablets of a domestic manufacturer, then a course of treatment for a month costs about 2000 R. But sometimes inexpensive tablets are not very well tolerated: they cause headache, nausea, sweating, tachycardia, that is, rapid heartbeat. In such cases, you need to switch to a prolonged form of venlafaxine - "Venlafaxine Retard", or "Velaxin XR". But this drug is more expensive: a course of treatment will cost about 5000 R per month.

The cost of a course of treatment with another good drug, Ixel, based on milnacipran, which is tolerated with minimal side effects, can reach up to 12,500 R. But, unfortunately, there is nothing to replace it, because this medicine does not yet have generics.

For comparison: on the left is a venlafaxine-based drug with immediate release for 443 R, on the right - with a delayed release in the same dosage for 1756 R. The price varies very much

Study: taking antidepressants leads to weight gain

May 25, 2018, 2:58 pm

The widespread use of antidepressants may contribute to rising rates of obesity in developed countries. The risk of becoming overweight in those who take drugs to combat depression for a long time is 21% higher. This conclusion was reached by doctors at King's College London. The work was published in the medical journal The BMJ. This is reported by The Independent.

"The widespread use of antidepressants may be one of the reasons for the long-term increase in the weight of the world's population," said one of the co-authors of the work, Martin Gulliford.

The study showed that the risk of weight gain increased after 2-3 years of taking antidepressants. The risk of developing obesity and the appearance of extra pounds in such patients was 29% higher.

As noted by the authors, the findings suggest that antidepressants should be used less often in the treatment of mild forms of depression. In such cases, cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise should be a priority.

The study was based on health data from 300,000 British patients between 2004 and 2014. Information included data on patients taking antidepressants and their body mass indexes (BMI). The researchers adjusted for other factors that could influence weight, such as age, chronic illness, smoking, and other medications.

Weight gain of 5% of body weight or more within a year was 8. 1% among patients not taking antidepressants. Among those who took medication to combat depression, the figure was 11.2%. After 3 years of taking antidepressants, the risk of gaining 5% of body weight per year increased to 46%. The study showed that the risk of becoming overweight is highest in the second and third years of taking antidepressants. In the next 6 years, the risk also remains elevated.

Researchers analyzed the effects of 12 common types of antidepressants on body weight. Thus, the drug mirtazapine (another name is remeron) in half of the cases led to an increase in the weight of patients by at least 5% of the body weight before taking the drugs. The drug citalopram increased the risk of weight gain by 26%.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the majority of antidepressant users are in Iceland. For every 1,000 Icelanders, there are 118 people who take drugs to fight depression. The top five also included Australia, Portugal, Canada and Sweden.

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Mirtazapine side effects weight gain

Effect of mirtazapine treatment on body composition and metabolism

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Mirtazapine Weight Gain: What You Should Know

What is Mirtazapine?

Feeling Down?

Uses

Dosage

Interactions

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Causes of Weight Gain

How to Manage Weight Gain

Feeling Down?

When to See a Medical Professional

How K Health Can Help

Frequently Asked Questions

do they help, treat or relieve symptoms, are they addictive, do they make you gain weight

Go see a doctor

When antidepressants don't help

Sometimes SSRIs do cause drowsiness, but this has not yet been proven

Study: taking antidepressants leads to weight gain

Causes of Weight Gain