Antidepressants That Can Cause Weight Loss

Hopelessness, helplessness and futility are the hallmarks of depression, and for the millions of people in America challenged by obesity, those feelings may sound very familiar. Medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat one condition are often prescribed for another, and antidepressants are no exception. Wellbutrin, Edromax and Prozac are three such antidepressants sometimes prescribed for weight loss, and each has a different level of effectiveness. None, however, can replace healthy habits of sleeping, eating and exercise.

Wellbutrin for Weight Loss

Very low-calorie diets result in immediate weight loss, which is invigorating but not sustainable. So Duke University researcher James Anderson, M.D., wanted to know whether combining a moderate calorie diet with the antidepressant Wellbutrin could help people diet long enough to make a significant health change. Over a three-year trial, Anderson's team found that this dual plan was effective.
While taking 300 milligrams (mg) of Wellbutrin a day, participants lost an average of 7.2 percent of their body weight, and those taking 400 mg lost 10.1 percent within the first eight weeks. More importantly, those followed to 48 months maintained a weight loss of 13.6 percent.
As an example, consider a 5'5"-tall, 180-pound woman who starts taking Wellbutrin at an obese body mass index (BMI) of 30. If she took 300 mg of Wellbutrin each day for eight weeks, eating a 1,600 calorie diet, she could expect to weigh approximately 168 pounds. If she used the higher 400 mg dose, her weight after eight weeks would be about 161 pounds. Finally, after two years of maintaining this regimen at either dose, the Duke research indicates she could expect to reach 155 pounds, just 4½ pounds shy of a BMI of 25.

Edromax (Reboxetine)

An antidepressant used when others fail, Endromax (Reboxetine) was shown in 12 reported case studies to cause dramatic and even dangerous levels of weight loss. In one report, a 44-year-old woman who was already very slender went from a BMI of 21.4 down to a dangerous level of 16.8. This case was documented in the August 2005 issue of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
This is detrimental to already thin people, but the physicians who saw these results wondered if Edromax could be used to cause rapid weight loss in morbidly obese people with life threatening health conditions. Unfortunately these findings were not proven: As soon as the medication was stopped, the weight not only returned, but it went higher than it was at the start.

Prozac

When people eat compulsively due to either anxiety or depression, antidepressants may help decrease those behaviors. On the other hand, depression can cause a generalized decrease in the enjoyment of life experiences, including eating, and when an antidepressant resets the brain's neurotransmitters, weight gain can occur.
Prozac, or its generic form Fluotextine, can cause weight loss of less than one pound in the initial four weeks of use. But as unremarkable as this may sound, researchers from the drug's manufacturer, Lilly, noted in the July 1999 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Psychiatry that at the end of a year, no patients had stopped taking Prozac because of weight gain.
Additional studies are on going to determine whether combining an antidepressant with behavioral therapy and weight management coaching could make it easier for people who crave food to establish healthy eating, sleeping and exercise habits.

References

• "Butpropion SR Enhances Weight Loss"; James Anderson, M.D., et al; Obesity Research, September 12, 2001
• "Profound weight loss associated with reboxetine use in a 44-year-old woman"; AA Magnoni, et al; British Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, August 2005
• "Changes in weight during a 1-year trial of fluoxetine"; D. Michelson et al; American Journal of Psychiatry, August 1999