Taking Amitriptyline does this effect weight loss?

madzbabe

Banned
I am taking Amitriptyline for depression and although I was told by the doctor to lose weight, I wondered could anyone tell me taking medication has an effect on weight loss at all?
 
i'm on prozac stuff and am fine when 100%. i would say that some meds do affect your weight (e.g hormones stuff) but i would say that not depression meds.
 
I had Amitriptyline for nerve pain years ago and if I'd wanted to hibernate it would have been great as all I wanted to do was stuff my face with food and sleep! That said I know people who have been on it for years with no problems, it affects different people differently. All you can do is keep in touch with your GP, follow their advice and ask to change it if it doesn't suit you. Hope the depression eases for you xx
 
Hi,
Ive been on Amitriptyline for about 4 years now to treat rls (restless leg syndrome).
It has never affected my weight loss in the slightest.
It does make me very groggy in the morning too so i can blame it for a few lie ins but i cant blame it for any bad weigh ins :rolleyes:
hope it helps to know there are others taking the same medication. :)
 
Hi

Amitriptyline is prescribed in different doses for different effects (neuropathic pain, migraine or anti-depressant).

Amitriptyline | Medicine | Patient UK but this can be balanced out by diet and exercise so shouldn't be too much of a problem.

It does however cause constipation in a lot of people so you might want to ensure you are taking enough fibre supplement etc. There is a "constipation" information thread in the stickies in the CD information post.
 
Oh thanks everyone for replying. I appreciate you all being truthful, it took allot for me to admit on here that I had depression so I am glad that I could speak about it openly. I am on quite a high dosage at the moment and I am sleepy all the time. The doctor said this should settle down in time. I do have a severe dry mouth with it if thats normal. Haven't gained any weight that I have noticed but I hope that I can stick to this cd ss. Thanks for your support
 
Oh thanks everyone for replying. I appreciate you all being truthful, it took allot for me to admit on here that I had depression so I am glad that I could speak about it openly.

Hey hon

It takes a lot of courage to "put yourself out there" regarding depression so well done you. I know it's hard but breaking the "silence" of depression and seeking support is one of the best things you can do as the isolation just feeds it.

You will find that a lot of us have had (or still have) personal experience of it.

I've been off work since last April with a severe case but have been lucky enough to find a wonderful psychotherapist and great support on here since I started CD in September. I'm slowly but steadily recovering and I've forced myself to be quite open about my journey and frequently write about my therapy and what's in my head in my diary section.

Putting on weight was a huge side-effect of my illness and starting CD when I felt ready too has been a huge boost in helping my recovery - luckily my GP has been fantastic and understood how demoralised I was about my weight gain.

Not sure if you have discovered it yet but mind.org.uk is a fab resource.

Take care
 
i'm on prozac stuff and am fine when 100%. i would say that some meds do affect your weight (e.g hormones stuff) but i would say that not depression meds.

Thats what the doctor is changing me onto next as I got dry mouth and other problems with the other medication that I was on. I do find I am very sleepy with that medication and don't want to associate myself with anyone. I am hoping that will pass
 
Hey hon

It takes a lot of courage to "put yourself out there" regarding depression so well done you. I know it's hard but breaking the "silence" of depression and seeking support is one of the best things you can do as the isolation just feeds it.

You will find that a lot of us have had (or still have) personal experience of it.

I've been off work since last April with a severe case but have been lucky enough to find a wonderful psychotherapist and great support on here since I started CD in September. I'm slowly but steadily recovering and I've forced myself to be quite open about my journey and frequently write about my therapy and what's in my head in my diary section.

Putting on weight was a huge side-effect of my illness and starting CD when I felt ready too has been a huge boost in helping my recovery - luckily my GP has been fantastic and understood how demoralised I was about my weight gain.

Not sure if you have discovered it yet but mind.org.uk is a fab resource.

Take care

Thanks for the links and the comments, I truly appreciate them
 
i think there's a lot more of us out there than you think. :) i'm pretty chilled on my tablets. i've been on them a few times in the past and the doc's said at least a year this time.

i've had all sorts of effects before them.

i've had obsessive behaviour due to depression. i've had an urge to empty the entire contents of my house in the skip so that if my house was empty my mind would be too and help with the way i was feeling. i've even spent to day crying as i couldn't stop but inside i was telling myself that i had to pull myself together. crazy!
 
Oh you don't realise how much you are describing me. When I also have a bad day I have to get rid of everything. I am also scared of losing my family because of what I have become and I do anything for my boyfriend to not leave me.

The only thing I am worried about starting cambridge diet is that if I have a bad day and not as good as the rest will it put me on a downward spiral? My doctors has signed all my forms and I did see a counsellor who was very supportive. She has called me this morning to see how it was all going and called me just now and she said she would like to call around as well with me on saturday. I think she is wonderful. Are all counsellors as kind and caring like this?
 
Madzbabe

Are you getting any formal talking therapy? If not that might be something to talk to your GP about and I'd suggest psychotherapy rather than counseling as it gets much deeper into what is triggering your depression.

As for your boyfriend etc I know what you mean. I put my family and friends through hell for the last 4 years ... at times my sister had to leave voicemails threatening to call the police unless I made contact within the next 24 hours as I just used to ignore everyone. I actually ended up writing a letter to the important people in my life explaining just how hopeless I felt and the shame I felt at how I treated them but also about how powerless I felt. It really helped as they had no idea how dark it was for me inside.

The shame we feel about how we behave is one of the hardest things to break out of in depression. It's really hard but you have to start telling yourself it is not you doing these things.. it is your illness. You are not a horrible person... your illness makes it difficult for you to cope with people/situations. Your illness causes symptoms and these symptoms can be anger, silence, eating/binging, self blame, resentment etc.

I never wanted to empty the house but I did move 4 times! It was my way of "running away" from everything but of course that didn't work at all.

If a letter doesn't feel right at the moment then maybe one of these links could be helpful to them?:
-http://www.overcomedepression.co.uk/FamilyAndFriendsCategory.html

You may or may not find the following links helpful yourself.. I found them really helpful and some or maybe all of them will resonate with you.

DO YOU LOVE TO BE NEEDED, OR NEED TO BE LOVED?
ARE YOU UNHAPPY BECAUSE YOU'RE HEAVY, OR HEAVY BECAUSE YOU'RE UNHAPPY?

Just remember that if you do struggle to lose weight at the moment it may be that you are just too ill at the moment.... it would be like someone with a broken leg trying to train for a marathon... it is just a physical impossibility. It may be that you need to recover a bit more at which time dealing with the weight will become easier and a natural step in your recover.

And you can recover I promise! 8 months ago I was not washing or changing clothes for days on end. I was pushing people away because the isolation was easier for me to handle and I felt so horrible inside I was sure that I must be horrible to be around. When I did go out it was all I could do not to just take my hands off the steering wheel to get away from the pain of it all. But with a supportive GP, the proper medication and a psychotherapist I have slowly but steadily improved. I'm still on the journey of recovery (took me years to slowly get depressed so will not be a quick fix recovery) but I am functioning, optimistic, seeing friends and family, and beginning to embrace life and the future again.
 
Oh you don't realise how much you are describing me. When I also have a bad day I have to get rid of everything. I am also scared of losing my family because of what I have become and I do anything for my boyfriend to not leave me.

The only thing I am worried about starting cambridge diet is that if I have a bad day and not as good as the rest will it put me on a downward spiral? My doctors has signed all my forms and I did see a counsellor who was very supportive. She has called me this morning to see how it was all going and called me just now and she said she would like to call around as well with me on saturday. I think she is wonderful. Are all counsellors as kind and caring like this?

i understand your concern yet i think that loosing weight is a positive thing and it does/did make me feel better. it's a step in the right direction of putting something that is not working in your life, right again. we are very strong people, we take on a lot, we share very little, we internalise most of the time and that is what does us in 90% of the time.

set yourself a time for doing cd, be it 4 weeks and if in that time you don't feel better, if you feel worse, if your moods are all over the place then at least you can say that you gave it a go and it didn't work out. you then do not need to beat yourself up about it, cause i know i would as i hate failing. if i set my mind to something i have to succeed otherwise i spiral downwards and get very moody which makes me feel so much worse. if you give yourself a time limit and then re-evaluate how you are doing and feeling you then have an unofficial end date if you see what i mean. to set yourself a weight target or loosing it all over x number of months might lower your mood if you feel that this isn't the diet for you. i hope you understand what i'm saying.
 
Madzbabe

Are you getting any formal talking therapy? If not that might be something to talk to your GP about and I'd suggest psychotherapy rather than counseling as it gets much deeper into what is triggering your depression.

As for your boyfriend etc I know what you mean. I put my family and friends through hell for the last 4 years ... at times my sister had to leave voicemails threatening to call the police unless I made contact within the next 24 hours as I just used to ignore everyone. I actually ended up writing a letter to the important people in my life explaining just how hopeless I felt and the shame I felt at how I treated them but also about how powerless I felt. It really helped as they had no idea how dark it was for me inside.

The shame we feel about how we behave is one of the hardest things to break out of in depression. It's really hard but you have to start telling yourself it is not you doing these things.. it is your illness. You are not a horrible person... your illness makes it difficult for you to cope with people/situations. Your illness causes symptoms and these symptoms can be anger, silence, eating/binging, self blame, resentment etc.

I never wanted to empty the house but I did move 4 times! It was my way of "running away" from everything but of course that didn't work at all.

If a letter doesn't feel right at the moment then maybe one of these links could be helpful to them?:
-http://www.overcomedepression.co.uk/FamilyAndFriendsCategory.html

You may or may not find the following links helpful yourself.. I found them really helpful and some or maybe all of them will resonate with you.

DO YOU LOVE TO BE NEEDED, OR NEED TO BE LOVED?
ARE YOU UNHAPPY BECAUSE YOU'RE HEAVY, OR HEAVY BECAUSE YOU'RE UNHAPPY?

Just remember that if you do struggle to lose weight at the moment it may be that you are just too ill at the moment.... it would be like someone with a broken leg trying to train for a marathon... it is just a physical impossibility. It may be that you need to recover a bit more at which time dealing with the weight will become easier and a natural step in your recover.

And you can recover I promise! 8 months ago I was not washing or changing clothes for days on end. I was pushing people away because the isolation was easier for me to handle and I felt so horrible inside I was sure that I must be horrible to be around. When I did go out it was all I could do not to just take my hands off the steering wheel to get away from the pain of it all. But with a supportive GP, the proper medication and a psychotherapist I have slowly but steadily improved. I'm still on the journey of recovery (took me years to slowly get depressed so will not be a quick fix recovery) but I am functioning, optimistic, seeing friends and family, and beginning to embrace life and the future again.

Thanks so much for this useful and understanding reply. I am getting help from the doctor and also a counsellor but its a slow process. I wish I could wake up in the morning and think differently. In the past I just wanted to end my life when I really hit a low part in my life. I have pushed all of my family away to an extent now they don't call me anymore or keep in touch. They are probably better without me bringing them down as well. My doctor has told me to go out to groups and interact with others. To get out the front door is a challenge in itself and 15 panic attacks later I still haven't released the latch on the door as I feel everyone is looking at me and they know that I am weird and different. Now this has enlightened me to know that I am not the only one that there are sufferers out there and believe it or not this has helped me to express to my boyfriend how bad it is. I do feel that I can't be loved and no matter how much my boyfriend says to me I really think he is talking about someone else.

Thanks for taking the time out and speaking to me about this. I hope I can fulfil the same gesture to you someday.
 
hey it is when you hit rock bottom life holds no hope that you do things that you know you shouldn't and wouldn't in a normal mood.

i remember having an extremely difficult time with my job, i got bullied i went off sick due to depression. i got another job but thanks to some bad advice from my previous employer due to what to do about sick days i took i lost it. i had some really strong tablets that were opiate based. i stood in the kitchen (i had no kids, i was engaged to my hubby) and life had no meaning and no point and everything i'd worked for and given my life to had gone in one bad move. i started popping those pills down my throat. i'd taken 5 when hubby to be walked in and took the tablets off me and flushed them down the loo. i realised in an instant what i had got in my life and although i was depressed up to the limit that i could cope with i knew that someone cared about me, about what i did. he loved me.

boy i was so ill the following day - throwing up, shaking, dizziness etc but in the long run i was fine after taking the tablets. i've never done that again.
 
p.s i've never cared as much about my career again. it ate me up that experience. i do my job when i work and do not give it another thought. i come home and that's that.
 
I'm the same about my career ... I plan to ask work to let me reduce my contracted hours by 30% even if it means a significant income reduction. It's just not so important to me anymore and going back to 100% is just not going to be good for me long term
 
i put my heart and soul into my job and got my finger burnt. i'm always 100% but now i give 80% if i must. so sad. it's lucky i can choose when to work as i do supply. mind i have met some real life full time teachers who give less then 50%.
 
hey it is when you hit rock bottom life holds no hope that you do things that you know you shouldn't and wouldn't in a normal mood.

i remember having an extremely difficult time with my job, i got bullied i went off sick due to depression. i got another job but thanks to some bad advice from my previous employer due to what to do about sick days i took i lost it. i had some really strong tablets that were opiate based. i stood in the kitchen (i had no kids, i was engaged to my hubby) and life had no meaning and no point and everything i'd worked for and given my life to had gone in one bad move. i started popping those pills down my throat. i'd taken 5 when hubby to be walked in and took the tablets off me and flushed them down the loo. i realised in an instant what i had got in my life and although i was depressed up to the limit that i could cope with i knew that someone cared about me, about what i did. he loved me.

boy i was so ill the following day - throwing up, shaking, dizziness etc but in the long run i was fine after taking the tablets. i've never done that again.

You know you are really describing me but subconsciously I done the same. It wasn't anything to do with work, it was to do with I thought nobody wanted me or cared enough that I lived or died. Previously to this I had a miscarriage. I was also found by my bf and it was only until I had to get my stomache pumped that they got me the help. I have been off work now 1yr and they are very understanding, they keep in contact and want me to reduce my hours to 15 a week which i feel is manageable if and when I do go back to work. I do still have days when I am at my lowest that I think the same. Some days I can't get past the front door without having a panic attack as I fear people are looking at me. So I hide in the house with my curtains closed away from the world. This is not a quick fix thing and i hope I will be able to get back to where I was. Even when speaking across the medium of internet it took me 8 months to switch on a computer. I knew how to but I got into my mind that my computer was bugged and people over the internet were going to know that I was sick and weird now I am glad that I did switch it on that day because i have learnt so much about my illness and this topic that you lovely people took the time to answer has made me realise there is hope and i am not alone.

Its a shame that depression is not widely spoken about in this world that way people who suffer would know that there is someone who does care and know what we are going through. I really hate it. I received a call from my cousin this morning whom I shut out of my life one year ago (we used to be very close but i then moved and didnt call) when my depression was really bad. I was surprised she called but she wanted to see how i was. I said I was fine, she replied " whatever happened to you?" and started crying. She asked; "was it something that she said or done?" and then told me that she had suffered a miscarriage two months before. and for the first time I felt sorry for her that I wasn't there for her going through that, I just wanted to hug her and tell her it was going be alright cause it would be. I told her what had happened to me and she didn't realise, I made sure no one did, my fault not them. She wants to meet up and help me back to recovery, it will be a learning curve for both of us no doubt. I have sworn her to secrey and not to tell the rest of the family. I feel that this is a step forward for me that someone besides my bf knows and I don't mind which means that I am accepting the help before this I wasn't. Thanks for listening
 
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