Re: New here, need help w/medication for my 14 yr old daughter

[Guest guest]

My daughter too gained weight and so did I. But we both have

not continue to gain and gain. I too went from underweight

100lbs 5'2 to 125 now. I have to eat very low fat foods.

I do feel better and want to eat so I know what you mean.

My 14 year old daughter went through a period of finding

fault with so many things about her self. She wanted

braces (we got them), she wanted her hair straightened

(did that too), she wanted her ears pierced etc etc.

She use to say she hates herself and was very down on

herself. We had to work with a therapist on these

issues, and often my daughter would not go and

I would have to go and get coached.

One thing I did a few years ago was got her a Glamour Shot

picture taken. She looks so beautiful in it.

I praised my daughter for taking care of her health ..

at first she said I was just saying that to get to take

her meds, but I meant it and I still do.

A greater risk for a teen is depression. Weight gain

can be managed and if she is feeling better hopefully

a teen can start to get some exercise too.

I wish your daughter the best,

Pam

[Guest guest]

My daughter too gained weight and so did I. But we both have

not continue to gain and gain. I too went from underweight

100lbs 5'2 to 125 now. I have to eat very low fat foods.

I do feel better and want to eat so I know what you mean.

My 14 year old daughter went through a period of finding

fault with so many things about her self. She wanted

braces (we got them), she wanted her hair straightened

(did that too), she wanted her ears pierced etc etc.

She use to say she hates herself and was very down on

herself. We had to work with a therapist on these

issues, and often my daughter would not go and

I would have to go and get coached.

One thing I did a few years ago was got her a Glamour Shot

picture taken. She looks so beautiful in it.

I praised my daughter for taking care of her health ..

at first she said I was just saying that to get to take

her meds, but I meant it and I still do.

A greater risk for a teen is depression. Weight gain

can be managed and if she is feeling better hopefully

a teen can start to get some exercise too.

I wish your daughter the best,

Pam

[Guest guest]

This is the HUGE issue for my son and I!!!! I have OCD and it can become severe

when I am off medication and I do amazingly well on medication. Unfortunately

when I am on a good does for it, I gain a tremendous amount of weight. I start

craving carbs and get an insatiable appetite. The same thing happens for my

son. My son is such an anxious kid so he needs the medication, but he is having

such a self-esteem issue because of the weight gain. Me? I am 54 and I don't

feel it is healthy at this age to carry so much weight that the meds cause me to

get to, so I went off medication and as always, started doing badly again,

although I started looking great because I lost a lot of weight. The thing is I

have to balance the need for mental health with the need for being a healthy

weight and feeling good about my looks. I am trying a newer OCD med and I am

hoping it doesn't cause the degree of weight gain that the others have. Going

by past experience, I am not holding my breath.

It is important to note that there are lots of people who don't gain weight or

gain a very small amount of weight on these medications. My daughter hasn't

gained a pound on them.

As far as your daughter goes, has she tried getting therapy from a specialist in

treating OCD? Perhaps she will be one of the lucky ones who can benefit from

therapy alone.

New here, need help w/medication for my 14 yr old

daughter

Hi all,

I've been reading a lot of posts but haven't participated. My 14-yr-old daughter

was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Her Dad has it (though he won't admit

or get treatment for it) so it's not a huge surprise. Last summer, she weighed

95 lbs. Since being treated for OCD -- first took Prozac and when that became

ineffective, started with Zoloft -- she has put on 25 lbs. She is about

5'2 " -5'3 " and weighs 123lbs now. She is extremely self-conscious about it and

has threatened to " become anorexic " if I don't take her off these meds. While

she is still in the normal weight range for her height, the scale keeps creeping

up.

I took several different SSRIs for post-partum depression and had the same

experience. These meds make you crave carbohydrates and I think they also affect

the metabolism. Yet they are so helpful for her OCD. I don't know what to do.

I've read some info on insolitol (sp?), a B vitamin derivitave. Does anyone have

experience with this or other supplements? Very frustrated. Thanks!

[Guest guest]

This is the HUGE issue for my son and I!!!! I have OCD and it can become severe

when I am off medication and I do amazingly well on medication. Unfortunately

when I am on a good does for it, I gain a tremendous amount of weight. I start

craving carbs and get an insatiable appetite. The same thing happens for my

son. My son is such an anxious kid so he needs the medication, but he is having

such a self-esteem issue because of the weight gain. Me? I am 54 and I don't

feel it is healthy at this age to carry so much weight that the meds cause me to

get to, so I went off medication and as always, started doing badly again,

although I started looking great because I lost a lot of weight. The thing is I

have to balance the need for mental health with the need for being a healthy

weight and feeling good about my looks. I am trying a newer OCD med and I am

hoping it doesn't cause the degree of weight gain that the others have. Going

by past experience, I am not holding my breath.

It is important to note that there are lots of people who don't gain weight or

gain a very small amount of weight on these medications. My daughter hasn't

gained a pound on them.

As far as your daughter goes, has she tried getting therapy from a specialist in

treating OCD? Perhaps she will be one of the lucky ones who can benefit from

therapy alone.

New here, need help w/medication for my 14 yr old

daughter

Hi all,

I've been reading a lot of posts but haven't participated. My 14-yr-old daughter

was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Her Dad has it (though he won't admit

or get treatment for it) so it's not a huge surprise. Last summer, she weighed

95 lbs. Since being treated for OCD -- first took Prozac and when that became

ineffective, started with Zoloft -- she has put on 25 lbs. She is about

5'2 " -5'3 " and weighs 123lbs now. She is extremely self-conscious about it and

has threatened to " become anorexic " if I don't take her off these meds. While

she is still in the normal weight range for her height, the scale keeps creeping

up.

I took several different SSRIs for post-partum depression and had the same

experience. These meds make you crave carbohydrates and I think they also affect

the metabolism. Yet they are so helpful for her OCD. I don't know what to do.

I've read some info on insolitol (sp?), a B vitamin derivitave. Does anyone have

experience with this or other supplements? Very frustrated. Thanks!

[Guest guest]

I personally haven't been diagnosed with OCD (my daughter has), but I do

struggle with anxiety and depression. I also have the weight gain problem with

SSRI's along with other unwanted side effects and went off of them like you. I

was still having a lot of problems so my doctor suggested I try St. 's Wort.

I don't recommend you try it without the consent of your doctor because I know

it can interfere with other medications, but it has helped me a lot. I also

don't really know if it would help much with OCD. But, I am now on a healthy

diet and I exercise regularly now and am starting to feel better. One of my big

issues was an irrational fear of thunderstorms and I have noticed that I have

not been having that fear since I have been on St. 's Wort. Even my husband

noticed it. Before, I would go and get in the bathtub at just the threat of a

storm and I would have to take a Xanax and still not sleep. Now, I can sleep

through them. I also take Melatonin to help me with insomnia. Anxiety and

insomnia has been passed down as far as my grandmother and maybe even before

that in my family.

>

> This is the HUGE issue for my son and I!!!! I have OCD and it can become

severe when I am off medication and I do amazingly well on medication.

Unfortunately when I am on a good does for it, I gain a tremendous amount of

weight. I start craving carbs and get an insatiable appetite. The same thing

happens for my son. My son is such an anxious kid so he needs the medication,

but he is having such a self-esteem issue because of the weight gain. Me? I am

54 and I don't feel it is healthy at this age to carry so much weight that the

meds cause me to get to, so I went off medication and as always, started doing

badly again, although I started looking great because I lost a lot of weight.

The thing is I have to balance the need for mental health with the need for

being a healthy weight and feeling good about my looks. I am trying a newer OCD

med and I am hoping it doesn't cause the degree of weight gain that the others

have. Going by past experience, I am not holding my breath.

>

> It is important to note that there are lots of people who don't gain weight or

gain a very small amount of weight on these medications. My daughter hasn't

gained a pound on them.

>

> As far as your daughter goes, has she tried getting therapy from a specialist

in treating OCD? Perhaps she will be one of the lucky ones who can benefit from

therapy alone.

>

>

>

> New here, need help w/medication for my 14 yr old

daughter

>

>

>

>

>

> Hi all,

> I've been reading a lot of posts but haven't participated. My 14-yr-old

daughter was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Her Dad has it (though he

won't admit or get treatment for it) so it's not a huge surprise. Last summer,

she weighed 95 lbs. Since being treated for OCD -- first took Prozac and when

that became ineffective, started with Zoloft -- she has put on 25 lbs. She is

about 5'2 " -5'3 " and weighs 123lbs now. She is extremely self-conscious about it

and has threatened to " become anorexic " if I don't take her off these meds.

While she is still in the normal weight range for her height, the scale keeps

creeping up.

>

> I took several different SSRIs for post-partum depression and had the same

experience. These meds make you crave carbohydrates and I think they also affect

the metabolism. Yet they are so helpful for her OCD. I don't know what to do.

>

> I've read some info on insolitol (sp?), a B vitamin derivitave. Does anyone

have experience with this or other supplements? Very frustrated. Thanks!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I hate she's gained weight. I wonder if switching to another SSRI is

possible, but hate to try that if this one is working well for her OCD.

We used inositol powder. Bascially you have a 50/50 chance if it'll help or

not, it either will or won't. We used it successfully for my son all through

middle school. Then later we tried it again when his OCD returned in high

school but it didn't help a bit. Tried again, later, and still nothing. But it

has helped many others too, and then some not. If you tried it while still on

medication, it would need to be a low amount that is used to sort of " boost " or

augment the SSRI; wouldn't use a higher " grams per day " amount as you would if

trying inositol powder on its own. My son did take Celexa his first couple

years of high school and it worked well, didn't gain any weight; but he's

extremely skinny anyway, I was hoping he would put on 5 lbs or so.

We have some information in our FILES section on inositol powder too.

Quick thoughts,

>

> Hi all,

> I've been reading a lot of posts but haven't participated. My 14-yr-old

daughter was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Her Dad has it (though he

won't admit or get treatment for it) so it's not a huge surprise. Last summer,

she weighed 95 lbs. Since being treated for OCD -- first took Prozac and when

that became ineffective, started with Zoloft -- she has put on 25 lbs. She is

about 5'2 " -5'3 " and weighs 123lbs now. She is extremely self-conscious about it

and has threatened to " become anorexic " if I don't take her off these meds.

While she is still in the normal weight range for her height, the

[Guest guest]

I am very interested in reading the replies to this. My 13 year old son had a

physical last week and we were told he has gained 40 pounds in a year. He is

5'5 " and weighs 195 pounds. He, too, does not like what he weighs. We are

trying to be encouraging to him to try and cut back and to get moving....he does

next to nothing physically. He is on Fluoxetine, Gabapentin, Guanfacine and

Abilify....who knows which one is causing the weight gain. I would love to have

him on something that doesn't cause the weight gain (or on nothing at all). We

worry about his physical health with the extra weight.

Debbie

>

> Hi all,

> I've been reading a lot of posts but haven't participated. My 14-yr-old

daughter was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Her Dad has it (though he

won't admit or get treatment for it) so it's not a huge surprise. Last summer,

she weighed 95 lbs. Since being treated for OCD -- first took Prozac and when

that became ineffective, started with Zoloft -- she has put on 25 lbs. She is

about 5'2 " -5'3 " and weighs 123lbs now. She is extremely self-conscious about it

and has threatened to " become anorexic " if I don't take her off these meds.

While she is still in the normal weight range for her height, the scale keeps

creeping up.

>

> I took several different SSRIs for post-partum depression and had the same

experience. These meds make you crave carbohydrates and I think they also affect

the metabolism. Yet they are so helpful for her OCD. I don't know what to do.

>

> I've read some info on insolitol (sp?), a B vitamin derivitave. Does anyone

have experience with this or other supplements? Very frustrated. Thanks!

>

[Guest guest]

We experienced the same thing with my son, who at age 15, Dec. 2010, started

taking Luvox for his newly diagnosed OCD. At his physical a year later he had

gained 40 lbs. and only grew an inch or so. I can't believe that is a

coincidence! My son has been very depressed about the weight gain, but I tell

him he needs to really work on the ERP and then I will talk to the psychiatrist

about slowly weaning the meds--I am too scared to do it now, I know they

decrease the " volume " of his OCD around 50%. The good news is that his weight

does seem to have stabilized. We joined the Y and he (lackadaisically)

exercises, hoping he will get motivated to kick it up soon. The doctor tells me

Luvox is " weight-neutral " but I've had many people tell me they did gain a

typical 20-40 lbs. on it. The doctor also tells me that exercise will still

work for people on SSRIs (plus all the other benefits to mood, self-esteem,

etc.)

>

> Hi all,

> I've been reading a lot of posts but haven't participated. My 14-yr-old

daughter was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Her Dad has it (though he

won't admit or get treatment for it) so it's not a huge surprise. Last summer,

she weighed 95 lbs. Since being treated for OCD -- first took Prozac and when

that became ineffective, started with Zoloft -- she has put on 25 lbs. She is

about 5'2 " -5'3 " and weighs 123lbs now. She is extremely self-conscious about it

and has threatened to " become anorexic " if I don't take her off these meds.

While she is still in the normal weight range for her height, the scale keeps

creeping up.

>

> I took several different SSRIs for post-partum depression and had the same

experience. These meds make you crave carbohydrates and I think they also affect

the metabolism. Yet they are so helpful for her OCD. I don't know what to do.

>

> I've read some info on insolitol (sp?), a B vitamin derivitave. Does anyone

have experience with this or other supplements? Very frustrated. Thanks!

>