Ethansmom Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 My doctor keeps trying different meds for me. I have depression and anxiety. Currently I am on 2MG of klonopin daily. I have already gained 35 pounds from all the other meds I've tried. Do I try this and see what happens? I don't know what to do. It feels hopeless to me. I am exercising daily, but I do know my diet could use a good clean up. I know Remeron can stimulate your appetite. That is the last thing I need! Any experiences with this med. I'm desperate, but don't want to feel worse by adding weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 7 minutes ago, Ethansmom said: My doctor keeps trying different meds for me. I have depression and anxiety. Currently I am on 2MG of klonopin daily. I have already gained 35 pounds from all the other meds I've tried. Do I try this and see what happens? I don't know what to do. It feels hopeless to me. I am exercising daily, but I do know my diet could use a good clean up. I know Remeron can stimulate your appetite. That is the last thing I need! Any experiences with this med. I'm desperate, but don't want to feel worse by adding weight. Personal experience is yes you will. Was on it for about 2 months. I take Wellbutrin as well, which definitely has an appetite suppression effect on me. Like I could eat just once a day and not feel hungry. Remeron made me feel hungry all the time. It even changed my preference in food from protein and salt to carbs and sugar. So much sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 I was on it for awhile, and did gain some weight, but not a huge amount..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 I was only on it for a little bit (it didn’t help in the way we were hoping for it to), but I didn’t gain weight while I was on it. It’s not a guarantee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looking for answers Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 remeron increases appetite. its your eating that makes u gain weight, if u can control the cravings u wont gain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tryp Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 It doesn't make everybody gain weight - but it is more prone to it than some other antidepressants. I did gain on it. Only way to find out is try it and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiet storm Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Ive been on and off it a few times over the last 8 years. Looking back I might've gained some weight on it the first couple of cycles. I started back on it again last summer and have not gained any weight. I've actually lost weight since then but with that said I have rekindled my love of running the last couple of years and am pretty active. I try to run about 35-42 miles a week. I am curious to see if I could drop a few pounds by keeping everything basically the same and coming off of it. I suspect I wouldn't. But I have no desire to stop it right now. My experience is it definitely gives the munchies, especially in the beginning of starting and tends to level off the longer you are on it. Another thing that could be related to that is the hardcore sedation that comes with first starting. It's easy to sit around and eat too much when you're sleepy all the time. Sedation is something that usually also levels off over time. There might be a dose dependent relationship as well as remeron is a med that tends to be more activating as you go up in dosage. I don't have a lot of experience with the higher standard dosages(30 and 45mg) as I do best with the lowest therapeutic dosage of 15mg. I think it is an awesome AD. I cant do SSRI's. They turn me into a mess after about a month. Genetic test last year confirmed I need to stay very far away from them. I've done OK on SNRI's but with more pain in the ass side effects. If you cared to take a deep dive into all the clinical studies you will find that it is shown to be very high on the efficacy scale but middle of the road or on the lower end of the tolerability scale. No doubt due to the weight gain and sedation its known for. I would say give it shot being mindful of the potential munchies and weight gain it could cause. And it will absolutely hit you hard with sedation in the beginning. This is a med to be started on a long weekend if you have a full time job. But if you stick with it you might just find it what you've been looking for. As with all these meds, YMMV. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 (edited) At least for me, it's absolutely more activating as you go higher. I'd even say that Remeron at 45mg feels like a completely different drug. Somewhat activating, but still in my case sedating. To be fair, I did not gain a ton of weight on it..about 7% of my starting body weight on it in 2 months, and I'm pretty light weight. BMI of 22. The weight gain and the hunger did come with higher doses for me. Until I hit 30mg, I had zero weight gain and only minor munchies. From a pharmacological standpoint, Remeron has a strong preference to hit the H1 receptors first. From there, the order of preference goes to 5-HT2 receptor antagonism, which allegedly disinhibits dopamine release. From there, the alpha adrenergic autoreceptors are antagonized, disinhibiting norepinephrine and some serotonin. It's the antagonism of the H1 receptor and the 5-HT2C receptors which are though to cause weight gain. It's also thought that AAPs, with a similar profile, D2 antagonism aside, cause weight gain by antagonizing the same receptors, like seroquel or olanzapine. @Ethansmom Jargon and wild ass guesses aside, weight gain is very much YMMV and I apologize if I freaked you out by saying yes, you will. And hey, it's probably the strongest and most kick ass antihistamine I've ever taken...so that's nice too. Edited July 4, 2018 by argh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiet storm Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 (edited) AFAIK, it's one of the most potent H1 antagonists ever created. Hence the reason alot of people use it at low dosages for sleep(looking for sleep inducing effects and not AD effects). It will definitely kick your ass when you first start it. But it's my steady ready. Edited July 4, 2018 by quiet storm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethansmom Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 On 7/4/2018 at 12:28 AM, quiet storm said: also levels off over time. There might be a dose dependent I took one pill of this 7.5MG and was asleep in 15 minutes. I could not wake up. My body was vibrating and my body and mind felt like jello. My husband forced me to get out of the house to get stuff for a barbeque we were having. I couldn't even swim in the pool due to the sedating effects. There is no way I can work on a med like this! It was nice a horse tranquilizer, and yes I was hungry yesterday. I had three cups of light coffee and could not "feel awake". That's no way for me to live. I also cannot live with constant anxiety. I wish I could find a med that makes me want to go out and do stuff, but not cause too much activation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 One day doesn’t really tell you much. Sometimes it takes a few days to level out and see what’s happening. Also, sometimes the effects are different at different dosages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 24 minutes ago, Ethansmom said: I took one pill of this 7.5MG and was asleep in 15 minutes. I could not wake up. My body was vibrating and my body and mind felt like jello. My husband forced me to get out of the house to get stuff for a barbeque we were having. I couldn't even swim in the pool due to the sedating effects. There is no way I can work on a med like this! It was nice a horse tranquilizer, and yes I was hungry yesterday. I had three cups of light coffee and could not "feel awake". That's no way for me to live. I also cannot live with constant anxiety. I wish I could find a med that makes me want to go out and do stuff, but not cause too much activation. Lol. Horse tranquilizer. That sounds about right. Your tolerance will improve in about two or so weeks. Or you can try for a higher dose as it is much less sedating as your dose increase. Still an animal tranquilizer but not as bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l'appel du vide Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 I have been on so many psychiatric medications and the ONLY one that EVER caused weight gain in me was none other than Remeron. I am naturally very very slim and thin, Remeron made me gain 20 pounds within 2 months. My eating habits did NOT change. I got off it immediately because the weight gain had no sign of stopping. Not even Seroquel made me gain weight...so in my experience, you will definitely gain weight from it. And not just a small amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikl_pls Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Remeron is merciless with weight gain. It's the Zyprexa of the antidepressants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 @Ethansmom you mentioned anxiety explicitly in your response above. Is anxiety your primary problem, say vs depression? how about pregabalin for anxiety then get a different ad for your depression? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethansmom Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 Thank you all for your comments. They are so helpful! I already have body image issues, so gaining 35+ pounds as a woman has made me become depressed!!! If I could find an antidepressant or something that did not induce hunger and help with anxiety I would be a happy camper. @argh yes, anxiety and panic attacks are my main issues. Klonopin has been amazing at helping them, but not it's giving me that flat affect. I'm still feeling the affects of one Remeron pill. Is that possible? I took it on Tuesday and today is Friday! My doctor doesn't prescribe pregabalin. I think she's afraid of giving me another controlled substance. I have an appointment with another psyc doc for next month. I'm hoping she will be more open to listening to my needs. It the mean time, I may try to cut down on my klonopin use since it's making me tired. The issue is I wake up exhausted and trembling. I need coffee which makes me a bit anxious and jittery and then I take a klonopin to calm down. Today I took a Xanax instead and I feel like sleeping. My doctor is just throwing a dart on different medications and seeing what will stick. I think she's sick of me, and I need to try a different doctor. Maybe he or she will have another approach. My doctor suggested SaMe the supplement which is a prescription medicine in Europe, but sold over the counter as a supplement in the US. Has anyone heard of it before? It was activating for me, but did give me energy and motivation to get this done. Unfortunately, anxiety is a side effect (in higher doses). I'm sensitive to these meds (as it seems). I gave up on it after a few days. Perhaps I could cut the pill but it has enteric coating. Does that mean you definitely cannot cut the pill??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiet storm Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 I find it really irritating when people literally give an AD a shot for one day. Good luck. Remeron is obviously not for you. 20 hours ago, mikl_pls said: Remeron is merciless with weight gain. It's the Zyprexa of the antidepressants. Not for me. *shrug* 20 hours ago, icygrave said: I have been on so many psychiatric medications and the ONLY one that EVER caused weight gain in me was none other than Remeron. I am naturally very very slim and thin, Remeron made me gain 20 pounds within 2 months. My eating habits did NOT change. I got off it immediately because the weight gain had no sign of stopping. Not even Seroquel made me gain weight...so in my experience, you will definitely gain weight from it. And not just a small amount. I believe you gained 20 pounds in 2 months. I don't believe for a second your diet didn't change. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb84 Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 @Ethansmom I have finally realized how flat Klonopin makes me when I take a higher dose in the morning (.5mg to 1mg). I was put on a lower dose in the AM (.25mg) and that has greatly improved my overall mood and depression. If I were you, I might ask the new pdoc if your Klonopin dose is too high. I didn't realize how much Klonopin acts as a depressant till my nurse in the hospital told me about it. My pdoc wants to get me off of it and either onto something else less sedating or hope that Gabapentin will take care of the anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 1 hour ago, Ethansmom said: Thank you all for your comments. They are so helpful! I already have body image issues, so gaining 35+ pounds as a woman has made me become depressed!!! If I could find an antidepressant or something that did not induce hunger and help with anxiety I would be a happy camper. @argh yes, anxiety and panic attacks are my main issues. Klonopin has been amazing at helping them, but not it's giving me that flat affect. I'm still feeling the affects of one Remeron pill. Is that possible? I took it on Tuesday and today is Friday! My doctor doesn't prescribe pregabalin. I think she's afraid of giving me another controlled substance. I have an appointment with another psyc doc for next month. I'm hoping she will be more open to listening to my needs. It the mean time, I may try to cut down on my klonopin use since it's making me tired. The issue is I wake up exhausted and trembling. I need coffee which makes me a bit anxious and jittery and then I take a klonopin to calm down. Today I took a Xanax instead and I feel like sleeping. My doctor is just throwing a dart on different medications and seeing what will stick. I think she's sick of me, and I need to try a different doctor. Maybe he or she will have another approach. My doctor suggested SaMe the supplement which is a prescription medicine in Europe, but sold over the counter as a supplement in the US. Has anyone heard of it before? It was activating for me, but did give me energy and motivation to get this done. Unfortunately, anxiety is a side effect (in higher doses). I'm sensitive to these meds (as it seems). I gave up on it after a few days. Perhaps I could cut the pill but it has enteric coating. Does that mean you definitely cannot cut the pill??? Remeron made me flat but it took a few weeks for that to happen. id say give it a chance and just watch your weight. There are always outliers and you could be one where weight is minimal to none. remeron has the reputation of working in as little as two weeks. I would say give it a month at least. By all annecdotal accounts, when remeron works for someone, it’s quite miraculous in its efficacy. gabapentin is related to pregabalin and so far isn’t classified as a controlled substance, unless you’re in Virginia I think. It’s something that due to the short half-life you may need to take multiple times a day or get gralise which is a non generic extended release version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melty Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) On 7/3/2018 at 4:53 PM, looking for answers said: remeron increases appetite. its your eating that makes u gain weight, if u can control the cravings u wont gain It is not just your eating. These meds can also alter your metabolism. Edited July 18, 2018 by Melty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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