Weight gain from Elavil ?
Q.Just my opinion: if you are prone to weight gain on TCAs, you will probably gain weight on all ADs, no matter which one, eventually. What you WILL notice is that on some, you gain rapidly, consistently and monumentally, while on others, it's very slow, ie, half a pound or a pound a month. Weight gain is frequently dose-related, but not always. It makes good sense to take the lowest dose of med you have to, in any case. A good pain control pill with less weight gain is trazodone (Desyrel), which has very low potential for gain--I gained about ten pounds on it after two...three? years. Also someone else mentioned nortriptyline--some people have less trouble with weight gain on it.
A.I did some research on preventative meds too - and having a weight problem, I was also concerned about weight gain. Apparently Nortriptyline ( Pamelor in the US ) is good for chronic pain, and in the same family as Amitryptiline, and does not cause weight gain as a side effect. I will be trying it out as soon as I have weaned off the Zoloft Chances are it will work for you as well as Elavil does is notorious for serious weight gain. I gained 50 lbs. with it myself. (104-154 lbs.) I was never, ever sated; I ate to the point of pain or vomiting, and was STILL hungry. Nortriptyline (Pamelor) caused less weight gain, less rapidly, about 2 lbs. a month. You may get lucky--I did--the weight slowly dropped off, without dieting, when I d/c's the pills. Since I couldn't bear the thought of ever being hungry again in life after the Elavil experience, I refused to diet! Lost all the weight and a little more in under two years, eating everything I wanted. I might add that my cholesterol, along with the weight, went back down, from 254 to 202. was the best pill I ever took for migraine prophylaxis and chronic pain control, but trazodone was nearly as good with far fewer side effects. I gained too much weight on nortriptyline to be a fan, but you might not. Effexor was excellent for general pain control and better-than-average at preventing migraines for me. However, it made me very ill, and I ended up disabled for a few months as a result! So I can't take it at all. But listening to other people, it sounds like an excellent drug if you're in the majority.
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