Avanza....anyone taking it?

Hey :)

Just wondering if anyone here is taking Avanza? i have been on it for my anxiety for a few months now......all seems ok BUT i am gaining weight like there is no tomorrow!!

i have always watched my weight! but for some reason i can not stop gaining weight. I have nothing but weight watcher's in my house and yet i still am putting on??

my husband decided to join me in doing weight watcher cos i have always had wonderful results with ww, so a month ago he started with me, so that means he ate everything i did, drank everything i did.......he has lost almost 10kilo's and i have gained 3kilo's :(

i decided that its cant be from what i have been eating, so i googled avanza and it shows that weight gain is a side effect.....along with swelling of ankle's and fingers, which i have never experienced before until recently! i cant wear my wedding rings cos there to tight and my feet get so swollen i can barely walk!

just wondering if anyone else has had this problem with avanza?
also do you think that maybe i should go back to the doctor? see if maybe we could try something new?

i just dont know what to do anymore :( i am the heaviest i have ever been and i feel so ugly, uncomfortable and YUK!

I have taken it, it worked wonders for my anxiety and depression, but yes the weight gain was extreme. Luckily it was a wanted side-effect (at least on the drs part lol), but I gained about 10kg.

I think that if it's making you really uncomfortable go back to the dr and have a chat and decide if the weight gain is worth the benefits and relief to your anxiety. There are ways to minimise the weight gain, which the dr may not have talked to you about, like dramatically increasing exercise and activity (I think the weight gain is caused by Avanza decreasing metabolism, so eating less fat etc isn't really going to help). Go and have a chat to your prescribind dr :hug:

Thanks heaps for your reply Indadhanu

i honestly dont know how much more exercise i can do! between working everyday...which is me on my feet walking heaps, plus coming home cooking, cleaning, mowing, gardening and the rest of it lol

i think i might go back to gp and see if we can change to something else, cos my weight is really bad right now :( and i feel tired all the time from being this big!

thanks again for posting, really appreciate your feed back :)

do you take it of a morning or night?

DH takes his of a night, and he is underweight. Has been on it for over a year now, and no effects on weight.
the dr said for him to take it of a night because it can make you sleepy..... hope that may help. Maybe switch the time of day you take it, or ask for something new altogether, but it's hard to find something that works for you, and has no effects....

I used to take it at night too, because it would have be out like a light 30 minutes later!

Yeah i take it at night :)

so i thought i would update and let you know that i have now been taken off Avanza.........and put onto Zoloft!
Now i have the biggest up hill battle trying to lose the 23 kilo's i have put on in a matter of 6 months :( having PCOS i have always had to keep on top of my weight, making sure i wasnt putting on weight...now look at me :( how could i let this happen!! i am so angry at myself

I'm tired already and i havent even started!

thanks you Indadhanu & mum2romone for helping me out and replying to my post xxx

I used to take Avanza too but only for 3 weeks cos the weight gain was horrendous :( I put on 13kgs in 3 weeks which was just awful. I too have PCOS but didn't know that at the time.
I hope the Zoloft is much kinder to you :hug:

DH was on avanza but it made him like a zombie!
When I was first diagnosed with PND I was on an AD and I cannot remember the name of it but it made me put on heaps of weight and become more depressed. I am on ciprimil now and its been fine.

thanks heaps Mako and mrsmac

I have been taking Zoloft for 3 days now and i have woken every morning with a bad headache :( but i know this is one of the side effects for the first few days

i am so tired all the time being this big :( this weight NEEDS to come off and it needs to come off NOW!!! but i am so tired i dont know how or where to start :( does that make any sense?? probably not lol