Prozac - Paxil (Weight Gain) - PMDD - Need Feedback Please

i had super bad pms symptoms. and i went to my gyn. she put me on a birth control that fixed almost all of my pms symptoms.
since pmdd is the sever form of pms. why not have a chat with your gyn about it.. there may be a simpler option for you. pms and pmdd is all a balancing act of the hormones. when the time hits they get out of balance and we have problems from it. you could have other hormonal issues contributing to this., so make an appt with your gynecologist.

I think you need to bring your gynecologist in on this so that s/he can properly diagnose you and see what else may be going on.

Then have the two physicians communicate and together come up with options for you.

Write down any questions you have so that you are ready to ask them at the appointments.

Sorry but I don't know anything about side effects for prozac.
Discussing this with your doctor is a good idea.
Someone else who would know about medications side effects and drug interactions would be your pharmacist.

Of course it all means something more or less to everyone else but for me - 10 lbs wouldn't be a big deal if it helped me to not have irrational thoughts.

I think that most SSRI's require a work up to/work down from dosing to maximize results and also take several weeks to even really start working so obviously just taking it for one week of the month isn't going to be effective.

As far as the weight gain goes, I think there is a couple of different issues. One is people "expect" to gain weight because someone told them they would (or they read it somewhere), so they do. Another is some folks don't eat well/enough when they are depressed/anxious. Once they are feeling better, they eat more and gain weight. Or if the SSRI makes you feel fatigued, you might be less active and gain weight. None of these are really so much a "side-effect," but rather sort of a consequence for a changed behavior after starting a different medication.

I guess I'd rather lose 10 lbs myself than have irrational thoughts each month, but if the weight is a real issue for you, I work on resolving ways to deal with that while still taking the medications even before you start so you don't sabotage yourself after you start taking the meds.

Good luck!

A couple of doctors have told me that certain SSRIs can cause carb cravings, which is the cause of the weight gain. I've had good luck with Welbutrin, since SSRIs cause bad side effects for me, and haven't noticed the weight gain I experienced with Prozac.

As a holistic nutritionist I would address the root cause for your symptoms instead of symptom management. Get a hormone panel done via a 24 hour urine test or saliva test, not blood. Then proceed from there. If it’s unbalanced hormones, diet plays a key role. There are many wonderful herbs that support hormones as well. Hormones can play a key role in anxiety as well (but can have other underlying causes such as blood sugar dysregulation, processed food diet, food sensitivities, subclinical hypothyroidism etc) SSRI come with side effects, deplete nutrients and can be very challenging to taper off of when you are ready to d/c useage and the underlying issue will never have been addressed. Hope that helps!