Why doctors should be more open with patients about antidepressants and weight gain
Gold Coast psychiatrist Dr Manfred Penzhorn says the issue of weight gain with psychiatric medications is underplayed.
When Dr Manfred Penzhorn prescribes antidepressants, he tells patients they are “almost certainly” about to put on weight.
“Very few psychiatric medications don’t cause some weight gain,” the Gold Coast psychiatrist says.
While antipsychotics are widely acknowledged to carry this side effect, Dr Penzhorn believes that weight gain with antidepressants is underplayed in psychiatry and primary care.
In his experience, “almost everybody” who starts on an SSRI will go up a few kilograms within the first year.
