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Started Taking Serta As Alternative For Oleanz. Feeling Tired And Have Loss Of Appetite. Any Advice?

Posted on Thu, 10 Jan 2013

Question: hi , i was on paxidepCR 25 and oleanz 2.5 mg since Jun 2012. However, i changed my psychiatrist as i was gaining a lot of weight on oleanz. with oleanz i would feel extremely hungry and sleepy. since a week i am on serta 25mg in the morning and zolipax half of 0.25 and paxidep cr 25 in the night. i lost my appetite and can sleep fairly well when i take zolipax. but i feel extremely drowsy and tired in the morning at office. sometimes i think i feel i am anxious. do u think this is happening because of transition from oleanz to serta? also when i smoke, my discomfort increases. how long do you think these effects would remain for me to feel normal again. i feel i shouldnt have changed my medication . please advice

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Hebbar (3 hours later)

Hi,

The information provided is very limited. One cannot even make a guess on your diagnosis, which is a starting point for any conclusions. Probably you are suffering with an anxiety disorder or depression. In these cases Oleanz is generally not advisable even in small doses (what you received). Your symptoms may not be due to oleanz withdrawal. Serta in the morning time also can cause sleepiness. You can take it at night or in the afternoon. You can take zolipax early at 8 pm so that the sleeping effect of zolipax is not there in the morning. Since you are still having problems after about one year, you may need to take medicine for longer period, may be years. Medicines are not given to you for cure. They control your symptoms. If you are not happy with medicines, therapies like cognitive therapy and CBT are also options for you. With therapy, you have a better chance of cure. But you need to catch a good therapist and put effort with the therapist. Generally psychiatrists in India do not suggest this option as they are not familiar with therapy.

Hope I had been able to answer your query.

Dr Sudhir Hebbar

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan

Follow up: Dr. Sudhir Hebbar (20 hours later)

initially started with oleanz 7.5 in XXXXXXX and thn it was reduced to 2.5 in XXXXXXX and I was asked to stop it cmpletely. Though I dint hav symptoms of depression and anxiety aftr I stopped oleanz, I suffered frm sleep disorder and nausea . How long does serta take to adjust to the body whn started ?

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Hebbar (3 hours later)

Hi
You will be able to adjust with serta in 2 to 3 weeks. Nausea can be a side effect of paxidep or serta. It can be a effect of discontinuation of oleanz, which will go away in 2 weeks. Once oleanz is stopped you are likely to loose 1 or 2 kg of weight in 2 to 3 weeks.

Dr Hebbar

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar