has anyone else gained weight from Prozac? Better SSRI's?

Question

I need to be on an anti-depressant/ anti-anxiety medicine. however, I have noticed a weight gain (i think from the Prozac).

Can anyone recommend a better SSRI, with weight gain NOT a side-effect? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi, most anti-depressants do have side effects of gaining wheight. I was on a medicine Providual, and I gained 60lbs.So after talking with my doctor, and looking up on the internet I found the cause was due to my medication. So now I take Cymbata, a anti-depressent. I found its a catch 22, they tend (The medications) will cause weight gain., but you need the meds to keep you level headed!! Being aware of it , now you have options to be more physicial, try to walk everyday for 15-30 min. a day if possible, to counter act the weight gain. Eat more veggies, drink water....., watch your calorie intake. I know that doesnt sound fun, but if you need these medications, like I do, you will need to make deffinant changes in YOUR life. No one can do it for you, it sucks but its real, a problem you need to deal with OR go without your medication. This is so hard to do, going off your medication to lose weight. I tryed it and nearly had a nervous brakedown. So thats all you can do, Try another medication..... and or make definent changes in your personal life. Eatting habits must change, exercise more.. keep sugary foods out of the house. You see youll be even more depressed if you gain weight and dont do anything about it. So YOU must educate yourself about your medications. Ask your doctor for a different anti-deppresent that will work for you and your needs. Talk to your Phymarmcist as well. They offten are more educated on side effects of medications.So dont get all sad and down on gaining 5-10 plds. But more weight than that means you need to change something. Just lestion to your body, look in a mirror, and watch if your cloths get to tight.... Your body is trying to tell you HEY something isnt right, move around more ...eat better...even eat less of junk food, and educate yourself about nutrition etc.... Hope you can find some help in my experiences....( Ocean ) ....<>

Answer 2

Oh yes!!! I have gained a lot of weight when I was on prozac!! In fact, MOST anti-depressants have the side effect of gaining weight!! (they make you hungry). There are a few that AREN'T SOPOSE TO........... however, even those; I gained weight on!!

Unfortunately, doctors either don't know or WON'T tell you all of the side effects of the medication. For instance: when I was taking prozac...... I became MORE depressed, NOT LESS!! It took almost 20 years for doctors to FINALLY recognize that anti-depressants CAN cause a person to become MORE DEPRESSED, even SUICIDAL!! As prozac did me & lots of other people!!! There are other drugs that have been reported that have had the same effect.

You, as the patient; have to decide whether the SIDE EFFECTS are worth it OR NOT?? Such as, my doctor had me on 15 different medications until finally, I became physically ill & was taken off almost all of my anti-depressants. That is when I finally got a taste of how it was OFF the meds & decided that it wasn't worth the side effects anymore!!!

Now, it's 5 years later; I hate the fact that I had to get so physically ill to get off the meds BUT I feel better now than I ever did on all those meds. Still, I have a psychiatrist that is trying to hand me a mountain of medications!! And I have decided that I'm NOT going back there!!!! I was soooo far gone...... totally out of it with all that medication........ and it did make things WORSE!!

Just please be careful!!! Don't allow yourself to be over-medicated!! There are way too many doctors out there that WILL over-medicate you!!!

Answer 3

I took Prozac for one month about 10 years ago--and gained over 20 pounds! I was immediately taken off of it (it wasn't helping me, anyway), and put back on the old antidepressant Elavil (a tricylic--not SSRI).

Lexapro is a newer SSRI, and the person I know who takes it has not gained any weight. It helps both anxiety and depression.

Answer 4

I gained over 50 pounds on Prozac and Paxil in one year! I do not suggest SSRIs to anyone!

Answer 5

I take Wellbutrin, which works on dopamine & norepinephrine levels, not serotonin. I'm actually losing weight on it.

It works about as well as anything else I've tried. I'm not very responsive to AD's in general, unfortunately.

Ask your pdoc about it. As another responder said, don't stop the Prozac yourself without consulting him/her first. In addition, he/she may say that the mix of neurotransmitters affected by Wellbutrin are not the right ones for you. That would be too bad, but it's something you need to know before trying it.

Good luck,
Big Al Mintaka

Answer 6

You might want to get off prozac,it makes you crazy(seriously not joking),I know someone who was on it and she was goin off the deep end,she would get mad over any little thing,say abusive things and jus flip out without even knowing it,we had to take her to er doctor and he swithed har immediately! It makes you gain weight(a-lot)

Answer 7

First of all change you diet eat health and less calories then needed to maintain current body weight , there are many calculators online to figure it out. Lots of cardio to burn the fat and lean you down , also weight lifting do 3 sets of 15 reps it will make you look toned and lean plus muscle burns fat.

Answer 8

I can recommend you go to www.cchr.org and see videos of psychiatrists saying "there are no cures or tests for mental illnesses and they create them as a coding for insurance companies to get money for the visits". Go find out for yourself. Get off the drugs that only mask the symptoms. What are YOU depressed/anxious about?

Answer 9

Talk to your doctor, suddenly stopping that type of med can be really harmful...be careful!

Answer 10

lexpro and wellbutrin did not cause weight gain for me