Stopped prozac - how long before weight comes off/metabolism

Hello all I was wondering if any of you could help. I've been on and off antidepressants for many years and have noticed after long term use I gain weight and no matter what I do I cannot shift it.

I tapered off effexor a couple of years ago and despite some weight loss the withdrawal was awful so I went onto prozac. After a year or so on prozac I again have gained weight and despite 1 hour of hard cardio exercise a day I cannot shift the weight. I tapered from 20mg (lowest dose) and stopped completely a week ago. I know the half life of prozac is long, but my weight has not shifted despite being off it. In the past when I haven't been on antidepressants and I do exercise like I am now - the weight easily came off.

I'm worried I'll never lose the weight and that I'll have to resort to starving myself or going on slimming pills (which I do NOT want to do)

Has anyone here stopped prozac and managed to lose weight? If so, how long did it take after stopping prozac for the metabolism to 'wake-up' and for the weight to start coming off?

Please reply!!

Thanks

Stef

I too have gone off and on medication over the years, usually because I get frustrated by the weight gain. SSRI's do seem to be the class of medication for me though; unfortunately they seem to be the worst weight gain offenders. I did taper off Prozac a few years ago from 50mg daily to none. I am 5'7 and usually about 135 pounds with tone which I am fine with. I ended up gaining about 50 pounds. I remember getting up to about 184 pounds. I also found the weight gain looked bloated which just made me feel even worse. Once I got off the medication, I would say I didn't start to see results for at least a month. I was working out about 90 minutes, 3x a week. It probably took me about 10 months to lose the weight. I just had to be patient with it. By the time I lost the weight, I of course had a relapse and am back on Prozac since I do find it the most effective for my OCD.

I am just really trying not to gain weight this time, b/c although I do believe it lowers your metabolism, I also believe it makes me crave foods that I don't normally crave. I tend to want to binge eat. I am not sure if that is a definite effect, but I am just trying hard to maintain a healthy eating pattern while still exercising, b/c if I am honest with myself, in the past I probably did always take for granted that I could afford to eat more since when I am not on medication, I can maintain my weight. However, with Prozac affecting both metabolism and appetite, I am going to try that much harder to be disciplined, and will see what happens this time. Good luck, just stick it out because you will lose the weight. I would say give your body about a month to readjust and it should start to react positively to the exercise.

I went on low dosage Prozac (20 mg.) four years ago, and have gained 40 pounds. I attributed it to the medication, and since I still felt depressed much of the time, decided to go off of it. That was three months ago. I have hired a personal trainer and have been adhering to a rather austere eating plan, and a regular work out regimen-and I have lost a total of three pound, and feel very depressed. I am considering going back on Prozac-maybe the Prozac wasn't the problem.

Hi Everyone.

I started taking prozac 20 mg, then 40 mgs, about 8 months ago. At first I noticed a little weight loss (4 lbs) but after being on it for about 6 months I noticed rapid weight gain. I'm only 5'1" and when I started taking prozac I weighed about 107 lbs. It seemed like over night I gained 10 lbs. By no means am I obese but this is a lot of weight for a person with a small frame to carry. I stopped taking antidepressants about 6 weeks ago, I've been dieting, and I hired a personal trainer. I can't seem to drop the weight. Before prozac I could very easily lose weight, but now it seems like no matter how hard I try the weight just won't come off. I feel like prozac has ruined my metabolism. Tell me I'm not crazy!

I have to agree with all of you. I thought I was the only one. I started taking Prozac about a year and a half ago and I noticed at first I lost a few pounds. Then within the past 12 months I have gained 20 lbs.
I went to my doctor today and they told me although it's possible it is because of the Prozac, I probably have been "cured" and I don't need the medication anymore. I must have, at first, not ate as much because of depression. And now that I am "cured" I am over eating. I've never been over weight in my life.
I was told to stop the medication, go on the Adkins Diet and see what happens.
I can understand some of the doctors points but I think I may just find a new primary care doctor and get a second opinion.

Hi! Is there anyone out there like me who loses weight with Prozac? I went on it at 20 mg @ 20 years ago and my weight was normal...I tend to be thin 5'1 and 98lbs. When I hit 35-38 I gained about 10+lbs probably due to metabolism changes and less active lifestyle. Eating less did not take the weight off. But I just upped my Prozac about 3 mos ago to 40 mg and since I've gone back down to 98- lbs. I'm not dieting or anything. Anyone else?

LC67622 wrote:

I have to agree with all of you. I thought I was the only one. I started taking Prozac about a year and a half ago and I noticed at first I lost a few pounds. Then within the past 12 months I have gained 20 lbs. I went to my doctor today and they told me although it's possible it is because of the Prozac, I probably have been "cured" and I don't need the medication anymore. I must have, at first, not ate as much because of depression. And now that I am "cured" I am over eating. I've never been over weight in my life. I was told to stop the medication, go on the Adkins Diet and see what happens. I can understand some of the doctors points but I think I may just find a new primary care doctor and get a second opinion.

Hi: The same thing has happened to me. Have you had a second opinion yet? Did you stop the Prozac? I'm tapering down my dosage but find it helps me so much with my depression but having gained over 30lbs certainly has not helped my depression!!

Hi! I went on prozac my freshman year of college and gained about 45 pounds over 2 years (!!!) (5'7, was 135, went up to 180). I dieted like crazy, joined Curves, went off Depo-provera (the first year) and tried everything but kept gaining weight. In pictures my face looked really puffy and it was hard to see my jaw line. I saw a doctor after the first 1 1/2 years and had my blood sugar tested - suddenly I was pre-diabetic. I asked the guy what was happening to me and he proceeded to explain that 1. I ate too much food and 2. It would take much longer to lose the weight than gain it. DUH. Except I wasn't eating too much food, in fact, I was eating nearly too little out of fear I would gain another 40.

So nobody EVER warned me I could gain weight because Prozac could alter my metabolism and cause insulin resistance... I finally went to a real psychiatrist (I know, that was my first mistake, but I had a psychologist and school nurse working together before that) who determined I didn't need the prozac and once I weaned off of it, I started losing weight. I lost about 10 lbs the first month in being totally off it, then about 15 pounds over the summer, and 10 pounds since. I did continue to watch what I ate but the weight basically dropped off. I guess I could lose another 10lbs to get back to my old weight but I'm extremely happy to have the healthy body I'm in.

I hope that helps some of you. It is scary how little some doctors actually know.

I was on Paxil for 3 months and gained 20 pounds,so my doc switched to prozac.I gained 20 more with that.It has been 9 years and I am still 40 pounds heavier.I did lose 20 pounds on Adkins but when I started eating normal,the weight came back.I too look and feel extremely bloated.It totally changed metabolism.[

Hey guys,

Just wanted to add my input here on Prozac and weight gain. I have been on Prozac since I was 16 and im 30 now. I have always been a small frame (5'2") and around 111 pounds. This is normal for me. My doctor, 1.5 months ago increased my prozac from 20mg, daily, to 40mg and now 50mg. I do have to say that I have gained 10 pounds in the last 1.5 months now weighing 121 pounds. I do not exercise regularly, but I do believe it's not weight gain as in 'fat' but more so bloating...I look like i'm around 4 months pregnant and my Mother has noticed that my face looks fuller. I haven't been eating more than usual either. I'm pretty sure that an increased dosage, other than what your body is use to is the culprit to bloatedness or increased body weight. Unfortunatley, I will have to lower it back to 20mg (with the approval of my doc.) because this extra weight is making me more paranoid and self-conscious! I'm going to try the low dosage of Prozac along with b12 supplements for energy, multi-vitamins and good ole exercise to combat depression. ....hope this helps