Stopped prozac - how long before weight comes off/metabolism

stefandang · Newbie Joined: 20 Apr 2007 Posts: 1

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

Guest · Guest

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.

Johanna1 · Newbie Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 1

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.

Stopped prozac - how long before weight comes off/metabolism

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