effexor weight gain

Thank God! I was right! It's not me eating too much, it really is Effexor. I'm 40 and have been on Effexor for about a year. Like others on this site, it's really helped my anxiety and I feel 'normal' for the 1st time in my life. But about 3 months ago I started gaining weight so quickly. I have always been a size 8-10 and even in my darkets days only just touched on a 12. Now a 12 is tight and I am disgusted when I look in a mirror. My bra size used to be a 32 and I used to moan I had no boobs - now I feel I could do with a 36 - and that's not the boob size, its the weight on my back and sides. I'm a very active person - a dance teacher in fact, and whilst i do enjoy sugary foods now and then, no more than I ever used to. I'm on 75 Effexor and today have made the decision to halve that to just the 1 tab a day - then maybe 1 every other day. I just want to go back to what I was and lose the double chin that seems to have appeared overnight.

Been on it for over six months. Have lost weight. Probably right now at a total of 15 pounds. Never could lose weight before and never ate much to begin with. I think it corrected a sluggish metabolism in my case. Odd how some can have the exact opposite reaction to a medication. I am only on 37.5mg of it, if that helps. Don't plan to stay on it for more than a year as it was for situational depression. (maybe stopping even sooner) Have missed a few days taking it without any withdrawal symptoms, so keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck to all and just be cautious.

Hey, I've been on effexor 2 yrs and gained 20 lbs. I have never felt better, except the weight which has made me depressed and suicidal!!! My dr seems to think I need to count calories, and see an obesity specialist!! I am 41, 5'6 and now 168 lbs!!! He is switching me to prozac??? Anyone have weight issues with it? I work out 5 days a week, have resting heart rate of 56, 150 cholesterol, 90/60 blood pressure! No doubt I am exercising. Any help would be great. I suffer from anxiety, OCD, and panic attacks.

I have also developed thyroid issues while on Effexor however I have a very heavy family history of it on 3 of four grandparent sides.

I am up to about a 20 pound gain on the Effexor and on a barely 5' frame its a lot.. Its very upsetting especially since the Depression/Anxiety has been 1 zillion billion times better on Effexor than on anything else.

I did call my Doc today to chat about it and will discuss with her next week.

when I first started effexer at 75mg I lost weight about 25 pounds. Now after a few years I am now taking 225mg and I have gained over 50 pounds with the increase of the dosage. I walk, exercise and for the most part I eat healthy. The only thing I can contribute to the weight gain is the increased dosage of the medication. On the most part the medication works good for me. If it wernt for the weight gain the drug would be great.

I was on Effexor for approx 12 months.Within the first 2 months I gained approx 2.5kg. I know this does not seem like a lot, but it made me feel bloated and my clothes were getting tighter. I didn't think anything of it at first, but I have been training for 10yrs at the gym about 3-5 per week and, in that whole time I have never gained weight,only maintained it. Muscle, by the way, does not weigh more than fat>>>>>>> In any case I kept raining and even went on a strict 1800 calorie a day diet for 3 months, I did not lose 1 kg. I stopped taking effexor over 1 year ago, I have since gained an additional 2kg, so all up I am 4.5 kg heavier. I cannot get the weight off at all. I have even used Duromine and it did not work. I am more depressed now than what I was to start off with. I would be rather be a depressed skinny person, than a stable chubby woman.

You will never lose the weight caused by effexor, no matter how hard you try. I am now getting liposuction, because I am that concerend and no Doctor gives a ****and doesn't want to help you. I figured out that most GP's are just going through the motion and are very bitter about the fact that they were never good enough to make a surgeon, so therefor why should they care about some stranger begging for help. Patients mean nothing to these doctor's just another $ walking through their door.

You will never lose the weight you gained with effexor, even after you stop taking it. I was on it for 12 months and gained 6 pounds, I stopped over 1 year ago and have gained an addtional 4 pounds. I have been training at the gym for over 10 years and still train 3-days per week with a calorie intake of 1800 per day. The weigh willl not shift,i have ven used duromine,the weight keep creeping on. Nothing will shift it. I am now considering lipo suction.If the id**t doctor, who prescribed me these pills, told me the side effects, i wouldn't have taken them at all.And any other doctor that i have been to in the meantime has told me the same **** over and over agin, to eat healthy and exercise. One id**t doctor told me that I wasn't burning enough calories and

that for me too lose weight I should only eat 500 calories per day?????

So as i said before, you will never lose the weight, start savong for lipo.

I am relieved to see I am not the only effexor user who has had a sudden increase in weight. I went from 150lbs to 197 in about 8 months. I've never been this fat in my life. A bicycle and my own two feet are my main modes of transportation. I don't even have a car. I am usually in good shape and I go to the gym regularily.

For the most part I am fine with effexor, but the weight gain, if it is caused by the medication, is something I could certainly do without. Other than that I have had no side effects. If anything it caused my sex drive to increase.

Hey Sema, with an attitude like that, no wonder you can't loose weight.
Try thinking positive, maybe you won't need lipo.

I have been on a anti depressant "cocktail" for about one year. None of the more popular a d's were working. My Dr. now has be on a combination including Wellbutrin, Effexor and Tramadol. Only the addition of EFFEXOR caused me to gain weight. My clothes don't fit and I am looking pretty pudgy, however, I would rather deal with a weight gain than deal with depression. So, before anyone decides to cold turkey off of EFFEXOR be careful and "weigh" the probable consequences. None of us would be on EFFEXOR if the depression wasn't there originally.

Hope this gives a logical reason for staying on EFFEXOR because I feel ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE without it.

I took myself off of effexor 4 days ago and have had strange vertigo (that I never experienced before) and ringing in my ears. I also can't think clearly and feel generally distracted. I have never been a depressed person. I was put on effexor as a preventive measure to MS relapses, as I was recently diagnosed with MS. I have always been active and very fit. 5'3" 115 lbs at 42 years old. I currently am tipping the scales at 130 after 4 months of effexor. I continue to be as as active as I always had been. I decided to look around today to see if maybe effexor could have been causing my weight gain. I find these entries very interesting! Thanks for your input!!

I'm 45 and started on Effexor XR last June of 07, which my doc recommended for severe anxiety cause by a relationship ending and I had quit smoking at the same time. At first I felt terrific and had so much energy and so many positive feelings. I thought this was a miracle drug. By September, I felt a slight weight gain but attributed this to quitting smoking. Started smoking again in late September (not from weight gain but from brief reunion of said relationship) and since early October have felt the pounds landing on my midsection. Now, understand...I have never dieted in 45 years, never worked out consistently, and always remained a size 4 - 6, at 5' 8" and normally 128 - 130 pounds. In the five months since starting Effexor, I am up to 144 pounds, have gained a size in clothing and gone up a cup size in bra. Even when I cut back to fruit and yogurt, I am not losing the weight. In the past, if I wanted I could lose 5 pounds in a week; weight was never an issue to me.

The worst is that it's not only weight, but my mood changes. Significant others and friends noticed that I changed from a sweet and pleasant person to one who was constantly feeling like everything was a fight. It was almost like an increase in testosterone; I argued with people I had never argued with before, I felt slighted at everything, and chewed cuticles on my beautiful nails like a psycho. I had temper tantrums and arguments, and if you could understand the person I was before, I would have never acted that way at all. I was combative.

Between the weight and the mood changes, I am going off Effexor now. Today. I am on 150 mg, and I will gladly put up with the side effects because it's not like being on it made my life so great. I hate doing this over the holidays, my favorite season, but I can't stand my thicker mid-section, tight pants and looking like I am squeezed into my size 6 dresses. I think too much of myself and my body and I don't want to let go to such artificial means. It was only meant to be a temporary mainstay.

Thanks for all your words and encouragement.

I'm freaking out. I've been on Effexor XR for approximatly 2 months and it has been a HUGE relief to my anxiety & panic attacks.

I have been a regular exerciser (at least one hour 5x/week) until July, 2007 when I was forced to take a break and let a long term running injury heal. I got really depressed and started to exercise less and I let my mostly healthy eating lifestyle lapse. (meaning lots of carbs, fat and sugar at night)

I also started a new job 2 months ago with a schedule that has me up at 4am.

So, I've gained weight. I"m trying to be opptomistic and believe its a combination of new job, bad eating habits and lapsing exercise schedule. But when I read these forums about weight gain and Effexor, I get really scared!

I've started back running, albeit very slowly, as not to re-aggrevate the injury. And, I ordered "The Seratonin Power Diet" to help me re-develop my eating lifestyle.

I've got my fingers crossed and am trying to stay opptomistic. Please...there has to be hope!

Thanks for listening.

I've been on Effexor xr 75 for just over a year now. Remembering back to before I was using the drug, I had panic attacks at least 2 times per week. I kept having my doctor check me for heart palpitations, I got lost in well-known areas, I'd cry over my confusion and helplessnes.
Since starting the Effexor, I have had very few panic attacks. I no longer live in fear of panic at any moment. AND I've gained more than 40 pounds.
My doctor claims that Effexor XR will actually change the chemicals in my body to react differently to things that would normally cause me to panic and that I'd only need to be on it for 9 months to a year for this to work.
She didn't want to take me off of it over the holiday season, so this month, I'm going to go off.
I hope that it truly did work as she promised and that I don't immediately start experiencing extreme anxiety. If I do, I might have to go on another drug.
While this one worked extremely well for the anxiety, it caused me to buy a new wardrobe in dark colors to hide the fat. I went from a size 10 to a size 16 (and even those pants are getting tight!!!) in 13 months.

I'd suggest taking this drug only if you can handle putting on a bunch of weight and buying all new clothes to fit your new body.

Hi I have taken effexor in the past for about 4 years and The weight gain will settle down and come off. The effexor stopped working for me after taking it so long and my depression was coming back. I then started celexa....I would recommand both of this drugs for depression...I have hit bottom with a nervous break down and they helped alot. My celexa now has stopped doing the full effect it should be doing so my doc put me back on effexor.....I know in the past it worked great so I'm hoping it will agian...it's been 3 weeks still a bit early to tell...Keep your chins up the weight will settle down... But I highly recommand getting your thyroid checked that got out of sinc when i took these meds,... so get it checked to see if that is the weight problem....hope this helped...

Krista