Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a thumbs down. This is the first clue to why we swell up so much. Did you talk to a doctor about it? Would like to hear a doctors opinion. It is terrible. I am gaining, swelling, getting bigger by the minute and it is not possible to lead a normal life. Every inch of my body is hurting because of all the fluid retention. I have also experienced severe trouble breathing the last month. I am tapering down and hope to quit. soon.
I initially lost 6 lbs when I started taking Prozac. I have been on it for 6 months and have gained back the weight, plus 5 lbs. This has not been much of a problem due to me being put on it to try to stop my bulimia. It has been effective in stopping my desire to binge and purge. However, my weight gain seems to be from my body adjusting to restarting my period cycles, which have been absent for some time. I seem to have gained muscle mass as well as some body fat. I exercise moderately, and eat healthfully. Maybe a slight change in your diet, perhaps more protein and less grains and sugar. I try to stick to mostly fruit, vegetables and oatmeal for my carbs. My clothes fit pretty much the same, so I don't weigh myself. Good luck to you and I hope you can stay off of medication and stay healthy and stress free. :)
Now that it's been over a year, have you lost the weight?
I am 5'5" and I gained about 10 lbs over the course of 2 years. I am not taking Lexapro anymore, exercising 3-5x/wk and eating really healthy. I just can't get rid of the fat around my midsection. I'm wondering how it's worked out for people in the long term?
Thanks!
After 1.5 years on prozac, I tried about 2-3 times to stop 'cold turkey' / abruptly, the main driver for this being a weight gain, despite a truly impressive amount of working out. (At first I worked out so hard, then tapered off because I figured 'geez, its not even making a difference', and people were telling me 'perhaps its time to get some more exercise'. . so I stopped and, well, turned out it *was* making a difference, because I gained even more after stopping).
My research indicated that stopping prozac suddenly should be no problem, given the very slow elimination from the body. But it turns out I had a lot more success tapering off - taking the 20mg every two days for a few weeks, then 3 times per week, then twice per week.
The problem I was dealing with was that, although the depression had gone, the stress of quitting seemed to re-trigger it. With care and some luck I can stay depression free for years, but once it sets in, it can be hard to shake off.
I started taking Prozac in Dec 2013. It helped level out my anxiety. In the first month I lost around 6 lbs but since then instead of losing I have gained so much, (15-20 lbs). So recently I tapered myself off of the medication and have started working out. I haven't noticed an increase in my metabolism yet. Hopefully I will be able to lose this uncomfortable weight soon. I am miserable.
Very upset to read the weight gain and metabolism change stories! I was struggling with hormone variations and irratic periods at 49 and was ready to jumpout of my skin. Doctor prescribed prozac generic last summer and i hav gained 15 pounds. I have tapered off and it has been over two weeks without medicine and i still look bloated and pregnant. Had the joy of looking HUGE in daughters prom photos. So upset that i did not research this more before taking it! I am going tochange doctors now. I guess I will just stay on hormone roller coaster and attempt to battle through added stressor of weight gain that doesnt go away!!! FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!
Hello all, I was the original poster to this thread :)
I can confirm it took a few months for my system to 'reset' itself. I was so frustrated with not being able to lose anything but after a few months ione day I realised I had lost 7 pounds without even trying. So I then tried dieting/exercising again and gradually I lost a further 1.5 stone (about 20 pounds). It took hard work and dedication but it was acheiveable.
If the medication is helping you, stay on it for now. Try not to worry about weight gain, this can be prevented or slowed down by keeping on top of exercise and diet (when I was on prozac I didn't exercise at all, and I didn't care about my diet). When you are ready to come off it, if your metabolism has been affected I'm sure it will soon correct itself.
I am taking Lovan. I have been on it for two years now. I have some hormonal problems, but apparently none that should cause weight gain. I am a vegetarian who doesn't really eat much at all, yet I keep gaining weight. I have always been told that LOVAN which is prozac causes weight loss- by my doctor. If what you're saying is true, do you think coming off the LOVAN would help me to lose the weight I have put on, which is around 12kgs. I am small- 5'2 and feeling very uncomfortable.
There is a tendency for many anti-depressant meds to induce malaise, and a new feeling of enjoyment of food, and ones tastes even become stimulated. Thus one may eat more out of either boredom, or because of a new enjoyment for tastes which previously the depression had caused revulsion of otherwise yummy foods. Then if one starts slowing down from malaise, and eating more, then it's logical that they would probly experience some weight gain. I had to drink more fluids, and make myself take outdoor walks more often , just to begin exercising and getting back into the swing of things. It requires some self discipline and hard work. Weight gain is easier than weight loss. --
1Bluerose68, if you have read these posts you will know, we have done all we can to lose weight. Exercise and diet did NOT do the trick. And I ate the same as always, no "malaise". I had no revulsion to yummie foods ever. And there is evidence that flavor stimulation actually makes one eat LESS of it, not more. Good for you if pushing the second helpings away worked to get Prozac weight gain off of you. There are tons of posts that we should just diet and exercise, but there are tons MORE stating that very thing has not helped. I am almost 2 years off of Prozac and still weigh within the same 5 pound range of the weight I gained. I cannot get below a 5 pound weight loss when I had originally gained 35 pounds taking this poison. And walking, weight resistance, an army of natural hormones and vitamins and herbs and you name it, water 10 times a day, 8 hours of sleep, regular thyroid testing, carb cycling, staying away from gluten, corn, chicken, peanuts, goitergens and cruciferous veg, testing for food allergies, trying the blood type diet, etc. have helped minimally. I'm sick of trying anymore, but scared to death to stop trying or I might gain even more weight.
Exercise and diet help some, but not all and that's the bottom line. I want to know for those of us that have tried everything, why the weight doesn't come off. No one has an answer. The only thing I have not done is to get off of Wellbutrin. I'm scared to get off of it because my ob-gyn told me Prozac was responsible for my weight gain and is notorious for this, and put me on Wellbutrin because a side effect is weight loss. Also, I'm still depressed. If I get desperate enough I might try this and see if my weight starts to come off and post again, but until then I am done. Bye.
Are you sure that you are supposed to lose any weight? Feeling uncomfortable with our weight doesn't really mean much if we are on meds for some odd reason. That may just be an internal belief. But, consult your Dr first, and communicate about this concern for he/she may need to re-hospitalize you if you are thinking of going off a med, and think you are overweight, and then stop eating. that's considered a false image, and not eating may be a huge concern to your Dr. Please do communicate this feeling with the adult in charge of you, or someone like a crisis line, and your doctors in charge especially.....
I know how it felt , during my late 30's to be very overweight. So I went to a dietician and learned what a correct portion or serving is. I began to see a diet Dr and he gave me weekly B shots , weighed me weekly, and put me , for a very short time, on a weight loss prescription. That lil pill or miracle rx, bumped up my energy, and I began swimming 2x a day, and doing nightly gym work out every other night. I lost 65 lbs w/in 1 yr. Since then, almost 10 yrs ago, I did re-gain 15 lbs. But I still have a gym workout nightly, and appreciate what the dietician taught me about portion control, and intake of water and high fiber are Very Important too. It all helped me, but not Overnight, either.....Oh, my gyny Dr also taught me, during an exam , that I should avoid most foods that are WHITE. I.e, bread,sugar,salt,cream,heavy cheeses,white chocolate,etc.......................That lecture at my gyny's really helped me to be more vigilant of what color and quality of foods I was eating, and she had much to do with my 65 lb weight loss in 1 year as well. She since, has left Kaiser, and moved on to greater things and now works in Malibu with an ED clinic helping pregnant women with ED's tooo...
Ignorance! So all these individuals are having an outside influence or genetic predisposition- a majority of these individuals are having the same issue- it seems to be a very small % of people on Prozac are losing weight. Common denominator here seems to be the Prozac.