Weight gain while on Effexor

I tried a few other anti-depressants over the years before Effexor and they didn't work at all. Effexor did work but only at 300 mg! I am seeing now that it is way more than the DR probably should have given me. I was on it for 1.5 years and, though it helped a lot with my depression, I gained 50lbs. super fast. I also had the other side effects of excessive sweating, high blood pressure, etc. I have always been active and am a veteran so I told myself that my mental health is more important and that I would probably lose the weight after stopping the drug. (while on E, I didn't change my diet or activity level). Well, it has been over 2 years since I stopped taking Effexor and I have actually GAINED more weight (~30lbs). I have NEVER been this heavy and I feel like my metabolism has been permanently altered :-( I eat better now and exercise more and my weight doesn't budge! Now I am completely frustrated because it seems like no matter what I do or don't do, my weight doesn't change. I am happy for people who have lost weight either while on the drug or after stopping it but that wasn't my experience. Maybe because of my extremely high dose.... I don't know. I am not lazy and I've tried everything from going Vegan to detox to energy healing. Has anyone else not been able to lose the weight after going off of Effexor or has anyone been on such a high dose??

300mg Effexor is really not THAT high...I was on 500 (the max dose) at one time. I am having a very difficult time losing weight, but I have lost weight in the past on a higher dose than I am on now. I did Atkins and the weight fell off.... Now I do Atkins and I hardly budge. I am also active and have struggled with my weight for years. But I have heard the same story over and over of how diet and exercise did not change and the weight gain came with effexor. It really really stinks.....I think for some it's just the what it does to us
I understand your frustration.
best of luck,
-Jeanne

I started effexor a year ago and almost immediately felt better. My nightly panic attacks stopped and my ocd symptoms eased up. Aside from now being fustrated with my lack of organization i am slowly starting to gain weight. I have gained 6 pounds in about 5 months which is not normal for me. I have been 108lbs for 7 years and now all a sudden I'm gaining weight? I'm very active and havent changed my diet but now I'm getting pudgy around my stomach and butt which is upsetting me since I don't eat very much to begin with and have always had a high metabolism. I'm so worried about ballooning up like others on here. Recently I heard that effexor is not even meant to be taken longer than 6 months o.@ Could it be because it f**** with peoples thyroids and shuts it down? Ijust hope once I stop this drug I will go back to being lean instead of looking like I have cottage cheese butt and a pudgy gut. :/

Hello, I have been on Effexor for 7 years this November. My doctor started me on it for post baby depression. I would get blue after I had each child and he said it would get worse with each pregnancy. I wish I knew then what I know now.


This was my 4th child and I always lost weight without too much issue. My husband said I was a genetic freak before I started taking it because I would loose the weight so quickly.


Since taking the Effexor I have gained 58 pounds. I am so embarrassed. I look more pregnant now then I did when I was

pregnant.


For the first 6.5 years. I gained 32 pounds and thought that maybe I had just reached a time where my metabolism was finally slowing down. I had to watch what I was eating and its been hard.


That is until 2 months ago went to a specialist for migrains. She increased my Effexor 150mgs and now the weight is really packing on. I have gained 25 more pounds and I have not changed one thing but the meds. I have eaten the same and have been even more active then normal and I am the highest I have ever been.


I only increased my dose of Effexor because my Doc said that it can help with the migrains. I would rather deal with the head aches than not want to leave my house.


I have also tried to come off Effexor 3 times. I was so sick. I am scared to even try because I had withdrawl and thoughts of killing myself. Even when I had post pardom I never thought like that, I was just sad.


WOW this stuff is a nightmare! It not only makes you more depressed because of the weight gain but makes it almost impossible to get off.

I'm a bodybuilder.

Obviously everything is very strict when it comes to diet excercise....

I've been taking 150 for a few years. I've tapered down to 75mg within that last month..

Even though I'm in a caloric defecit and my activity level is the same (or slightly increased) my fat levels are skyrocketing. This might sound petty to some but, I've lost my six pack in just a few weeks and I'm on a cut! I'm supposed to be getting leaner not fatter. I was able to bulk for the last 5 months (gain weight- muscle weight) and hold steady bodyfat levels but now that I've tapered down effexor I was forced into a premature cut... and I'm still getting fatter............Ahhhh!!!

I'm not a bodybuilder. But do go to the gym every day and run 3 miles and do weights 3 days a week. I've gone from a 4 to a 12 in 5 years. Just keep gaining. Slowly getting off of this stuff!

I am so glad to have found this as I have gained 25-30kg since starting Effexor about 2 years ago. I am only 5ft but I have always had trouble with weight and going up and down but I was shocked at how much I had balloned within about 6 mounths of starting the drug. My bf said it was because I eat chocolate and cake but I don't eat enough to justify that amount of weight in such a sort time. I eat super healthy apart from my chocolate or cake in the evening :). I don't eat dressings, mayo, butter, fatty meat or anything like that but my weight keeps going up. I have never eaten so little as I do now and I am getting sick of it. Exercizing doesn't help either. One month I tried not eating sugar and I lost 800g not the 5-6 kg I was told I would. Then I knew it was the medicin. It's sickening to look like a whale. 

To find this thread makes me feel comfortable knowing this battle isn't mine alone. Effexor for a year Aug 5 2014 to Aug 13 2015. At the beginning I was 115lbs at the end I had weighed 152 lbs. I've always exercised 6 days a week, I even cleaned up my already pretty good diet on the drug, I gave up drinking and yet the scale crept up. Thyroid tested and came back normal. Tried to discuss it with my doctor and she tried to persuade me it's birth control (I was 108 on birth control and went to 116 give years later) so I told her I don't think it's coincidence the first year I'm on these meds I become 40lbs heavier. She then proceeded to print me out a basic nutrition guide, that I've already followed without her professional help. Effexor helped with my anxiety by slowing my brain down to a numbness useless organ. Depression stayed when you go to get dressed and your size 3 pants don't fit and you buy 9s and even that was a struggle. It's not fat and happy or skinny or depressed, your entire self consists of body and mind and both are important. I quit effexor cold turkey because my doctor never responded to tapering questions. It was awful. Laying on the floor grabbing my skin crying spells constantly over things that had no emotional attachment like a walnut, wouldn't leave my house. Brain zaps and nausea 4 months later the withdrawal symptoms have subsided however the weight won't budge. Despite restrictive calorie intake and exercise daily. I'm a normal human being again otherwise, I get happy I get sad I get anxiety. I'll deal with everything, I'll never go on medication again.

I have been taking effexor for a while (2-3 years), and I have gained over 40 lbs in the last 2 years. I want to try smart burn to see if I can lose some weight. Will I have any problems? Brenda