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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 12:00:48
Hello,
Does anyone know if you can continue to gain weight if you continue taking Prozac, or, if it usually all happens in a certain period (i.e. first year on the drug or something)? I have been taking Prozac for 5 years and I gained 40 pounds within the first several months and have gained 30 more in the last 4 years (a weight gain of 70 pounds in the 5 years I've been on Prozac.) Is this going to continue, or have I gained most of the weight I'm going to already?
Posted by Bekka H. on March 23, 2002, at 12:56:27
In reply to Continued weight gain with Prozac?, posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 12:00:48
Hi. I'm not sure about Prozac in particular, but I've heard that the weight gain on SSRI's, in general, is NOT proportional to the dose. The weight gain on some meds, like the older tricyclic AD's, is usually proportional to the dose, and the weight will come off when the AD is stopped. On SSRIs, however, the weight gain is often not proportional to the dose, and it can take six months to a year for the weight to come off once the drug is stopped. I would imagine that this could be variable though, depending on the individual.
Posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 13:38:38
In reply to Re: Continued weight gain with Prozac?, posted by Bekka H. on March 23, 2002, at 12:56:27
Hi Bekka! Thanks for the quick response. I guess what I'm asking more is, if you continue to take Prozac, will you continue to gain weight? Or, does the weight gain come within the first year or two or three of taking Prozac? Will I keep gaining weight the longer I take Prozac?
Posted by Bekka H. on March 23, 2002, at 14:25:54
In reply to Re: Continued weight gain with Prozac? » Bekka H., posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 13:38:38
Hi Amy. I'm sorry, I don't know the exact answer to that question, but I think it would be highly variable depending on one's metabolism, one's individual response to the drug, one's level of activity and diet. Several years ago, I was on Zoloft, and I gained ten pounds in spite of a lot of physical activity and low calorie intake. I don't know whether I would have gained more if I had not exercised so much or if I had stayed on it longer.
When the ssri's first came out, the drug company literature said that patients tended to lose weight on those meds. They may have said that because most clinical drug trials are only six to eight weeks long and many patients do lose weight in the first few months on an SSRI due to the nausea, hyper-peristalsis and gastric hyper-motility that often occur when ssri treatment is initiated. For many, the weight gain seems to occur later (i.e., after the first six to eight weeks), but I don't know how long it persists. I haven't looked at drug company literature for ssri's recently, but the last time I looked, they had revised the "weight loss" possibility to "weight loss or weight gain." I'm sorry, I guess I'm not being very helpful, but that's all I know about it.
Posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 14:28:40
In reply to Re: Continued weight gain with Prozac?, posted by Bekka H. on March 23, 2002, at 14:25:54
Thanks again! No need to apologize, you're just telling me what you know:-)
Posted by vicky on March 23, 2002, at 19:18:08
In reply to Re: Continued weight gain with Prozac? » Bekka H., posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 14:28:40
Ive been on Prozac for over 10 years, and I am 5 feet tall
and used to weigh around 120 (10 years ago) now
I weigh 155!!! I don't eat much, but it could be my
age 43? The weight just slowly started creeping
upwards since around age 36, and I'm wondering
now if its the prozac or just my slower metabolism.
(pdoc just added welbutrin to the mix) and I'm also
on buspar, and perphenazine.
Posted by Misty99 on March 26, 2002, at 16:40:59
In reply to Continued weight gain with Prozac?, posted by Amy Hopkins on March 23, 2002, at 12:00:48
> Hello,
> Does anyone know if you can continue to gain weight if you continue taking Prozac,Hi,
I don't want to alarm you but when I was on it, I had the fear that the weight gain was never going to stop. Maybe my fears were unwarranted but it sure felt that way. Fortunately, I was only at the beginning stages of weight gain and and as soon as I got off Prozac, the weight came off very rapidly.
Dont't get me wrong, I am not a "have to be size 8" kind of person but that rapid rapid weight gain on Prozac scared the living daylights out of me.
Good luck with your situation.
Misty
This is the end of the thread.
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