Horrible weight gain

[Alessvitale]

[:0]
hello,
this is my first time here anmd I am on Paxil. I have been on it since August of last year. I was on 20mg. the whole time, until 3 months ago, when my doc increased it from 20mg. to 30, 40 and then 60mg. I have gained 30lbs. in those three months and I have been having terrible constipation problems. My doctor said that it's the paxil that is doing all this. She is tapering me off of it and starting me on Effexor simultaneously.
I would like to know if this has happened to anyone else and how you dealt with it.
Thanks so much for reading.


Sincerely,
Alessandra

[moyercl]

just to let you know, I was on prozac for 11 years. The drug was wonderful for me, however, I too gained weight. I would say about 25 pounds that I could not for the life of me get off. this is despite eating well and working out often. I have recently come off the drug because I can not take the weight gain any longer. It takes about four weeks for prozac to leave your system. So, I am very anxious to see my body turn around in terms of weight. Let me know how things are going with you.

quote:Originally posted by Alessvitale

[:0]
hello,
this is my first time here anmd I am on Paxil. I have been on it since August of last year. I was on 20mg. the whole time, until 3 months ago, when my doc increased it from 20mg. to 30, 40 and then 60mg. I have gained 30lbs. in those three months and I have been having terrible constipation problems. My doctor said that it's the paxil that is doing all this. She is tapering me off of it and starting me on Effexor simultaneously.
I would like to know if this has happened to anyone else and how you dealt with it.
Thanks so much for reading.


Sincerely,
Alessandra

[SugarDust]

I was on Paxil for about 6 mnths and I had gained maybe 15 pounds, but the worst side effect that I had was sweating. Ihad never had problems with sweating before until I took Paxil. I finally got my medication changed to Celexa. I have been on 10 different medications and I still ahve not found the right one for me. I recently just weaned myself off of the Effexor. I had the worst time getting off of it. I lost about 20 pounds when I started taking it cause I had no appetite and I felt like I was floating and I was only taking 37mg. I liked effexor for the first 2 months I was on it, but then my symptoms returned and I didnt want to up my dosage of it anymore because of the weight I lost and how the side effects made me feel. I hope your experience with Effexor is alot better then mine.

[Casey55]

The SSRI's are notorious for causing weight gain and sexual side effects and the two most common reasons why people taking these meds with success for depression or OCD, stop taking them. Not everyone gains weight, but the best thing to do when starting the med. is monitor your weight closely and if you start to gain say 5 lbs in the first week, you could call your doctor and try another one. Don't wait until you have gained 30 lbs. It doesn't come off just because you stop it, you have to diet and exercise it off. You should work closely with your psychiatrist when starting any new med and monitor side effects closely. Not all side effects last, some subside after a few weeks on the med.

I was on two SSRI's for 5 yrs. and one was Paxil, the one that is most likely to cause the most weight gain. I lost 40lbs. Go Figure!

[Sarah31]

Well, I was on Paxil for 9 months and gained 20 pounds, hungry all the time because it really increased my appetite. I was also tired of the constant sweating. I felt I was going through menopause early! [xx(]

[risskie]

I have been on Paxil (of varying mg) for 6 years. I have gained 65 pounds in that time. Every diet I've tried has failed - I was able to loose 10, gain back 8, loose 3, gain 6 yo yo. I've finally accepted that Paxil isn't working anymore and I've switched to Lexapro (advice from MD). The transition has been tough. I'm still suffering withdrawl and still compulsive eating. I hope to get over it all soon.