Pristiq - Has this caused weight gain or loss in you, and if so how much?

Question

I have been taking Lexipro for a year now and although it has helped with my anxiety it has also caused me to gain 10 pounds. I&rsquo;ve asked my doctor if there&rsquo;s a medicine that doesn&rsquo;t cause weight gain and she recommended Pristiq, and mentioned that it might cause weight loss. As a slim guy I can&rsquo;t afford to lose too much weight, but at that the same time I certainly don&rsquo;t want to gain any more weight.

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i have been on Pristiq for just over a year, i have noticed  weight gain  (but at the same time have taken into account that i am still growing and other hormonal factors).

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I gained over 23 pounds in about 4 months on this medication. I would have been better off losing 23 pounds as I have suffered with an eating disorder. It also did not help  my depression  even after increase to 100mg and it increased my anxiety issues considerably. In over 30 years the ONLY antidepressant that ever worked for me at all has been Prozac but I fail on it after 5 to 10 years and need to be off it for awhile.

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I personally lost 15lbs since starting Pristiq. With that being said, my son is also very ill and we are living in the ICU waiting for a heart transplant.

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I have been on pristiq since April of this year and I found it decreases my appetite significantly to the point where I have no interest in food. I have lost about 10-15lbs since I have been on this drug and if I forget to take it for a day I notice a significant increase in appetite. I am not a huge fan of this drug in the first place and would like to wean myself off of it but am hesitant since it is a long process with lots of negative side effects.

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You might want to watch out for this unusual side effect I had with Pristiq. I was getting great results with it to treat  my depression , but I started getting bloody stools. I am sure it was from the Pristiq, as I tried starting it again a few months later, two more times, and the same exact thing happened. I wasn't taking any other medications. I didn't gain weight on it though.

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Trintellix is considered weight neutral.

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Yes it causes weight gain and for me massive  insulin resistance .. It is great otherwise I have been on it for 5 years @50mg then 100mg then 50mg. Started on Zoloft effective but tired as a bitch all the time had no interest in anything sweet changed to Effexor was ok but bad sexual side effects Pristiq was better but not great for libido but it has been a struggle to keep weight normal I am going to try Moclobemide and see if it's any better for weight/libido.

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I started Pristiq 50 mg per day in January. Noticed nothing.
A few months later it was increased to 100mg.
I have had no side effects, FINALLY, and my weight stayed same. No loss or gain, FINALLY! I am 55. :-D

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I've gained abt. 25 lbs since I started Pristiq in late 2013. :(

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I have gained over 25 pounds after being put on Pristiq and this was after I I had bariatric surgery and lost 60lbs. My Dr. Is going to take me off it and have me try TMS, the procedure that directs magnetic fields to the area of the brain that controls depression. Apparently it doesn't have side effects and everything I've read has said it is much more effective than drugs.

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I was in Pristiq for about 3 yrs. I was also on Topamax at the same time more for the other drugs I was on. I would say for me it was not a weight gainer. It's a good med with few side effects.

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I'm 26. Before I started taking Pristiq, I was slim (55kg, 165cm) and enjoyed regular bowel movements.

At 24, I sought help for my mental health after over 10 years of struggling, and was diagnosed with major depression and generalised anxiety disorder. I struggled often with suicidal thoughts. I was recommended cognitive behavioural therapy and continue to persist with it. After about a year of CBT it was apparent that it alone was not enough to tackle whatever was going on in my brain.

A psychiatriast decided to put me Escitalopram (100mg) for 6 months. It had no effect. I went the following 8 months with no medication and fell into a deep depression.

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A different psychiatrist then put me on Pristiq. I started with 50mg and moved up to 100mg within two weeks and within the next two weeks I was bumped up to 200mg. I have now been on 200mg for close to 4 months. Frankly, Pristiq has been magical. I am no longer consumed by rumination and anxious thoughts throughout the day and enjoy life immensely. I can actually honestly say that I love life.

There is only one issue: weight gain. Prior to commencing with Pristiq, I had regular bowel movements due to an unusually fast metabolism. About two months into Pristiq, my bowels began to back up. My appetite is through the roof and I eat in much larger quantities and more frequently than I used to. I don't poop as often or in as large quantities I used to and although I am not constipated, I miss my old toilet days. Not surprisingly, I am now noticing that my belly is steadily growing.

I would also mention that my libido has dropped significantly and I experience a stinging sensation when I orgasm, but this doesn't bother me or my partner too much. I exercise and do yoga regularly and run about 3 times a week (5km).

I now weigh 62kg. I've gained 7kg in 4 months since being on Pristiq.

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I'm 24 and I've battled anxiety and depression for a number of years and Pristiq was the one drug that helped with both. I feel as though my  weight gain  of 10kg was a mixture of the Pristiq, an implanon and a borderline overactive thyroid disorder (not officially diagnosed). Implanons and Pristiq are both known to impact on people's weight and I am no longer on the implanon, I did lose a little weight coming off it but I'm still not back down to where I used to be. Needless to say I'm not considered overweight by any means; I was super skinny before. I'm currently weaning off Pristiq so hopefully I might see a little bit of positive weight change

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Hi, I was having depression and anxiety due to certain relationship factors. I was on Pristiq for about 8 months. Now some background, 8 years ago I lost about 20 pounds and since then I have not gained weight (I am extremely careful about my diet and exercise but there are months that I dont really diet and exercise and I still DON'T manage to put on weight - probably because I eat less portion sizes and just watch what I eat) so basically in the last 8 years I have probably put on 2 pounds. Now, going on this medication, I was extremely cautious about weight gain, I did a lot of research and it said it affects each person differently. However for me, in the last 8 months..I have put on 6 pounds!!! And I am shocked! Mainly because I was super careful. Seems to me the kilos just CREEP IN. I wasn't regularly exercising and dieting while on this pill but my eating habits were still quite good and from time to time I would exercise.

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This med definately makes you put on weight! I was loving the effects of this magic pill and it was really helping me emotionally and I planned to stay on it as long as I could but unfortunately no matter what I tried, the weight WAS STILL CREEPING ON. Now me being such a weight loss fanatic, I tried to figure out what exactly was going on with this pill inspite of controlling my diet and exercise program.

What I found out is this pill definitely 'increases' you appetite. You will want to eat 'fast' and 'quickly' (even though I have practised eating slowly for many years) and for some reason your body doesn't get it when your 'full' and you keep eating. In short it increases your appetite and generally U don't stop until Ur full (but Ur mind and body are unable to get that indication at the right time so U keep eating)

By the time you are 'full' the area around your waist is big! And that remains..
Everything just gets accummulated around the waist area

Even when I really tried to control my diet by just eating really less, to a point where I wasn't full..I still has a good big band around my waist area! This is what this medicine does and no it is not bloating.

Now it has been almost a month since I have been off this pill and im back to exercising and diet trying to loose my 6 pounds but nothing seems to working. I am hoping going on a strict calorie controlled diet and high intensity exercise plan would drop off the kilos. I thought as soon as I quit this pill the weight might drop off but it doesnt seem like it.

In short, this is an excellent pill for treating depression, anxiety and related mental illness but most likely the weight will creep in.

Also while on the pill I noticed that my metabolism hd dropped down and I wasn't as active as I used to be..

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I have been on Pristiq for about 6 weeks now and the weight is pouring off me. I have no appetite at all. I've lost about 5 kgs. I'm not sure if it's also a case of me moving around a lot more as with  my depression  I was In bed a lot of the time, so I'm burning more calories. But my weight has dropped dramatically. I have also suffered with a bit of diarrhea but nothing to bad. My energy levels are awesome and the black foggy cloud has lifted heaps. Still requiring a valium 5 mg for social outings for anxiety. But I think Pristiq is awesome.

Pristiq - Has this caused weight gain or loss in you, and if so how much?

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