Weight Gain On Pristiq? (Page 5)

I have been on Pristiq now since November of 2008...not quite 5 months...and I have put on 15 lbs since starting it. DESPITE working out with a trainer at the gym twice a week weight training, 3 days a week of cardio AND counting calories. My doc assured me that I would also have a decreased appetite on Pristiq, which I have yet to find true...so he has now increased my dosage to 400 mg. Does anyone have anything to add to this?? I'm just frustrated!

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I have been on Pristiq for about a year and a half and have had little side effects - well unless actually wanting to get to get out of bed is a side effect! =) Pristiq saved my life. I did gain a few pounds (I am 5'3 but have always had a little extra weight on me) like 5 lbs, but it was mostly because I was out actually enjoying life. I started working out and eating healthier these past 3 months and have lost 15 lbs.

I think this stuff affects everyone differently. I am only on 50 mg per day.

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Wow, I've just read all your comments on weight gain with Preistiq I've to come off Effexor slowly first. My eating habits have not changed in 15 years but I have steadly put of weight. Due to Fbromyalia I've needed medication to help symptoms. Now I'm not sure what is the best way to go. I need something to help with the pain, sleepness, anxiety, lack of memory etc etc - what is the alternative. Please.......anyone?

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EEK.... I was on Lexapro ( and everything else you can list previous to that ) but decided to go cold turkey due to weight gain - 35kg's over a year or so ! Cold turkey was a BAD idea,I was sooo sick for about 6weeks! Anyway, my doctor has just put me onto Pristiq 50mg - and I am worried - he said I might lose weight,but reading these posts I am definately scared ! He is going to monitor my weight,so I guess we will have to wait and see. Its a terrible situation I need the medication for my depression, but my depression worsens when I put weight on,especially since I put so much weight on with previous anti-depressants. Dammed if I do Dammed if I dont - will update how I go with this new med, just started them today-wish me luck!

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I have been on Pristiq for about 6 months and gained about 25 pounds. I saw my dr today and told him I was DONE taking pristiq. I asked him if I could take cymbalta - I also have fibromyalgia, and cymbalta is supposed to help with that pain and it's supposed to help with nerve pain. So, this week I am taking the 50 mg pristiq AND 30 mg of cymbalta. After the first week, I will be on 60 mg of cymbalta. I will let you know how it goes. I have been riding my stationary bike every night ,and it hurts with the fibro and arthritis! ;-( but I've lost 15 pounds so far - it's taken me 2 months. I am determined to get back to normal! I asked my dr, and he said that if anyone has been on Pristiq for more than a few weeks, they should never go off of it cold turkey because of how awful the withdrawal feelings can be. Please be careful - he said it can actually be dangerous - to your heart or something, I can't remember. I hope everyone is feeling better. Has anyone ever taken Cymbalta?

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Hi, yes, I have been on Cymbalta before, although it was a while ago now. Unfortunately I tend to gain weight with almost everything, and Cymbalta was the same, BUT the weight gain was fairly small compared to the Lexapro I was more recently taking! Cymbalta didnt really work well for me in regards to my depression, a real positive though was there were very few side effects on me from this med which was nice, so I think it could potentially work really well for some people. Good luck , I wish you all the best!

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Phew! folk this is so scary hearing all the different stories that just happen to be the same. For whatever medical reasons we are all taking these anti-depressants I am seriously wondering if the cure is worse than the ailment. I am feeling so unsure of taking any more. Maybe the answer of the weight increase is we all have to work harder to counteract the gain. Doesn't sound like fun to me. The scientists are so clever to help us but there doesn't seem to be an answer to the side effects that we have to endure. HELP. It has to get better surely.

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I have been off of pristiq for a few months now and I still have not lost the weight. It is very upsetting. I am starting a new diet hcg tomorrow. I will update. I wish I never took pristiq.

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I have started Cymbalta today after all the weight gain on Pristiq. barbefos yes I agree the cure is worse than the cause in all medications and conditions. I have Lupus so I have a lot of other pain and things going on so it's hard to work hard at weight loss apart from just eating very healithy and I have stilled gained a huge amount on pristiq and steroids for Lupus. I am hoping the cymbalta will cease the weight gain even if I don't actually loose any straight away which of course would be ideal if it just fell off!!!!

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A year ago this time I had just lost 43 lbs with a healthy, no alcohol for six months, and cycling about 100 miles per week. Feeling on top of the world to say the least. Then I got laid off...3 months later major depression! So my Dr. put me on Pristiq which made me feel great but wasn't covered by my insurance. So he switched me to Effexor which made me nauseous...so then we tried Celexa...and I acctually blacked ut at work! Had a new job by now and decided there was no price on my sanity. Four months back on Pristiq and have gained 20 lbs back without changing any of my healthy habits and my anxiety had been increasing. So I decided 3 weeks ago to start weaning my self starting by cutting the 50mlg tabs in half for two weeks, then into quarters. My behavior was eratic and moody the first week switching to severe anxiety. Major night sweats and I couldn't leave a dark room for two days! Have not taken meds in 2 days and shaking like a leaf...feels like every nerve in my body is firing off. I know it is the meds leaving my system but this is aweful. Wish I never took any of them. But I am determined and not depressed just hope this ends soon.

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I have been off the Pristiq for quite awhile. I hate that drug and the weight it made me gain. Withdrawal was horrible but I did it. I am on a diet and lost 2 pounds but still have at least 10 to go. I went to the doc and she put me on a diet. If it works I will let you know. I am on day 8. Get off that crap pristiq and find something else. I went back on prozac and wellbrutin and went to a hormone doc. I am hoping that one day if I can get my hormones where they should be and I eat properly limiting sugar and white flour or giving it up completely maybe I can get off anti depressants for good. For now, I need them and it is ok.

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I had quite an adverse reaction on my first day on Cymbalta after coming off Pristiq due to weight gain. Pristiq left me in such an anxious state and it was such a drop in whatever is in it that the reaction was so bad and so scary my husband rang the ambulance and I spent the day in Emergency. I have continued on a lower dose of Cymbalta with a tranquiliser to help get over the withdrawal from Pristiq, this is working quite well after 5 days and in a few weeks will go up to 60mg of Cymbata which my doc thinks is a much better drug. I was on Pristiq for 18 months. I think it a very dangerous drug even though it works. I would advise everyone to try something else and to come off it VERY carefully

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i have been on pristiq now 4 3 months and have gain 11 pounds not sure if its from this pill or the other that im on. glad that i not the only 1 in this bout. i dont have a decrease sex drive the other depression pills i was on i did out of 3 different pills this have been the only 1 that work. so im stuck with the weight gain..i feel that i have more of an apatite now then i did before

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There are a few crucial things to remember about ADs (antidepressants):
1. Different people will have radically different responses to the same drug; for example, I gained 35 lb on Cymbalta, but a close friend who has been on it for years has gained no weight. I lost weight on Zoloft, but another poster gained on it. Zoloft made me so anxious/jumpy that I stopped taking it; two of my friends have been on it for years with no adverse effects.

2. Please do not EVER stop taking these meds cold-turkey -- that's very dangerous, and you'll feel awful. You MUST lower the dose gradually and over several weeks. Please talk to your dr. about stopping any AD.

3. Every depressed woman should have her thyroid checked; there is a fairly common condition whereby untreated thyroid problems lead to drug-resistant depression. That ain't good! Have your doctor send you to a lab to have your thyoid checked, preferably while you're not taking an AD.

4. No one really knows 100% how these drugs work; the Pristiq commercial itself states that Pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two neurotransmitters. Diagnostic tests that will help drs. pinpoint exactly which AD will work for which patient are years away. That's why so much trial and error is involved with ADs. And that can be frustrating. But please don't give up -- many people have good results on ADS. You just have to find a dr. -- a psychiatrist who is a psychopharmacologist -- who specializes in these drugs and knows how to combine them for maximum benefit. Your internist, no matter how good an internist, doesn't have the specialized training to help you with this.

5. Any dr. who pooh-poohs your concerns about weight gain or other side effects is, frankly, a bad dr., one who hasn't done his/her homework. (As noted above, these powerful drugs work differently on different people, and even a drug that is classified as weight-neutral -- won't cause weight gain in most people -- will cause weight gain in some.) Find a dr. who really knows these drugs and who LISTENS to his/her patients, takes their concerns seriously, and works WITH them to find the best solution.

6. Don't give up. You may have to try a lot of different ADs before you find the one, or the combo, that works for you. Don't view this as wasted time; after all, if you were taking nothing, you'd be feeling crummy.

7. I gained weight on some SSRIs/SNRIs and lost weight on others. (I gained on Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, and Cymbalta; lost on Zoloft and Lexapro.) When I stopped taking the gainers, the weight gradually came off and stayed off (until the next SSRI gain!); with exercise, the weight came off faster. I'm now taking 5-HTP (a precursor to serotonin) and my weight loss has stopped, although I'm not regaining. The point is, there is *abundant* anecdotal evidence from people who actually take these serotonergic ADs (ADs that affect the levels of serotonin in our brains) that they cause weight gain in some people, and increased appetite isn't necessarily the culprit, though it can be. So: If you're considering taking one of these drugs, don't let other people's experiences deter you -- you might have side effects, including weight gain, but you might not. If the drug doesn't work for you, talk to your dr. and try another. And make sure you have a great dr. who knows about ADs and who listens to/works with you.

Good luck to all of us!

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Thank you very much Holly, your comments have helped me a great deal. I was only listening to the 'weight gain' comments and not thinking positive. I take AD for Fibromyalgia and now feel more positive that there is an AD out there that will help me (with little or no side effects). Thank you.

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Klonopin does not help me with my anxiety and panic attacks. What is the best medicine to use without gaining weight

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Finally after months of being off of pristiq and some serious dieting (hcg) I have lost 5 pounds. I am only a few pounds away from my pre pristiq weight. 8 pounds on me is a lot when you are short. It is a full size larger in clothes.

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I've been off pristiq for about one week now, and one good thing for me, is that I feel like I have alot more energy.(I'm taking Cymbalta now). But, as for losing weight, well, even using my bike, I've only lost about 4 lbs. Before I got off pristiq I used the bike every day, and it took me 2 months to lose 15 pounds. When I started on pristiq, I gained 30 lbs in the 6 months I was on it. WHY is it so hard to lose all this weight now that I'm off pristiq??? Help anybody!!

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I know when taking steroids for Lupus I gained a lot of weight as well as on ADs and I read in a medical journal that after steroids it can with some people take your metabolism 2 whole years to return to normal, maybe this is the same as with ADs

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Thanks Linda, but I hope that with AD's it doesn't take as long as 2 yrs as it did for you with the cortisone. It must have been hard for you! When I was alot younger, I gained alot of weight, so I had my dr test me, and it turned out I had hypothyroidism. I remember being real disappointed when he told me the thyroid pills weren't going to make all the weight just fall off! Oh well, I've learned alot since then, but I'm still really disappointed that this weight loss after the pristiq is so hard to lose.

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10 kilos in six months and increasing by the week now. I'm heavier than I've ever been in my life. For the first three months there was no change in my weight and then boom. Even my doctor was shocked when he weighed me. Now it's piling on fast and I'm attempting to slowly decrease my dosage. I'm a tiny person and the weight gain is causing me health problems...but hey it fixed my depression but not my anxiety. Oh and this is the fourth antidepressant I've attempted. The others either made me violently I'll or suicidal. Hope this helps.

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