Weight Gain On Pristiq? (Page 9) (Top voted first)

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 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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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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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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Again, I hated pristiq for the following reasons: 1. weight gain when I ate less and worked out more 2. night sweats and 3. chemical smell to my body (sweat). It took me forever to lose the weight. I finally lost it and continue to lose a bit more. Good luck. Get off of it if you gain weight or have any of these side effects that bother you.

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Anderson, I don't know how much weight you gained, but when you said it took forever to lose it, could you kind of narrow that down to a time line..like, how long? I gained about 28 pounds, and since I am short, all those 28 lbs ended up in my MIDDLE!! I look like a pear. ;-( I've switched to cymbalta and it gives me more energy - I hope the added energy helps me lose all that rotten weight....Good Luck, and my best to you all!

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I have not taken the Pristiq at all now for 10 days and I feel great! The withdrawl even weaning myself was hell. I had to take a week off of work just to get through it and that is not easy when you own and operate a restaraunt. But the anxiety has passed, the nerve twitching fades, tons more energy, and I feel normal again! Just have to lose the weight now. After reading all of the post it is apparent that everyone gained an average of 5lbs a month. So that's probably the rate that it will go with diet and lots of exercise. The exercise seemed to speed up the process of detoxing the body as well. Lost 2lbs so far, we shall see how long this takes!

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You know, I used to eat alot and never exercised. But, after I gained 30 lbs on Pristiq, now I watch what I eat and I exercise every day....and I can't seem to lost a thing. I'm not taking the pristiq anymore, but I am taking cymbalta - which by the way is helping my fibromyalgia. Everything I read, said the cymbalta wasn't supposed to put the weight on like pristiq does. What did the pristiq do to my body that I can't lose any of that 30 lbs?? I am so upset and frustrated. I feel like I might just as well eat all the chocolate and ice cream I want, if the dieting and exercising isn't helping me at all. At least I would be able to eat a diet I enjoy!!

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Reading your note is EXACTLY what is going on with me. I had been working out and started running. My weight kept going up up up up. I had heard Cymbalta in some cases sort of killed the appetite. But I think if it's an SSRI like Pristiq is, it doesn't matter, that it still slows the metabolism. I am, with my doctor's help, weaning myself off Pristiq over the course of six weeks. I hope to lose the 32 lbs. by the end of the year.

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To Shea, I had found it hard going weaning myself of pristiq, as I felt horrible as soon as I missed a tablet, which is why I chucked rest of my tablets in the rubbish and went cold turkey. Best thing I did as I am back to my normal weight. Took 7 to 8 weeks to lose extra 6 kilos that I had put on with pristiq. So you musn't give up, even when you feel really sick. Each day without pristiq is a big step forward ! Laurette.

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When my doctor took me off pristiq and put me on cymbalta, it was so easy with no side effects. He said you're never supposed to stop medications like pristiq, that affect the chemicals in your brain, cold turkey. So all I had to do for my last week on pristiq was take one pristiq tablet and one cymbalta every morning for that last week, and then I never took another pristiq - just the cymbalta. No side effects at all. The cymbalta hasn't caused me to gain any weight, but I'm still having trouble losing those 30 pounds I gained on pristiq.

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Laurette:
Thank you for your post. I am supposed to be on a day, skip a day for three weeks, and then go to one every three days over three more weeks. So in six weeks total, I should be done. I have to say, I was going to just quit it cold turkey, but I'm the person who can't win a lottery, but would be the one in 10 million to die of some sort of stroke. It freaks me out. So I will wean over the course of six weeks, knowing that there is an end in site. Thanks for letting me know you also lost the weight. It sounds like I have a little more than double than you had to lose, but if it took me a year to put on, I can lose it in a year -- hopefully sooner. Are you on any other medications now, or you're done with SSRIs for good? Thanks for your post! It truly gives me hope.

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This is to Laurette also. What happened to your symptoms when you stopped Prestiq 'cold turkey'. Did you still need to take a SSRI? if so which one?

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Barbefos: I know you asked Laurette, but I'm adding my two cents. I was supposed to take a Pristiq tonight (every other day), and I was just going to quit cold turkey, but I was feeling really sort of dizzy all day. Almost like a low-sugar feeling, but even after eating, it didn't go away. I thought that was my problem (I am not diabetic, but I've had that low-sugar feeling before), and I decided to take a Pristiq and quit gradually. I feel like myself again. Good luck. I know you didn't ask my opinion, but I'm throwing it in here as well.

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