Anyone gained weight whilst on antidepressants?

[TomHardysBitontheside]

I've been taking fluoxetine for about 16 months. In the last year I've gained about a stone. My weight can fluctuate but never by that much.

I joined Slimming World earlier this year and it took me about 4 months to lose 4lbs! I gave up on that!!

I've been reading up and it does say that taking ADs can slow down your metabolism.

Has anyone else experienced this? And does the weight go once you stop?

I have been on quitieapene and Mirtazapine for less than 3 weeks and have gained 12lb! I'm fat anyway and my weight is a contributing factor to my anxiety and depression so the gain is really not welcome not really sure what to do from her but know I cant keep gaining as I am ☹

I'm on fluoxetine also for the last two month and have put on weight. I don't know how much I have put on, in can just see it in the photos.
Slimming world is usually my go to place for losing weight so disappointed to hear it hasn't helped you whilst on fluoxetine

Clear choice for me: put on a bit of weight or feel suicidal. The weight wins hands down.

I put on 2 and a half stone on sertraline, it was more that I was comfort eating and didn't seem to have an off switch plus lost motivation to exercise. It was upsetting as before I started the tablets I was fit and slim and liked how I was. Putting all that weight on and not fitting into any of my clothes has not helped how I feel at all. I also felt nauseous in the mornings if I didn't eat so that didn't help.

I am now on mirtazapine and it's so hard to lose. If I eat, I often struggle to stop and I have really strong cravings. I have found that alternate day fasting until dinner and then just eating in a small time window of time is working and my weight is slowly reducing but it is very, very slow and really hard. I find fasting easier because there is a clear not eating which although hard is possible. Just eating less is not possible at the moment!! It is hard to be strict when I do eat but the fasting means I have a bit more leeway.

I came off the mirtazapine for a short while and the weight came off much quicker and the cravings went but my mood plummeted so i am back on it again and just trying hard to battle through the cravings. I've lost 1 stone but it's taken a full year.

My exercise motivation also seems to have gone. Pre antidepressants i used to run and do exercise videos. I have tried running again but it just feels like too much. I am managing to do some yoga at home on and off. It does help my mood when i am doing it and then my mood helps me to do more but when I have bad days it's almost impossible to get myself to do it. I feel so heavy and slow and tired that it feels impossible. I am trying to increase walking as well but it's hard when the weather is bad.

I didn’t put on weight with SSRIs but did with venlafaxine, and mirtazapine. Conversely, I actually have the motivation to exercise and stay out of bed when I’m on it. I’ve not been on it for a bit now, I lost weight quickly but I’ve given up exercise and end up going back to bed every day because I am so tired. So I guess being fatter but fitter is better.

Despite previously being good at maintaining my weight, I gained on citalopram and sertraline. Apparently, both stimulate the appetite which probably explains it.

I have found that alternate day fasting until dinner and then just eating in a small time window of time is working and my weight is slowly reducing but it is very, very slow and really hard. I find fasting easier because there is a clear not eating which although hard is possible.

I switched to bupropion and used alternate day fasting to lose the weight I had gained on SSRIs. I found it quite easy. I lost over a stone in a couple of months.

Buproprion helps with weight loss though. Although it gives you a 3 sec memory. Had to come off proponolol due to weight gain. Lost everything I'd put on in 2 months.

I don't think taking buproprion automatically results in weight loss, although I'm sure it has helped. I had to put considerable effort in by not eating anything every other day, and I like my food!

I've not had any memory problems that I have noticed, short or long term. Nor has anybody else commented, quite the opposite actually. I rely on my memory for a big part of my job and colleagues wonder how I can remember so many small details.

I gained four dress sizes in the time I was on mirtazapine, then venlafaxine. Since going onto fluvoxamine (NOT fluoxetine) 18 months ago, I've dropped three sizes. It's just come off by itself. Im also on quetiapine but only 100mg at night. A friend who was on a much higher dose gained almost 15kg in a year.
What I found was that the weight gain, being quite extreme, affected my self esteem so that was NOT great for someone already acutely depressed.
One psychiatrist referred to them as "Oh yes, the cuddly drugs". I've never felt so patronised. I wasn't cuddly - I was bloody overweight.

Also, just remembered, a relation, who was always very slender has just done 12 months on 200mg sertraline (now switching to something else
) and I instantly noticed she had gained weight when I visited recently. Obviously didn't say anything but I'd estimate from a size 8/10 to a 14 minimum. And this person has always been slim.

Poor memory only affects 1%-10% of takers and it seems that it can have a positive effect on memory as a side effect in some cases...

Treatment with either escitalopram or bupropion XL was associated with improvement in memory and psychosocial function

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25124683

I find fluoxetine actually suppresses my appetite after I start taking it. It’s one of the anti depressants that makes weight loss rather than gain more likely, or so I’ve read.