Prozac and lifting, gaining weight

[maxpayne72]

O.k. here's the deal. I've been taking prozac on and off for the last year and a half. Why off and on? here's the pros and cons of it.

Pros:
- Completely cures depression like a miracle cure. Went from wanting to blow my brains out daily to enjoying life and just being happy. Sorry guys the all in your head b.s. makes about as much sense as telling someone who has drunk 12 beers in a row that if they focus, they can be sober.

- Am able to train much harder and more consistently on it.

- could care less about relationships and b.s. while on it. Just enjoy life with or without a significant other.

Cons:
- I keep gaining weight on it. Lots of weight. Lots of it is muscle, lots of it is not.
- Very hard to focus at work while on it. My job is extremely intense, and requires major focus.
- Major hairloss.

I've tried taking it alongside of T3 and didn't get the concentration or weight gain problems. Of course, try to tell that to my doctor and he still won't perscribe T3 to me. And I don't want to keep risking legal problems going black market.

I'm 5'5', now up to 195 pounds, at 17.7% b.f ( hydrostatic test recently ) Not exactly a butterball, but still gaining weight.

Any thoughts? Advice? Or similar stories with Prozac?

 

[*Bunny*]

Any thoughts? Advice? Or similar stories with Prozac?

Can you have your doc add another med to ween you off the prozac? One with less side effects? There are couple out there with less sides, sexual/weight gain, or is your doc set on keeping you on prozac? Maybe Lexapro? or even wellbutrin

 

[moralanimal]

Glad to hear you no longer think about blowing your brains out. That is a scary thought.
Roughly 5-10% of people on SSRI's will have some weight gain (usually no more then 7% of body weight). The probelm is if the sides are so problematic to the person they will dicontinue protocol and this is useless (on and off is not the most effective means). Different anti-dep. work different ways and do different things. The good news is you respond well. An option to discuss with your doc is switching drugs or using combos of drugs. Your options are first dependent on the presentation of your depression (e.g. wellbutrin will make someone with an aggitated depressionn worse while really helping someone who is sluggish). Again you need your doc to match the drug to your symptoms. Next it is what you are wiling to tolerate. Some would rather gain some weight then have a dry mouth. In the end it comes down to having a doc you can talk to and accepts you as an active partner.
IMO you should find a decent psychologist and get some therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has better results then meds (in most cases) and the 2 work great together. the major difference is with CBT you can have lasting change (about 80% are respnse with 12 sessions) that does not end when you stop taking the meds. It is a much better option for most and also reduces the chance of relapsing into another depression. Wiht each new depressive episode you increase the chance you will have another. Meds, while off, do nothing to stop this. Ask your doc for a refferral to someone trained in CBT.
Just an FYI- T3 potientiates the effects of prozac and there is some evidance that it elevates serum thyrotropin and reduces free thyroxine. When people are not responsive to anti-dep. a trick that is sometimes used is to give a pateint T3. About 60% of people respnd to this.