Nic70: Post withdrawal weight and lean body mass gain.

[Nic70]

Last fall at age 70, after two years of tapering, I successfully ended my 30 year dependence on psychotropic medicines (most recently, Prozac and Wellbutrin).  It was a long and difficult experience but I am so happy to be where I am.  I feel brighter and more alive than I have in years.  I rediscovered the expression of feelings that I thought were gone forever.  I’m trying now to do some research about post withdrawal body changes to see if others have similar experience.  About the same time I ended the meds, I began to experience weight gain and subcutaneous (perhaps visceral fat too) fat around my middle.  This is happening despite an active and nutritionally sound lifestyle, including 3x week CrossFit workouts, and having maintained a healthy weight for years.  It was a sudden change and seems to continue unabated.  I know these meds can have profound effects on the brain, hormones, and everything else in the body and I’m wondering now whether my weight/fat gain is yet another side effect.  I’m unable to turn up any research and wonder if anyone else in this community has had similar experience.  I will be forever grateful to SurvivingAntidepressants.org for supporting and guiding me through my years of living on antidepressants and my eventual tapering to withdrawal.

Edited June 18, 2023 by Karma
Updated name

[Shep]

Hi, @Nic70

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants.

 

Please note I moved your post from the Success Stories and placed it here in the Introduction / Update section so we can get you properly introduced to the community. We ask that members wait a full year before writing a success story.

 

How to write your success story

 

We hope you will continue your journey in the Success Story forum this fall when you're a year off these drugs. Your story is important. Very glad to read you are doing so well off these drugs. 

 

On 6/17/2023 at 9:39 AM, Nic70 said:

 I know these meds can have profound effects on the brain, hormones, and everything else in the body and I’m wondering now whether my weight/fat gain is yet another side effect.  I’m unable to turn up any research and wonder if anyone else in this community has had similar experience.

 

Yes, this is very true - these drugs do have a profound effect on all of these things, in addition to metabolic changes. 

 

You certainly have a healthy lifestyle doing CrossFit workouts. How is your diet? Have you researched the Ketogenic diet? Some people find it helpful to get rid of withdrawal-induced weight gain. However, please move into any new diet gradually and after doing the research. There's a lot of information available on the web about Keto. It's even crossed into psychiatry, such as in Dr. Chris Palmer's book Brain Energy. 

 

Please set up a signature so we have your complete history. Here is how:

 

Please summarize your drug and withdrawal history in your signature

 

A direct link to your signature is here - Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences as someone who is off these drugs and is in the recovery process.