Prozac Weight Gain: Does Prozac Cause Weight Gain?
What is Prozac?
Prozac is an anti-depressant drug that finds its use in treating mental problems. The problem might be caused by an unbalanced brain due to the panic, anxiety, and depression. This anti-depressant drug is used to treat mental problems by affecting the chemicals in the brain.
Prozac is also known as Fluoxetine. It is one of the most popular anti-depressants among doctors. The drug increases certain kinds of extracellular cells of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is very essential in the fighting of depression, negative thinking, and mood swings in an individual.
Prozac weight gain
This drug is very effective in reducing the depression experienced by some individuals. Although this drug can be very effective, this drug has several side effects. One of the most common side effects caused by Prozac is weight gain. Weight gain can be a significant health problem. There are several reasons behind the weight gain, and some of them are mentioned below:
- Appetite changes
- Carbohydrate cravings
- Drug interactions
- Fat storage
- Hormonal changes
- Improved taste
- Motivational changes
- More social dining
One of the reasons for the weight gain side effect of this drug is the sudden appetite change. With the use of this drug, the appetite of a person changes, and he starts eating food in a free manner. The pituitary gland can be affected by this drug, and the hormones may cause an increase in hunger. This, as a result, causes our body to gain weight.
According to a theory, with the application of this drug in our body, our body starts craving carbohydrates. The need for the carbohydrates in our body increases to an extent that people start increasing the intake of the carbohydrates in their diet. This increased carbohydrate intake in our body leads to the weight gain.
Several drug interactions are also responsible for the weight gain an individual may experience. It is important to note that several drugs interact with this medication. This drug releases certain chemicals in the body, which, after reacting with certain organs, may cause the problem weight gain.
Another reason for the weight gain can be that, after taking this drug, the propensity to store fat in the body increases. This leads to the accumulation of fats and carbohydrates in our body that we intake in our food. As with the accumulation of the carbohydrates in the body, our weight starts rising.
Hormonal changes can also be the reason for weight gain. These hormonal changes can be accredited to the drug that causes such imbalance in the body. After the hormonal imbalance, our body start producing hormones that are very much responsible for the increase in the appetite and hence the weight. Therefore, the hormonal imbalance due to the drug can be seen as a reason for weight gain.
Improved taste can be a reason for the increased weight for some people. It is obvious that with the improved taste, people will eat more, and this will cause weight gain. The improved taste is caused by the drug, as the drug makes the taste buds act in a way that the sweet taste buds become more active.
Since this drug is an anti-depressant, it can make our body less depressed. As our body is less depressed, we start feeling more happy, and this will automatically lead to the generation of the hormones that can increase the desire to eat. This will ultimately cause the increased weight and contribute to the weight gain problem.
The problem with the increase in the weight of a person is also linked to the factors of motivation. Motivation can come from literally anything. After using this drug, our bodies get less depressed and our bodies start regaining the proteins. Due to reduced stress, we become motivated somehow, so we start eating more and more, thus causing this basic problem of the weight gain.
The cases of weight gain after using this drug are increasing, and in some way, they can be related to the side effects of the drug. The drug contains various components which directly affect the neurotransmission system of our bodies. It reduces the tension and other kinds of stress from the body.
These also cause side effects on the body, and our body starts behaving in a way that it just starts gaining more and more protein. This accumulation of the proteins in the body causes the increase in the weight. Hence, the side effects can also attribute to the weight gain in a person.
Social dining may also contribute to weight gain. Social dining may become a more frequent event with the decrease in depression.
Use of this drug can make the body stress-free and can remove various kinds of problems. In the social dining, we start eating more as we are stress-free.
Factors that influence weight gain on Prozac
We have recently seen the reasons behind the weight gain; here we will see the factors which influence the weight gain on Prozac.
- Dosage
- Individual factors
- Time span
- Age
- Personal health
- Individual immunity
- Improper eating
- Skipping meals
The dosage of the anti-depressant is the most important factor which is responsible for the influence of drug. Taking the doses of this drug has a high impact on the weight gain of the person. If you are taking a high dose of this drug, then you might be getting away from depression, but this can lead to the increased weight among patients. It is advisable to get the dosage prescribed from the doctors to avoid the weight gain problem.
There are various individual factors which are responsible for the influence on the drug. Several factors, like individual metabolism of the body, environmental stress, physiology, genetics, and hormones, are also responsible for the influence of Prozac.
Different people have different body structures, and hence this thing causes for different effects of the Prozac in the body. Some people get affected in a very early age of taking this drug, and some people have less impact on the weight gain of a person.
Time span is also responsible for the influence of the drug in our body. The drug has a very minimal effect on the weight gain of a person if the drug is taken in a week’s time; this won’t have much effect on the weight gain. However, if the drug is taken for a long time, say a month, then it can surely affect the metabolism and the physiology of the body, and hence cause the weight gain of a person. Therefore, time span has an effect over the drug in the weight gain problem.
Weight gain is due to the side effect of the Prozac on the body. This side effect makes the body eligible to acquire more of the protein in the body.
Age is one of the factors which is responsible for the excessive weight gain among different individuals. In some of the people of the age group in early 20s, the effect of the weight gain is not that much profound; their weight doesn’t get affected much by the Prozac drug. However, in the age-group from the 30s to 60s, the weight gain becomes more profound. These people see the problem of the weight gain in a more profound way than those in the lower age groups.
Weight gain is also dependent on the factors where each and every individual is not the same. For some of the people who have good health and physique, the propensity of the weight gain is much higher than those who don’t have an established physique.
In the people who have already acquired good physique, with the application of this drug in the body, they get stress-free, and hence the chances to get different protein in the body also get increased. In this way, in those people, the weight gain problem becomes a common one. People who don’t have a healthy physique don’t get affected as much by the side effects of the Prozac drug in the body.
Their body doesn't have the required proteins and minerals, and with the effect of this drug, their body starts eating more and more proteins, and they still don’t reach the stage where they can be called a person gaining excessive weight.
Also, the weight gain problem among the different individuals is accredited to the factors like the individual immunity. Several people have different immunity levels to the changes in the surrounding. It helps in protecting from any kind of unprecedented change in the body. It is seen in a report that people who have a slightly higher immunity level are more prone to the problems of increased weight gain.
The weight gain is formed by the excessive intake of the proteins in the body and the ability to digest that protein in the body. The people who have a tougher immunity are known to be affected much by the weight gain, and they acquire weight easily.
Another reason for the weight gain which can be accredited by the factor of the improper meal. Prozac makes our bodies stress-free, and we start increasing the public meetings and meals. This increased meal is the reason for the weight gain problem in the body. Also, it creates various kinds of problems in the body.
Problems like obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure become common, and, as a result, our bodies suffer a lot. With the improper meal, this problem of the weight gain becomes more profound. People start eating meals in a very improper manner, and they start eating the meals at any time. This creates the problem of the weight gain among the individuals. The weight gained in the whole course leads to the various problems. Hence, improper meals can be said to be a contributing.
Prozac: cost-benefit analysis
Prozac is a drug which finds its use in the stress reliever and relieves the problem of excessive stress in the body. Our body start experiencing various kinds of other benefits. Despite this, it has some of the side effects which affect our whole body and creates a problem.
All of these problems are not permanent, but they are common problems. It is wrong to discard the usability of this drug because of its side-effects.
