Zoloft and Weight Gain

Dear snickersmom

I hear you sweetie, and please know that nearly all of the AD's cause weight gain, you are not alone.  It is one of those quandries.........do I want to be thin and  depressed or chubby and able to function?

Many day I just pray I could be thin and not depressed.  There is info I have seen that speaks to the meds changing how you metabolize  your food when on the ADs.

I have never seen any other suggestions other than eat healthy and watch how much you eat and exercise as the ways to counter act the weight gain.

In the end I try to maintain a positive attitude and know that I am ok and people accept me for who I am, not how much I weigh. It is not easy..........gentle hugs to you.

Kitt

I think Kitt and Karen have hit the nail on the head really. Rather than changing the med (since many AD's involve weight gain) its chnaging the life-style that seems to work. Diet and exercise. You already have some great advice on diet from Karen, but unless im blind, nobody has mentioned exercise yet. Exercise is great because it not only gives you the physical health benifits like weight loss and muscle toning, but also there are are mental health benifits as well. Exercise gets blood pumping through your body, helps in the secretion of endorphines (Well-Being hormones) and the sunlight helps process vitamin D which can help in the fight against depression.

Hopefully all this will put you on the right track to fighting your weight issue

Darren

I take abilify. It is a mood stableizer and works well with bipolar. I have OCD type thinking and it helps me with that. Ask your doctor if it would be helpful for you. As far as I know there is no weight gain issues with this medication. Also topomax is suppose to help you lose weight.

Darren does have a good point with the exercise, could you get a 30 minute walk in every day or so? That helps me retain my weight, though with this winter I haven't been able to get out much. 20 minutes of elevated heart rate is suppose to burn 200 calories. And I believe you can do 10 min here and there. Just a thought.

Hugs,

Karen

I wish that you didn't feel like a loser, because you are not.  You are a wonderful person, inside and out.  I use to be super skinny and in my late 30's I started gaining weight too.  I also was on anti depressants.   Then I lost it, then I gained it back.  I am on a diet and gaining.  But I am not going to let it get me down.  I can't afford to.  And I am not giving up.  I will lose this weight and so will you.  We just have to keep trying.  I have tried going all day without eating, well I don't have to try, I do it.  Then I eat supper.  But I found out when I do that my body goes into a starvation mode and holds on to every calorie that it can, so that is why I went to eating more frequently and smaller portions. 

You can't base how you feel about yourself by what you THINK that others think of you.  They may see you completely different than you see yourself.  We tend to be much more judgemental of ourselves than we should.  Especially if we are depressed.  Do you like to dance?  I like to play music when I am doing stuff inside and dance around a little.  It is good aerobics and is fun.  Give that a try.

I hope that this helps you some.

hugs,

Karen

Dear snickersmom,

Let me try to put a smile on your face......you have snickers in your name and when I see your post I want candy
You remind me of myself, I can come up with every reason in the book for not choosing a good physical activity and just do it.  Yes, I know all the ones you have mentioned.  I have a treadmill.............it sits there 24/7 and all I have to do is get on it for 30 minutes at least 5 times a week.  That is a planned exercise and you know you can vary you timeline to fit your busy schedule.
Just a thought, but please remember you are not a loser.  You are a good person and right now your feeling down.  Let us help you through this.

Hugs
Kitt

Hi,

I just joined this today and I'm so glad to have found a forum to ask questions about AD's. I've been on zoloft for about 4 1/2 months. I was put on 25mgs for a week and slowly built up to 150mgs. I haven't changed my eating habbits much and still exercise regularly but have put on weight and didn't make the conenction until I sat down and created a time line of when the weight gain started. I noticed it about a month after I was on Zoloft and on the 150mgs. My Dr. said that it shouldn't cause wt. gain but I have no other explanation for why all of a sudden I'd start to gain when nothign else in my life has changed. I've decided to stop taking it because I'm really uncomfortable at this weight but am hoping somebody can tell me how long it will take to start seeing the weight change (back to "normal"). So far, I haven't seen any postings about how quickly it may occur. I'll continue to exercise as I do now and eat well and keep my calories at about 1200. Any thoughts? I'm so frustrated!

Yes, welcome. It always takes the sting out of something when you discover that others are going through the same thing...or at least I think so.

I've been down this road twice. When I came off Zoloft for depression it took me about 9 months to lose the weight but I don't know how much you want to lose. I think it just takes time for the Zoloft to get out of your system and your metabolism return to normal but I will advise you not to just stop taking it. Take it from me, that is a bad idea. You should taper off and you can ask your doctor how to do that.

My doctor is also convinced that I didn't gain weight on Zoloft but to have gained as much as I have I would have to be eathing all the time and not moving at all and, of course, I'm not doing that. It is very frustrating. I had to travel for work this weekend and I saw all these "beautiful people" in the airport and I was just so frustrated, depressed and sad. I feel like a big plop of a human being.

You can lose the weight. It will come off. It did for me. Unfortunately I have to be on Zoloft until something better comes along for OCD. I believe more and more research about the effects of SSRI's is being done and maybe, finally doctors will listen when their patients tell them they ARE gaining weight on Zoloft.

I know Sherrie...it's like that quote by C.S. Lewis "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."

I tried Wellbutrin but it's not approved for OCD and it didn't help so I had to go back on Zoloft. I just sometimes want to ask my doctor "How do you think I've gained all this weight in such a small amount of time?" Who gains 25 pounds in 4.5 months, especially a personal trainer???? That's just not normal so it has to be the medication but of course, doctors don't want to listen.

I found a picture of myself taken right before I started on Zoloft again...about 5 years ago. I used to think I was overweight back then but I look at that picture now and I think "God, I'm so skinny in that picture and I was eating more then than I am now!" I keep that picture as proof of my before/after Zoloft.

Good luck with Wellbutrin and welcome to the forum. There's a lot of comfort here.