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ZOLOFT WEIGHT GAIN

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Posted 2/11/2009 9:09 PM (GMT 0)
HI ALL  I AM FREE OF ZOLOFT FOR 4 MONTHS NOW. WAS VERY AGITATED FOR SOME TIME, NOW SEEMS OK. STILL CAN'T GET THE WEIGHT OFF. MY NURSE PRACTITIONER SAYS IT WILL TAKE 6 MONTHS. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY  PANIC ATTACKS  OR ANXIETY WHICH I'M GLAD  OF.  I DON'T LIKE NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THIS WEIGHT OFF. HAS ANYONE LOST WEIGHT AFTER BEING OFF ZOLOFT? IT'S NOT LIKE I HAVEN'T TRIED,   IF ANY DR TELLS YOU THE ZOLOFT DIDN'T CAUSE WEIGHT GAIN THERE NUTS. TELL THEM TO TAKE IT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

                                                    THANKS KJM

Posted 2/12/2009 12:20 AM (GMT 0)

KJM,

I know how you feel as I was told the same about Cymbalta only to gain a good 20 lbs on it. I am weaning off slowly but may try to get it over with this weekend.

6 months........Oh my, I am discouraged now too.

P.S.  Your caps lock is on.

Thanks Kitt

Posted 2/12/2009 12:44 AM (GMT 0)
Well sorry you are going thru it. Take your time weining off i took two weeks to do it. don't need any more problems. Weight gain is enough.Don't get me wrong i needed the zoloft when i was on it.Sure made me more angry with that weight gain,iv'e never had a problem with my weight until after that.    I'll keep working on losing it.  thanks agin   kjm

Posted 2/12/2009 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
I was on Zoloft or was it Lexapro about a year ago.
I am down to 119 lbs at 5' 8" ...I lost 30 lbs. I went
from a size 12 to a 4.

I've been on plenty ssri's and they all made me gain weight.
Posted 2/12/2009 6:13 PM (GMT 0)
Well glad to finally hear that. maybe there is hope for me yet. I'm tired of beating myself up over this. thanks so much for the reply.  appreciate it.   kjm
Posted 2/16/2009 1:38 PM (GMT 0)
It's a relief to know I'm not going insane. I've been taking Zoloft at 50mg for just over a year and the weight gain is depressing me.
I eat a low carb, low fat diet. Exercise and drink plent of water. Yet I'm slowly but surely gaining weight. I've be weaning off Zoloft for the past week by cutting back to 25mg. I'll do this for another week then cross my fingers that it doesn't take ages to lose the weight.
It's frustrating when you're so careful about what you eat and look like you eat burgers and fries all day.
Posted 2/16/2009 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Juliet,

Welcome to the HealingWell depression forum. I think that you will find this is a good place to come. I hope that going off of the zoloft works for you. I hope that you are able to lose some weight, I know how it feels to be over weight from medications. Though zoloft isn't suppose to be one of them. Neither is effexor, that is what I take.

I hope that you have a great day.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/18/2009 3:49 AM (GMT 0)
I was taking zoloft 50mg quit taking it on feb 12 have been takin it for 10 years. Have heared that all antidepressants cause weight gain now im taking liquid source of life red multi-vitamin & mineral and so far i feel fine no anger of thoughts of hurting myself. dont know how long it will last but if this keeps working then all it was was a vitamin thing maybe could be the same for some other people.
Posted 2/18/2009 11:10 AM (GMT 0)
That would be so cool if the supplments worked for everybody. Just think of all the money that we could save. Plus the benefits of the vitamins.

I am so happy that this is working for you. Let us know if it continues. You might be on to something.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/20/2009 4:45 PM (GMT 0)
hi KJM,
I was on 50- 100 mg of Zoloft for a little over 2 years and gained 20 lb. I was the kind of person who never put on weight and had a very fast metabolism. I've been off for about 2 months and I've lost about 5 lb so far... I've noticed that my appetite has been less since I've stopped taking it and that I'm less interested in eating carbs. I empathise and hope that the weight will come off quickly for you!
Emily
Posted 2/20/2009 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Emily,

I am not sure if I have welcomed you to the forum or not, so want to make sure that I do. I noticed that you posted once back in January. So I just want to let you know that you have come to a wonderful forum with kind and compassionate members.


Thanks for offering your advice on this topic. And I hope that you continue to post.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/26/2009 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
I am so glad to see that I'm not the only one out there who has suffered from weight gain on Zoloft.  I've been going insane the past 3 months or so trying to figure out why I'm gaining when nothing in my diet or exercise routine has changed.  If anything it's been improved but yet I went from a happy 120 to now 140 and it's not stopping.  I'm currently going off of Zoloft and I'm so upset that it caused this weight gain.  It took me so long to get to 120 after losing about 50lbs before my wedding and for it to be up again is so discouraging.  Especially when I'm turning 30 in April and really want to look my best.  Weight worries was one of the reasons I was put on Zoloft, a lot of good that did cry . 

 

I'm really glad I found this forum, my husband is behind me 1000% but has never been through this so it's nice to know that there is somewhere I can go where people have been through it. 

Posted 3/4/2009 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
I did a quick search through google on zoloft and weight gain and came across many sites but always ended up coming back to old posts from this site. So I decided to look for an active post about this issue and here I am. I have been on zoloft for about a year now and have gained 20 pounds. I plan to start to taper off tomorrow and will do so for the next week to two weeks. I am getting married in less than 5 months, my wedding dress does not fit and now I am worried that I won't be able to lose the weight to fit into my dress. How depressing is that?! Has anyone had any success in losing weight within 5 months of getting off zoloft? I am hoping!

It is nice to see other people out there with the same problem - I know now I can stop blaming myself and can starting helping myself :)
Posted 3/4/2009 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Kate,

Welcome to HealingWell. I hope that you have success with your weight loss. I didn't have a weight gain problem with zoloft, in fact it was the opposite. But everybody is different.

I hope that you have advised your doctor of your plans. They might be able to help you. Maybe putting you on another medication in place of the zoloft. Please don't be doing this on your own without medical help.

Keep posting, we are all here for you. This is a wonderful site, full of kind and compassionate people.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 3/5/2009 9:56 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your concern Karen. My doctor said I could taper myself off (she actually encouraged it for the future as I am getting married and cannot be on zoloft if I plan to become pregnant) as I am on zoloft for the prevention of headaches. So I am going to start doing half a pill for two weeks and then off. I am definitely doing it with medical help (and I am in school to be a pharmacist so I can monitor myself, too!) :)

Glad you didn't gain weight with it. After reading all the sites and stuff, I do believe that it can be why I gained weight. I will definitely be working on it :) I look forward to becoming more active on these sites.

Hugs,
Kaitlin
Posted 3/5/2009 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Kaitlin,

I am so happy that you are tapering with caution. So many people complain of brain zaps when going off of medications, I know that isn't any fun.

I hope that you do post more, being on HealingWell can really help with depression and self esteme. We all try to support eachother and it really does help.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 3/5/2009 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hello to all the new members, this is Kitt.

I am on Cymbalta and I gained 25 lbs on this med over the past couple of years............I am weaning off but have not been able to go off completely yet as I start to have increased anxiety. I am at the lowest dose possible.

I have heard with some of the SSRI/SSNIs it can take up to 6 months as our metablolism is so off track.

We will all get through this together. I am glad you all found this great site.

Gentle Hugs to each of you.

Kitt
Posted 3/6/2009 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
Can someone explain what a brain zap is? I saw it on here a lot but I don't know what it is.

Kaitlin
Posted 3/6/2009 2:27 AM (GMT 0)
Mine are hard to explain. But they are like when you move your eyes, you can hear it. It is like a woosh sound. I don't know why but it seems electrical or something. They don't come a lot, only once in a while as long as I am taking my meds. But if I were to miss them, I would notice them more. I don't know how else to explain them, I don't understand them myself. I just know that now and then I get them.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 3/6/2009 2:05 PM (GMT 0)
Good Morning All,

Symptoms described as "brain zaps", "brain shocks," "brain shivers" or "head shocks", are a withdrawal symptom experienced during discontinuation (or reduction of dose) of antidepressant drugs. The symptoms are widely variable in description and of unknown etiology. Common descriptions include dizziness, electric shock-like sensations, sweating, nausea, insomnia, tremor, confusion, and vertigo.

Not everyone experiences brain zaps. I hope this helps.

Kitt
Posted 3/8/2009 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
That definitely helps - thanks. I think I may be going through something - I have headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness, and nausea. I know its from tapering off and I am ok with it - today is just a bad day.
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