Zoloft And Weight Gain

sportsfanatic girl  My weight gain didnt start until well into the 3rd month.  

I am terribly happy to have found this forum as well.

I have been taking Zoloft for 3.5 years, and in that time I have gained 38 pounds. I attribute some of this to aging and poor eating, however, once I got my bad eating habits in check, which were never a problem until Zoloft, I was only able to lose 16 pounds before I hit a plateau.

I finally decided to get off Zoloft myself because I think I was just "steady income" to my doctor.

I was told Zoloft was not addictive. If this is true, why am I going through withdrawal? Massive dizziness, fainting spells, depression, aggression, fatigue, sweating, fevers, and many more things have all been symptoms. I feel really terrible to have to go through this alone. And, I hate popping a pill once a week to help me through it. Quitting alcohol was easier!

As far as the weight gain is concerned, I have lost two pounds since my titrating. I hope it stays off. I weighed 180 before Zoloft, and at my peak I went up to 218. I now weigh 202, and have been on a diet that I have followed every day since March. I started to taper off Zoloft this September.

I am just very glad that I am not alone in this. Zoloft is Soma. Stay away.

Hate to say the truth, but most doctors don't care. No one likes to be disagreed with most times anyway. I think it is a more sensitive subject for doctors when someone says no. If I told her I quit, she would just tell me to start taking them again. Doesn't anyone in the medical profession listen?

Bottom line: Zoloft is bad for me and many others, but I can only vouch for myself. I want to be rid of it. I think what most people just need are good friends they know will be there through anything. A level of maturity about the nature of things is also mandatory. But the main thing is to not try to control every event in life, which is why I went on Zoloft in the first place.

I have to help myself if no doctor will help me. Sad, but true. The withdrawal symptoms are growing shorter in duration. I think I am going to make it.

duchess,

It sounds like you may need to get a different doctor. My doctor has drilled into my head time and time again that if I want to get off of these medications that it was my right but he has pleaded that I don't do it alone and allow him to wean me off, as he has done for me a few times. That is what a responsible doctor would/should do. Don't let this one discourage you, there ARE good doctors out there.

If your doctor won't do it and you are determined to get off of the medications, I would taper off slowly to allow your body to adjust..

My psychiatrist advised me not to get off but I did anyhow. I tapered down from 150mg over a very long, slow 8 month period. I've been completely off of the drug for about 10 days now and feel fine. As for the weight gain, yes, it sure is depressing in itself! That said, I honestly feel as if I've already lost a couple of pounds in the past 10 days. I agree with everyone here who says that Zoloft screws up your metabolism and that you should not feel frustrated with exercising and dieting if you are not losing weight while still on the drug. If anyone has stories about losing weight after gaining it on Zoloft, I'm all ears.

I was also on zoloft for 5.5 years and gained 30 lbs.  However, I started weening off of it in March and was completely off in April.  I went from 159 pounds to my old weight of 129 pounds in 6 months.  It was amazing how impossible it was to lose weight on zoloft.  You just keep gaining even though you aren't really eating that much.  I actaully eat much more now then i did while on the zoloft and haven't gained a pound.  My anxiety came back though, but I am trying to deal with it without medication.  I am seeing a therapist for it.  I hope this is some encouragement for those of you who do not think you can lose weight after going off the zoloft.  It is very possible. 

Hi,
I've been taking Zoloft for 7 weeks and also lost weight (10 pounds). Because the Zoloft has made me feel 100 percent better, it motivated me to eat better and exercise. At first my appitite was suppressed, but, now I want to eat all the time. To combat that, I started eating smaller portions and eating fruits, carrots, and pretzels as snacks in between meals and drinking lots of water. No added sugar or salt. So far so good. In my experience, in the past, eating low fat and high carbs diet (good carbs) with exercise works much better than cutting carbs. But, because I was so deppresed lately, I stopped doing that and eating burgers and fries, etc.

I talked to my doctor about this and how I'd heard about the weight gain people were experiencing. She told me that if you really need an antideppressant then you will NOT experience any side effects. She also told me that doctors tend to prescribe these medications to people who don't need it. Because they don't want to ask their patients any personal questions about why they are deppresed.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Hi. I've been on zoloft for 2 years

At first, I felt like superwoman...lost a few pounds, had tons of energy and creativity, wondered why I hadn't gone on it sooner.
then...........................................................

the weight crept back then kept going, little by little by little.
And I've tried so hard to fight it. I eat incredibly healthy, all the right stuff at the right time, totally aware of every bite I put or don't put in my mouth.
And I get in serious cardio workouts daily.
I maintain a high energy level.

But I got chubbier and chubbier.

I'm working my way off now. Will I ever get back to my old self? I hate this.

Thanks for the words of confidence. My story is similar. I started out at 120, now I am 140 (5'6"). This is my second week weaning (first 150mg slowly to 100, now 100mg to 50, then 50mg to 0). I'll be thrilled if I can get back to where I was prior but I am so afraid my anxiety and dizziness will return. (I had tried natural ways of relieving this before I started on zoloft but nothing helped.).

You've and Molls have inspired me to be positive. Keep me posted on how your progress goes.

It seems to me as if it takes the body a while to readjust metabolically after stopping zoloft. Exercising could only help kick up metabolism and help with the readjustment process. Molls' story is definitely inspirational and it seems as if it took her body one month of no zoloft + exercise and good eating to realize that it was back to normal again. Margaret, as far as anxiety returning, give your body time to readjust and get over withdrawal from zoloft. When I completely stopped zaking Zoloft a little over 2 weeks ago, I was anxious and cried a lot. I'm still more anxious and more emotional than I was when on 150mg of zoloft. But I know that these symptoms are natural in light of the fact that I had been on zoloft for a while. I'm also noticing that these symptoms are decreasing each day. You will probably be anxious for a short while after completely getting off of zoloft, but let your body completely readjust itself to its zoloft-free environment before chalking up the experience as a sign that you are better off on the drug. Also, I believe that zoloft works to help the brain learn new behavioural patterns while were on it. Then, when we get off of it, those new patterns are still part of our brain and although we experience symptoms of anxiety directly after getting off of the drug, our brains will not relapse into the anxiety that we experienced before using the drug.

This all is, of course, just an opinion. But it seems to be holding true for me thus far. In other words, I think that zoloft can be a good temporary way to help the brain and body overcome anxiety. But once the brain has learned its new patterns, its time to get off of the drug. With this in mind, I would suggest that you actually wean off of zoloft in 25mg doses, not 50mg doses. 50mg is actually quite a bit, and will shock your body more. I weaned off in this manner: 150 to 125mg, then 125 to 100mg, then 100mg to 75, etc, etc. To be safe, I actually waited about one month before dropping the dose again. When I got to my last 25mg, I then even bit the 25mg in two and did 12mg for about 2 weeks before completely getting off of zoloft.

One last thing is this: I occasionally take a benzodiazapene to help me sleep. The one that I use is called Temazepam. Xanax is in the same family. These are powerful drugs, but if you are still experiencing anxiety, I would suggest that you get some and take very small doses of them to relieve anxiety. My Temazepam comes in 15mg capsules and I actually open the capsules and take very small amounts of the powder inside (amounting to maybe 3 or 4mg at a time). In the past week, I have only done this maybe 2 or 3 times.

Things are going better for me now and I also see the weight coming off. I haven't weighed myself, but would say that I'm probably in the 150lb range at the moment, although it could be less (I was in the 155-160 lb range only a month ago). My clothes are fitting me again, this is why I know I've lost weight. I will weigh myself next chance I can (I'm studying abroad at the moment and don't even have a scale!). I'm also a lot less lethargic than I was while on zoloft.

I hope that this helps and please keep us updated on your progress.

I cannot tell you how happy and relieved I am to have found this site.  I have just torn apart my closet trying desperately to find something I can fit into for work tomorrow.  I have been on 100 mg. of Zoloft for the past 8 years.  I have gained close to 70 pounds.  Granted, I was too thin to begin with - I'm 5'8" and weighed initially about 128.  I'm now 200 lbs.  I've been told a variety of things by doctors - it's not the medication, it's that I "cannot control myself"; "Well, wouldn't you rather be fat and jolly than thin and miserable", and "Just stop eating."  I am angry and heartsick at the condescending and disdainful way doctors have treated my concerns about the very significant weight gain.  I would like to try to come off of Zoloft and I don't feel I'm getting much support from the medical field. 

I used to be a very attractive woman.  I've lectured myself that I'm being "vain" and should just be happy that I can function at such a high level (I had mild depression and anxiety), and not to worry about my appearance.  But, I'm 47 and just beginning a new relationship and feel so very sad that my weight is beyond control despite dieting and exercise.

Any and all support would be most welcomed.

Joyce

Hi you guys im a sophmore in college and have been on zoloft for 2 years the weight gain has been crazy thats why i started weaning off zoloft im down to basically nothing  -- keep in mind i talked to my doctor about everything.  I just want to lose weight so i can be back to my 135 -140lbs weight area. 

SO WHEN DO YOU GUYS START SEEING WEIGHT LOSS !!!!!

THANKS AND I HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A PEACEFULL STRESS FREE DAY !!!

BE BLESSED