Zoloft And Weight Gain

To anyone cold turkeying their Zoloft that is a horrible idea.     have been on every drug out there to deal with anxiety/depression and quitting the drug cold turkey will only increase your next bout of anxiety or depression, or whatever you are dealing with.  You must contact a doctor to whean off the drug. 

I am like everyone else on here and I too have blown up like a huge balloon from the drug.  I mean are you kidding me.  I then start to think do I get off and deal with anxiety b/c I want to be thin.  I guess at that point I say how vein am I?  I am like a lot of you, where I feel great in all aspects but the weight is also making me despressed.  I just pray that some day someone will come up with a solution where I can be on Zoloft and be thin.  I mean I am not asking to be a rail, just thin again   

Someone mentioned in their post that they eat really good but look like they eat horrible.  Oh I am so there with you.  I mean people look at me when I am like I am stuffed after having a sandwhich, and I am like yeah I know I look like a fatty, but I really don't eat much.  Meanwhile the person looking at me is stuffing fries in their face and they are super thin.  Ugh, it is soooooo annoying. 

What to do.  So really I am looking for any advice on how to kick the weight.  Have a great day

I've been off of Zoloft for almost 6 weeks now. Without major exercise (I walk every day and that's about it), and without dieting (I am a healthy eater so there are lots of veggies in my diet, but I eat the "bad things" like rice and pasta too), I have lost 10 pounds in less than 2 months. I have also been much moodier since getting off of zoloft. But I'm actually welcoming the moods. Zoloft made me feel nothing, and the first time I "snapped" and cried after getting off of zoloft was also the first time that I realized I was feeling the world around me again.

Hello to everyone!

After all, I am happy I am not the only one w/ the weight problem! So far everyone think I am making it up and Zoloft is not the cause. My husband is convinced that I need to stay on it and that the weight is due to age and craving for junk food!!!

I started 18 months go on 50 m - I still remember the day I woke up and felt happy. Zoloft really worked for me and I am glad I took it...Well, side effect: approx 25 lb in 18 months!!! This is very unusual for me!

When I started to realize that I was putting pounds on ( around a year ago), I enrolled in a crazy exercise routine:

Mo through Fri: Morning: 1 hr aerobic or kick boxing- Evening: 45 min weight lifting- abs etc+ 4 or 5 miles fast walk.

Saturday: Yoga and 2 miles walk

Diet: reduce intake of carbs - reduce intake of milk-no sugar.

After 6 months: additional 10 lb gained!!! I thought it was because of the muscle mass that I was building up...Oh, I forgot to tell you that I use to be a body builder and always pretty much "in touch" with how my body performs....So, I took out the heavy weight part and increase the aerobic exercise...after 2 month: additional 6 lb, and this time of FAT and not muscles!!!!

I gave up exercising for the last 5 months out of frustration!

I still try to control my diet although i noticed an increase in cravings and fainting sensations when I go w/out food for few hrs. ( I believe that this is the real side effect of the drug...)

I went to the Dr 2 weeks ago because of a sinus infection. We check together my weight in the last 18 months. results: constant increase of more than 1 lb a month! He was very surprise ( no kidding, at this page I could be obese in 2 yrs!!!)Still, when I asked if it could be the medication he was very perplexed. Anyway,on my medical records, he wrote down :"weight gain-Zoloft?"

I took the decision to get off the drug, and I am doing it in my own way: taking a pill once every 3 days and than every week etc. till I finish the prescription. So far so good, although I feel very tired...

I am am going back to the exercise routine ( I started walking 2 miles every morning and evenings). i want to stick with exercising before taking other pills.

For the first time in my life I have a weight issue and my metabolism is sooo slow.

I also started a purifying diet:

1 glass of warm water w/ lemon when I get up and before taking a walk ( I try to avoid coffee and substitute it w/ green tea)

Salad at lunch and meat and veggie for dinner.

If this weight gain is due to Zoloft, I should start seeing results in the next months ( well, I hope). I will keep you posted.

In conclusion:  To me Zoloft was  great help, but it should not be used "forever". Also, I believe that all of us who take these kind of drugs should be better checked by the Doctors:unfortunately, I believe that it is getting too easy to prescribe pills to take care of the symtoms and not necessary the causes of the illness...But I do not want to generalize: we are all different!

Thank you for reading this message!

Well, I'm back on Zoloft.  It just wasn't worth risking another horrible Thanksgiving and Christmas while being off the medication. Last year around this time I tried another medication because of the weight gain and by the time Christmas rolled around, it was like I was taking a placebo. I almost had to be hospitalized because I was hysterical all the time so it was back to Zoloft. I'd like to enjoy the holidays this year and I'm trying to work on my self esteem from the inside. If my outside is not to the world's liking...I just have to deal with that...Problem is...it's not to my liking either and I just can't find a way to change that AND stay happy...*sigh*

I HAVE JUST WITHIN THE LAST 2 DAYS REALIZED WHY I WENT FROM A SIZE 1 TO A SIZE 7 IN JEANS IN A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. I AM 21 YEARS OLD AND I SUFFER FROM HORRIBLE MOOD SWINGS AT THE SNAP OF A FINGER. I HAVE BEEN BEATING MYSELF UP FOR about THE LAST 6 MONTHS about MY WEIGHT GAIN TO THE POINT THAT I WOULD TELL MYSELF I DIDN'T CARE ANYMORE. NOT TO MENTION HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE COMMENTED IN MY WEIGHT GAIN.I WENT FROM A SLIM GIRL WHO LOVED FASHION TO 30 POUNDS HEAVIER WEARING T-SHIRTS TO COVER MY NOW SHAMFUL BODY. I DON'T KNOW WHY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO REALIZE WHERE THE WEIGHT WAS COMING FROM. ONLY A FEW DAYS AGO I WAS BEATING MYSELF UP OVER IT AND I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY ODD THAT SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THIN THEIR WHOLE LIFE COULD JUST MERACULOUSLY GAIN 30 LBS. IN ONE YEAR. I AM SO GLAD THAT FIGURED IT OUT AND I AM PLANNING ON GOING TO THE DOCTOR TO SEE WHAT OTHER ALTERNATIVES I HAVE THAT WILL NOT AFFECT MY WEIGHT. I KNOW THAT I NEED TO BE TAKING SOMETHING BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN DOING BETTER WITH MY MOOD SWINGS SINCE BEING ON ZOLOFT. BUT I AM SO UNHAPPY about THE CHANGE IN MY BODY THAT I FEEL LIKE I'M STUCK IN THE MIDDLE SOMEWHERE. EVERYONE KEEPS MENTIONING NATURAL REMEDIES AND IF ANYONE HAS ANY EXPERIENCE PLEASE WRITE TO ME AND TELL ME about IT. I GUESS I AM GOING TO START WEINING MYSELF OFF ZOLOFT STARTING TONIGHT. I AM SO HAPPY THAT I DECIDED TO DO SOME RESEARCH ONLINE. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ON LOSING THEIR ZOLOFT WEIGHT!!!!

sportsfanatic girl said...
THANKS FOR THE INFO! I KNOW MY APPETITE HAS BEEN INCREASING SO I WILL HAVE TO SEE AND KEEP YOU POSTED. I AM 5'4 AND WEIGH 100 POUNDS, SO A LIITLE WEIGHT GAIN WON'T HURT. I DO EXERCISES DAILY BECAUSE OF A BACK CONDITION SO WE WILL HAVE TO JUST SEE. THANKS!

I don't know if sportsfanatic girl still visits this site but i can somewhat relate to her. I am not trying to discourage anyone but when i started taking zoloft i weighed 102 lbs. and that was roughly 18 months ago. i did not really notice the weight gain until about the 6 months after starting the drug and it seemed like i went to sleep skinny one night and woke up fat. it was such a drastic weight change in such a short amount of time. i weighed in as 134lbs just 2 days ago!!!!! so if you really want to gain weight you are for sure going about it the right way using zoloft. good luck and i hope you don't regret wanting to gain weight. i do!!!!!

oh, forgot to add that my Dr. recommended Effexor if I find I need medication again because it tends to not be as bad with weight gain as some of the other meds. Hope I don't need any meds personally.

Well, I've lost a good amount of weight in the 7 weeks I've been off of Zoloft (about 10 lbs). That said, the weight that I gained was weird--it was very fatty and unlike any other weight I'd gained throughout my life. This "fattiness" fortunately also seems to be going away now (without, I should add, any particular exercise or diet regimen). But I think it's a weird phenomenon all the same. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? I'm referring to the actual consistency of the weight gained on zoloft. Also, if anyone has tips for reducing target areas (in my case, it's my belly!), I'm all ears.

UC Dude...I knew somebody would tell me that! My point had more to do with the type of weight gain on zoloft--there may indeed be someone out there who knows what I'm talking about and has weird tips regarding target areas...and if there is, I want those tips! You see, although it is a "fact" that target reducing doesn't work, it was also recently a "fact" that zoloft had nothing to do with weight gain. In the past 2 months, I've done nothing except for not taking zoloft, and have lost 10 lbs. For me, my experience completely debunks the common medical response that zoloft has nothing or little to do with weight gain. Likewise, maybe you can get rid of weird zoloft fat in target areas...even though target reducing supposedly doesn't work. Who knows...

Jay...Thanks for the encouragement...I really need it.  I am back on Zoloft but at a reduced amount. I was taking 150 mgs. Now I'm taking 100 mgs. and after the holidays I will wean myself to 50 mgs. Maybe I can even get down to 25 mgs.

I just HATE this!!!!!! I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my whole life and nothing fits. I'm not even starting to have trouble finding things I don't think I look hideous in in Plus Sizes!!!! And I really wasn't overweight before I started. I was just "normal" I think. Of course, looking back on it when I was much smaller I thought I was a cow then too so...

I just get so depressed about the weight. I feel so unattractive and like some kind of freak. People who know I'm on Zoloft and know the side effects are completely my cheering section but I can't go around with a button that says "I'm this way because I have to take Zoloft."

Still I know there must be some reason I have OCD and some reason God wants me to go through this. Maybe down the line the plan will be revealed. *sigh*

Sorry guys...I don't mean to be a downer but today it's really getting to me.

Congratulations though to those of you who have been able to get off and are starting to lose weight. Now you can go back to your doctors and say "See...I told you it was the Zoloft!"

Oxford25 said...
Wow. Thank God I found this message board.  I have been on zoloft for 5 years and have gained approx. 50 pounds.  I was usually between 190-200 and exercised regularly and have gradually gone up to 250 pounds.  I have been working out with a personal trainer for eight months and have been eating properly and have only been able to lose 5 pounds.  I wasn't sure what was happening because there was no way I was eating enough to justify a weight gain to 250!   I had no idea that zoloft caused weight gain.  I have tossed my pills and am going to my doctor tomorrow to try another anti-anxiety pill.  If I continue to exercise and eat properly, does anyone have any idea when I should expect the weight loss to start.  I have read that I may have to wait a couple of months before the effects are completely gone and the weight loss begins.  If anyone has any suggestions or personal stories, I'd be grateful to read them.  Thanks very much.

Oxford...You sound exactly like me...EXACTLY!!!!! I just wish I could toss my Zoloft but I just can't right now. It seems I always try to go off my meds around the holidays...like an idiot...and after last year I would just like to have a nice, happy holiday and try again in the summer. I'll be anxious to hear how you are progressing. Congratulations on getting a start.

i don't think that it is possible to lose weight while on any anti-depressent by dieting and exercise. i have tried everything to lose weight while on zoloft and nothing has worked i just continue to gain. i was even taking metabolife for a while and i kept gaining. the only way to lose the weight is to lose the meds.

jaymay said...
Snikers I agree with you about "God wanting you to go through it , for a outcome you will see in the future" .
Today for me i took the half pill of 25 mg --- (12.5) little weird but it was expected hopefully in fourteen days ill be off.
You should definetly lookinto taking Vitamin B;s and supplementing with natural methods to help wean you off, see if you can find a natural path.

THe holidays are coming up and i definetly want to have a good one. I figure i lived all my life with out meds and a year and a half on ........ i know !!!! (Positive) ill be ok.

Oh yea and snikers you could have been having withdrawl sypmtoms everytime i go down a dose i dont feel great untill a week later --- HOW FAST DID YOU COME OFF???

bye take care

Oh I was silly and came off cold turkey...Now I guess I'm trying to wean myself off...We'll give it a real go after the holidays. *sigh* It's just so frustrating but I'm glad I found this place where I can talk about it and others understand.