Zoloft And Weight Gain

guynoir said...
I started Zoloft in April 2003 and used it until October 2004 with favorable results. I gained 20 or so pounds ( that was with regular trips to the gym) and by the end I felt flat, unmotivated and unemotional. I weaned from 100 mg to 50 to none. From there I had a pretty easy time of it - it was a pretty good year actually. My emotions came back, I was feeling comfortable in my day to day life and hit the gym with plenty of cardio - I think I took a lot of the fat off. I can't really say how much in pounds but my clothes definitely fit better. That took about 6-9 months/

I took a new job recently that I believe is a great opportunity. Within a month I started to suffer from panic and obsessive thinking. Everything about the job - traffic, travel, responsibilities. I was not sleeping, my heart was constantly racing and I could not stop thinking about it all. Last week I went back on Zoloft (50 mg) to hopefully get me through this transition. The panic and obsessive thinking has already started to subside.

I have a great fear of gaining weight again - feeling (and looking) fat and unattractive, but I have to get through the next 6 months of my job because it will get more intense from here. I guess I have to deal with the trade off and hope I can stem the weight gain as best as possible. In my head I am thinking I am 37, single and if I gain weight - who will want me? Its quite daunting and a bit depressing.

and they call it an antidepressant

This is exactly the same thing I think to myself every single day!!!!! And it just makes me furious that there has to be a tradeoff at all. I know no one is attracted to me. How can they be? I'm not even attractive to myself...does that make sense? I've always had self esteem issues but this makes them even worse!

Good luck on your new job and let's all keep coming here and talking...It sure has helped me a lot!

no problem snikers were all here to lend the support. im so happy i found this message board. 

hopefully ill never have to go back on meds again. !!!!

Hey Klt are you completley off?  I saught out a profesional in natural meds. i usually take 5htp 100mg in the morn. then through out the day i take theanine which is green tea and it relaxes you. and i usually drink vitamin water rich in bvitamins. but everyones diff. make sure you can take these if your on any meds. 

Here is my story:

I had a baby in Jan. 2005.  Since I was having some difficulty with my hormones adjusting, I went to my doc. and asked for help - I had heard hormones are sometimes given to help level out a new mom.  Instead, I was told that I probably was having some post-partum depression. (This was 8 weeks post-partum). Then I was prescribed Zoloft - 100 mg. per day.

It really seemed to help me function better and deal with things and as many have said "not worry about the little things".  However, more sleep might have also helped me.  As a new mom - I was not getting more than 2-3 hrs. of sleep at a time for 5 1/2 months. 

I lost 25 pounds during my first month and a half after the birth of my baby.  However, over the next few months I slowly gained back ALL of that weight, despite the fact that I was breasfeeding.  (BTW I do think it was more flabby weight than when I was pregnant).  So I began feeling very bad about the fact that I could not seem to lose weight, despite a pretty healthy diet and burning plenty of calories breastfeeding and caring for a newborn.

I joined a gym and worked out about 4-5 days a week for over a month and lost about 1-2 pounds.  That's it.  I am a healthy eater - I had my times of cravings for carbs and extra calories from breastfeeding, but that went away some time ago.  I became extremely self conscious, especially around my family and my husband's family.  I thought perhaps I would lose weight if I stopped breastfeeding because my hormone levels would level out.  However, when I thought about how healthy and happy my baby was, I decided that I would rather him be taken care of, even if that meant me not losing weight.

I took myself off of Zoloft about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks ago and definitely did not properly wean myself off the meds.  However, I had NO idea that I could experience withdrawal symptoms.  I began feeling lightheaded, dizzy, lost balance, (even fell down once), felt that I was slipping, was very edgy, everything would set me off and make me impatient and intolerable to others.  I had EXTREME muscle pains - has anyone else experience muscle pains in the back?  

Finally, I went to the doctor.  Told them of my problems.  Let them know that I was desperately trying to figure out what was wrong. I also told them that no matter how little I ate I could not lose weight - I am still breastfeeding and do not consume more that 1200-1500 calories on a daily basis.  I don't eat fast food, junk, drink soda very rarely, etc.  I let them know that something is very wrong.

They took blood to check my thyroid and sent me home.  Things got worse and worse and I really thought something was going to happen to me - something bad like falling while I was carrying my baby or passing out, etc.  Then I talked to the doc. office again desperately trying to get help - was told thyroid test was normal.  Then they told me to go back on Zoloft and that my symptoms were common with people who went off of the meds.  (WHY did someone not tell me this when I was at the doctor's office?) 

So, I began taking the meds again.  Then I started doing searches on the web for side effects of Zoloft because I was concerned, and I was not sure if the nurse practitioner knew what she was talking about.  I truly wish that she would have let me know that people can experience terrible WITHDRAWAL symptoms and that was the truth about my experience.  She could have cared less just trying to get me out of the way because she was dealing with me over the phone.

I did not expect to find out that it causes weight gain when I did my internet search about Zoloft and cannot believe that many of you have experienced the same withdrawal symptoms.  Thank you all for sharing your info. so that I know I am not crazy and everything that I was feeling was the result of these meds. 

Now I have got to get off of it...who knows how much of the trace minute amounts are getting into my baby through breastmilk!!!  I want to be healthy and I want to be skinny and pretty again.

.

Well, I don't even want to know just how much weight I have gained. I am terrified to get on the scale. My guess is that I have gained about 30-40 pounds. I have absolutely no clothes that fit. I lost my job, and when I needed something to wear for an interview, I was totally freaked out that only size 20 clothes fit me at the store!!! I have no energy to do anything anymore. I am always tired, and am hungry all the time. Everyday I wake up, and my face seems to be bigger than the night before.

Anyway, I have really become quite concerned, and after thinking about my situation, I began to wonder if the Zoloft is the reason for all of this. I have noticed a lot of press lately about how teens on anti-depressants are more likely to commit suicide, and that really confused the hell out of me. I thought the purpose of anti-depressents is to PREVENT things like that from happening. News like that made me start wondering about the Zoloft I have been taking. I used to be a very social person, always with a lot of friends. I moved to this area in March 04 and didn't know anyone, but I have always moved around alot and never had difficulty making friends. This is the first time in my 47 years that I have lived somewhere for almost 2 years, don't have any friends, haven't dated, haven't gone anywhere. I've become reclusive. This is simply just not like me. I got up this morning and did an internet seach on Zoloft and weight gain, but didn't really expect to find too much about it. When I first began taking Zoloft, the big talk about it was that people usually LOST weight. So, what a surprise, and I might add, a great relief it was to find this forum where so many people seem to have experienced the same things I have been experiencing.

Do any of you know of a support group online where people in our situation help each other out while we get off this drug, and try to lose weight and recoup our personalities? Thanks to everyone for your posts on this subject because I was really beginning to think that all of this weight gain was just because I have become a lazy slug.