weight loss after zoloft

I was also wondering if anyone who has come off the zoloft has noticed that thier hair hasn't been falling out like before.  I use to find hair all over the bathroom sink and floor not to mention the shower drain!  Now that were zoloft free the hair loss is not their like before.  At point we even had her thyroid checked because of hair loss, rapid weight gain, and her lack of energy.  As we all know now they are side effects of the zoloft.  And all can be true of birth control pills too.  My best friend was told at her yearly that when on birth control weight gain and the ability to lose it is a very common side effect, just like the zoloft as we know it.  It seems it all comes back to the insulin resistance from the meds and how they react to our hormones.  This must be why some gain and some don't.

Hi I just wanted to let everyone know that I have lost 14 pounds so far its going slow but at least its going there is hope everyone don't give up  I know it gets discouraging just keep working at it and you'll see results

Jessica

I have been off zoloft since late september early october.....and just in the last couple of months the weight  started to come off but not without alot of work. I'm at the gym 4-5 times a week and watching what I eat.

 I gained everywhere but  alot in my stomach and my face   . Just keep working hard on it....It will start to come off it just takes time

Here is one website that will explain more about zoloft and weight gain.

here is also another website that may be more crediable, WEBMD. They put out an article a while ago titled

Is your medicine cabinet making you fat?

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/113/110878.htm

Also i had my nutritionist do some research for me and she actually found some info in her text book from school. in the book it sates that zoloft not only causes a lot of water retention, but it also tends to reduce thyroid function, which is a main hormone to regulate metabolism. in the articles listed above it is mentioned that the cause of weight is because the metabolism slows. Everywhere i look it seems to give the same explanation. as far as how long it will take to lose the weight, apparently it depends on several factors such as how long the drug was taken and age. Also mentioned that it takes the body and the hormones about 1 year just to return to normal levels.

i do believe in the information i just shared. i remember that i was taking welbutrin and celexa a long time ago and gianed 20 lbs. it took about a year or a little more for me to return to my regular weight.

i do believe that exercise and dieting helps the process move a little faster but not much. once the body regulates itself again the weight will come off just as fast as it seemed to come on. i have been through this before. everyone just needs to hang in there. i am not trying to play doctor or anything and i am giving this information based on my own personal experience and the information that i have gathered and that was gathered and given to me.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!!!   

Post Edited By Moderator (els) : 4/19/2006 4:36:15 PM (GMT-6)

Hey MMMNavy, Thank you sooooo much for posting this.  So very many people look toward miracle answers, fab diets and over the counter diet drugs which are potentially harmful to help them lose weight.  When I started on antidepressants I did gain weight.  I am NOT a chemist so I am not in the position to say if it was the medication or just the depression as both do have the potential to make us gain weight. 

I also started to gain more when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001 and was put on and interferon injection along with multiple oral medications which made me feel like crap.  It all is a vicious cycle and realizing that you are the only one to take your life and weight control into your own hands is impowerment over your weight loss and the depression to gaining it.

I did try phentrimine which is the second part of Phen Phen, the the Pondamine which was the damaging part to the heart they took off the market have all the law suits regarding.  Phentrimine is save to take but I found it lost its effect after sometime.  And with my MS it didnt mesh well with my other meds.  So, I changed courses and did a modified Atkins diet, cut out carbs and sugers, I do still eat whole wheat grains though but in moderation.  And like you I have hit the gym pretty hard.  Cardio for at least one hour, abs class twice a week but I also do them at home too, and weights 3-4 times a week.  They say you have to add in weights inorder to inhance any kind of weight loss as this makes the muscles burn the fat cells. 

I am amazed at my weight loss.  And congrats to you on yours, it is truley an amazing accomplishment!  To those who are on antidepressants and seeing a change in weight speak to your doc about this and consider modifying your lifestyle/eating habits.  Exercise to keep the weight off is wonderful for depression just as Navy stated, this is the #1 reported complaint with antid's.  Personally I would rather sweat alittle at the gym then suffer with depression...but that is just me...

Take care all

Hi Kitty34, Welcome to Healing Well forum.  I was on Zoloft at 200mg for several years and I did very well on it also.  It is a wonderful medication...but your right it will pack on the lb's. 

I dont take it anymore as it pooped out on me after 7 years of being on it and I went through a major illness that the Zoloft couldnt stand up to or maybe the depression broke through...I dont know which.

However, before I went off the Zoloft I did do some research and changed my diet and actually started to lose some of the weight that I had gained while on the medication. 

The key isnt in all these fad diets it is in watching and learning how to read the labels of what you buy.  Staying away from anything that says it has or is made with enriched flour or or enriched wheat flour has been refined and bleached so these are bad...and yes that means having to go to whole grains and wheats.  Enriched flour or white breads are processed in your body as insulin and then stored to fat cells.  Also, on the label of a product your getting ready to buy says it has sugar or high fructose corn syrup in the first 5 ingredients dont buy it.  Sugars should be further down on the label.  You also want to stay away from Trans Fats/Saturated fats as this is fat that is extremely bad for your heart and cholestrol levels and increases your risk for heart disease.  These fats indicate that the product has animal fats in it so you want to keep that as low as possible.  And lastly, watch your carb intake.  You dont have to go drastic like some people do but if you limit your carb's you will be surprised at how much weight will come off just from that alone.

Learning how to eat right was very important for me as I am a heart patient and also have MS so diet is always a concern.  But as I post above I exercise also and right now I am wearing a size 6 which I havent worn since I was in junior high.  I still take an antidepressant and many more medications that have warnings on weight gain.  So I truly do believe that if you take care of what you eat and maintain it...dont think of it as a diet but a lifestyle change for the better then you will get back to where you want to be.  I will post a link to this label thing here and if you want to message me via e-mail my addy is under my username...please feel free.

Take care

 http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodlab.html

It had never occured to me that Zoloft may have been the cause of my weight gain until I was told to look at this page.
I've been taking Zoloft for about seven years, I think. I started out at a low dosage but recently it's been increased to... I think 150 milligrams, because of 'Obsessive thoughts'. I take so much because I have severe Anxiety, not depression. I'd say that when I started taking the pill I was very small... about 80 pounds. (Mind you, I was 7 years old.) Now I'm 150-160, (it fluctuates) just below overweight for my age/ height. It sure isn't making myself any less self-conscious to know that I'm bordering on overweight. I don't appear to have gained as much weight as many of you have said, but I still feel that I have been affected.

I think that I have a relatively healthy diet, and I excersize for 2+ hours about four times a week, plus my running around three floors in my school and walking 1/2 a mile to and from the bus stop. I don't think my diet is the problem either; I'm a vegitarian and I am partial to Asian- particularily Japanese- foods. Thus, i eat a lot of vegetables, grain, and fruit, and a moderate amount of dairy. Although, ever since I started taking Zoloft, I do seem to be hungrier and I eat more; these might be affected because I hit puberty in this time period.

I think I will come off Zoloft, not only because of the weight gain, but because other symptoms- (Forgetfullness, increse in panic attacks, difficulty sleeping, difficulty keeping track of time and other things, loss of concentration, etc) have worsened since I had an increase of medication. Also, the symptom it was originally set to reduce has only lessened in occurence, not severity. I'm trying to say that Obsessive Thoughts occur about 50% less of the time they used to, but when they do, they are much more severe.

I am glad I found this thread(and the other one that was locked in 2005). Please reply if this forum is still active. Thank you! =D