Zoloft for Anxiety

Hey,
I have been struggelling with a general anxiety disorder and a social phobia, and i started having panic attacks and going through severe depression and so zoloft was prescribed to me.
I have been reading about zoloft in the depression section and they all talk about how horrible it is and how it makes you gain weight
My doctor says that it is not addictive and has no withdrawal symptoms
many websites also say that as long as you maintain a healthy diet and exercise 30 mins a day most days a week , you should gain weight
Is there anybody out there who is taking zoloft and is happy with the results and able to maintain their weight?
Is it possible ?
thats all i want to know coz the reviews ive been getting are all hopeless and horrible but i cannot keep living with my anxiety

zoloft was kind of a godsend for me when i started taking it initially. was having some sever panic and anxiety and OCD troubles. it made things worse for me at first but eventually made everything better. and once i hit that point, after a month and a half or so, everything was grand - and stayed that way pretty much for about 7-8 years. then i think it stopped working and everything came back. and i think i also began to be a very angry person. what i've discovered is that it seems the zoloft did indeed flatten my emotions and kind of level me out, which was a good thing for a long while. but once it stopped working to help the anxiety (the last 3 years have been rough but i kept taking it because i was afraid not to), the flattened emotions sort of turned into anger because i didn't really seem to care if i was hurting my family. hard to explain, but basically when i stopped taking the zoloft a few months ago i became a different person - much nicer to be around (at least as far as my wife is concerned) and much more involved. but of course i've also had some issues come back like obsessional thoughts and more anxiety and depression. i am hoping i can be strong and fight through this and use CBT to manage my issues. and i am hoping maybe my serotonin system is still a little off and will come back to a level where i am able to manage easier. i think just taking the pills in the first place without having the mental tools to understand my problems caused me to suffer more the last few years. sometimes i wish i could have gone back and fought through them without meds in the first place. but i really was struggling and did need something. i think the biggest problem was my doctor kept saying if the meds were working just keep taking them. for life if i have to. i wish he'd talked to me about weaning off them after a year or so to see if i could manage on my own. because another issue was definitely the weight gain. i was lucky in that for a year or year and a half i did not gain any weight. but it eventually started and i ultimately gained about 60 pounds after many years on the meds. i lost about 30 pounds after a few years of taking the meds but gained it back quickly (so i guess it's possible to lose the weight while on the medication). i've just lost another 30 of it since stopping (though i have been exercising and eating much better and doing weight watchers). i think it mainly makes your appetite go crazy and slows your metabolism. but maybe i'm wrong about that. it's hard to say for sure. oh, and my sex drive, which was cut pretty dramatically by the meds, has come back as well.

so, i think zoloft or any other ssri can be a very effective and helpful tool when you're in the midst of some major anxiety and depression. but perhaps consider it as a short term aid to help you get the strength you need to work on things on your own with the ultimate goal not to be on it for life. then again, i don't disparage anyone who does need it long-term. there are certainly cases much worse than mine. and even now i am considering getting back on them at some point. i just think the jury may still be out about how these meds really work and how effective they are long-term. and i think there are so many ways you can help yourself get better besides or in addition to meds. i wouldn't be scared of them. they can work wonders. but also be prepared for the side-effects and for them not to work. many people have to try several to get the right one. i guess i was lucky in that the first one i tried worked great for me. and for a long time.
'SSRI poop out' is a common occurrence and it's when these meds work for a while and then just stop. sometimes it happens after 6 months, sometimes after 6 years. then i guess people often switch to another one or take a break and go back on later. i can't say for sure if you'll be able to maintain your weight. i guess it partly depends on the person. many have said that even with exercise and good diet they gained. but not all. and as for withdrawal, i think a lot of people do have bad withdrawal. but it can be minimized if you taper slowly. and in my case i had been taking a high dose for many years and stopped with very little problems aside from some dizziness. and i know other people who've had few withdrawal symptoms as well. and those who've had no withdrawal with one drug, then terrible withdrawal on another. just depends.

sorry for the length. hope some of this helps. best of luck!

I have had good results with Zoloft.  I've been on 100mg for about a year now.  I started out on Paxil around 9 years ago and it worked great but I went off of it due to major weight gain.  I then tried Lexapro, then Wellbutrin, then Prozac, and then Cymbalta which helped alittle but I never felt quite 100% and then I was put on Zoloft.  I haven't experienced any side effects.  No weight gain!!!  Recently my anxiety has been acting up but I attribute that to not working for the past 3 months and unable to find a job.  It sucks because these meds are all trial and error.  You just got to try and see what works best for you.  Good luck.