Zoloft and weight gain/loss

jay-tea

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and blame zoloft for my inability to lose weight.

I got on it in July 2009 (and off Effexor) prior to TTC my second.. I weighed 142 at that dr's appt.  In October, after a BFP I weighed in at 150ish.  I miscarried in November and weighed 155.. I attributed it to the pregnancy.  In March 2010 I got another BFP and weighed 162 at my intake.  In April I miscarried and weighed about 165.  In June I was pregnant again and quit the zoloft cold turkey.  I went down to 160 before heading up in the weight gain for that pregnancy.

I weighed 177 when I had DS (Feb 2011) and got down to about 168 by about June and restarted the zoloft.  I now weigh 160ish.  The weight has not budged in months.  I track my diet, I exercise.. sometimes it will go down a few pounds.. but even basic math should tell me there is something going on.

So, I'm on a different med and weaning the zoloft, but I guess my point is.. has anyone else had a problem on zoloft with weight?

BlackStallion

No, I was on it for 4 years and it didn't affect my weight at all.  How often are you exercising and do you eat junk food?

jay-tea

I run ~20 miles a week, do step once and lift weights two times a week with two rest days. I eat back my calories and stick to around 1300 calories on top of that. I rarely eat fried food and dont eat refined sugars. I usually drink water, but have diet soda maybe 3 times a week. I have coffee every morning.. No cream or sugar, just black. Oh, and oatmeal with flax seed for breakfast.

jay-tea

I do have an unhealthy obsession with peanut butter and chocolate, which tends to get worse around easter. However, i do account for those calories.

jdbmjm

I was on zoloft for a year or two, and it didn't seem to make a difference for me. Adding wellbutrin made me drop weight really quickly at first, then it stopped. Other meds have not seemed to have any effect that I have noticed. Your weight gain has been gradually increasing, which I would think would be less likely to be associated with the meds (though everyone is different, and it is possible).  I would try to really carefully account for everything you are eating, and maybe not eating back all of the calories you are burning (I tend to over estimate how many calories I burned/ under estimate how many I'm eating). You might need to mix up your exercise and food. 

MaineWifey

I was actually just speaking with a therapist friend of mine about Zoloft a couple of days ago.  She said that Zoloft is one of the meds that many doctors prescribe for patients with anorexia or bulimia due to it's pretty common side affect of weight gain.   

She said that weight gain is a very common side affect of many similar types of drugs.

beebe929

Get off it now!! I was on it during my last pgcy and then after she was born.  My pregnancy weight fell off like the first time and I was BFing, then I hit a wall, no matter what I did I could not lose.  It took me a while to put 2 and 2 together.  Once I was off it I could actually lose weight the normal way.

It is a common s/e, it isn't a main one, and often gets over looked.

Good luck, I am on wellbutrin now and doing well.