Back on Zoloft
Hi,
I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder in 1996 and have been on meds ever since. However, it wasn’t until 2004 that I put on 35lbs. My doctor decided to put me on luvox and it has been down hill ever since. I have since been on celexa and lexapro and now zoloft with wellbutrin. Needless to say I lost about 15lbs and have switched doctors. I exercise 6/7 days of week for about an hour and 1/2. I’ve tried to go off my meds and I just fall apart. I was so excited to find this group. I need some hope. I need to lose about 25lbs and I need to know that people can. I can’t wait to hear from you.
Victoria
4 Responses to 'Back on Zoloft'
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on July 25th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Hello Victoria,….Welcome
I also have panic disorder and have gained weight on the medication. I have to stay on the medication because of the
panic attacks. There is a lot of support here with this group although there
is no magic diet to lose weight quickly. Im still learning from the others
here about health and fitness which plays a big part in stopping the weight gain and how to lose some weight.
Mary
on July 25th, 2007 at 11:56 am
I’ve been here for over a year now and have experienced
very similar problems with panic disorder. There are many causes of panic
disorder. I was put on the meds for over seven years and not once was any
bloodwork done or therapy ordered. In the past year I had two nurse
practitioners (female) take the time to ask the same questions I have had for
years. We found I was subclinical hypothyroid at first, my readings were still
with in the normal range but at the higher end, and with having the panic
attacks they made the link. By the way the thyroid is one of the primary causes
of panic disorder I have now learned. Generally triggered by a stressful event
or period of time (most illnesses are) and very treatable. Most recently I had
more bloodwork done which proved that I my hormones were the other missing link
to the panic attacks. I went through menopause about ten years early and now
I’m 48 and am post menopausal. I started putting the most weight on after I was
on the meds about 4 years. The average weight gain on the meds is 8-10 lbs
which I put on in the first year. One of the functions of the meds is to create
a feeling of apathy so that nothing seems to bring about high levels of raw
emotion. This generates into all areas of your life including food intake and
motivation to exercise. Prior to the meds I was running regularly and very fit,
not so anymore. I did lose 25 lbs or so on the meds the final year, and
literally starved myself to get there, the result was a 50 lb weight gain the
same year because I did not exercise to maintain muscle. The majority of weight
I lost was muscle and lean mass not all fat. So I had no muscle left when I
began eating again. I’m off the meds now for a year and lost 20 lbs last year.
I’m still working on losing the rest this year, it’s very difficult post
menopause, much slower.
To address your situation. Whatever you do don’t stop the cardio as you have
now set your body up to function with it. You may want to incorporate HIIT
(high intensity interval training). Type this into the Google toolbar and you
will get some great info. Next step is to start lifting weights and increase
your muscle strength, this will speed up your metabolism and help you burn fat
instead of muscle. If you are doing cardio over one hour in your target heart
rate zone you body is using your own muscle for fuel, the muscle you need to
burn the fat. I would cut back to under one hour, or better yet, split your
sessions into two separate sessions (am and pm) this will work more effectively
to burn fat and raise the metabolism.
The reason you go nuts immediately after going off the meds is a reaction of
detox from the meds and not your normal recovered self. It’s typical for docs
to withdraw you too quickly by skipping days and dropping doses too rapidly.
Study the detox program on the website as this is how most of us have been able
to withdraw safely. Do look into the side effects of a rapid withdrawal from
antidepressants (think Columbine High School), it takes several months before
all the side effects are out of your system. Do not let the docs persuade you
it’s in your head, they are funded by the drug companies.
What you feel you need to lose and what your body will do on the drugs is two
separate issues, you will have to really work at perfecting the skill of
diet/exercise/mental training to get it. The meds affect your body’s leptin
levels which have a metabolic slowing process. It can be done, but it’s no
overnight program. You will have to really monitor your meals and round out
your exercise with both strength training and cardio, instead of the cardio
queen. The more weight you have gained on the meds I think the more difficult
it is to lose. You you had gained ten pounds or less it’s pretty easy to
return to your old body, but now your body is set up to function at it’s current
level. Please look through some of our previous posts for favorite websites and
answers to questions. If you stay on the meds expect to retain about 10-15 lbs
over your goal weight, this is something you cannot control. You are fortunate
you are not on any antipsychotic meds, those will cause a weight gain of 100
pounds!!
We are all here to help you through the process. By the way, my panic disorder
is practically non existent now after being on thyroid meds and using
progesterone cream. So it’s not a life sentence!! Find the physical cause
first and the rest will follow.
on July 25th, 2007 at 11:57 am
2 Mark
Thanks for getting back to me so soon. It is nice to know that there are people
out there like myself. My new doctor is great. She had me go to an
endorcrinologist and I get blood levels every six months. I downloaded the
websight fitren.com and downloaded the book. Unfortunately, Panic Disorder
can be traced back three generations on my mother’s side and added to that, I
suffer from OCD and PTSD. I had a very traumatic early childhood. My sister is
also on Zoloft but she hasn’t had any weight trouble. I am only on 50mg and my
doctor said that she is hopeful that the wellbutrin will help stabalize the
weight difficulty. I just want it gone. However, I’m willing to work at it. I
hope to hear from you soon. I sometimes get so down on myself I need the
support.
Victoria
on July 25th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Same family history here as well, sister is a mess also, my mom and grandmother
also had it. No one knew what it was back then, and I still see hormone related
issues in all of them. Hysterectomies on every woman in the family except my
sister and I. Don’t count on Wellbutrin helping with the weight issue. Sorry
to be so negative, but we have found that if you gain weight from any meds it’s
in your DNA and you will respond pretty much the same no matter what meds you
are on. This is why your sister doesn’t gain weight and you do, simple DNA
differences. Wellbutrin is not an antipanic med anyways so I’m wondering why
your doc is going in this direction except out of desperation. Are you in
therapy to help you make permanent changes in your OCD or PTSD? Cognitive
therapy is very effective for changing the way you behave, and I hope you can
get some help. This is not necessarily a lifelong sentence, genetics being a
factor, but environment, habitual thinking, and learned behavior play huge roles
in your ability to change your life. Chemical imbalances have been proven time
and again to change with cognitive therapy. I highly recommend the book
www.depressionisachoice.com It will open
your eyes. I at one time bought the story of chemical brain imbalance and
genetics and would stand on my soap box and justify why I was like I was. At
that time we had no case studies showing what one could do with cognitive
therapy as no drug company would fund it. Times are changing, and I want to
encourage you to start taking steps now to take control back of your life
instead of looking for magical answers in a bottle. Anti depressants were never
tested or intended for long term use, and the medical community has ridden this
horse because the drug companies and insurance companies make millions off your
addiction to their meds. I think short term these meds can help create
permanent changes with therapy, as they certainly did for me, but eventually we
have to face the music and decide we are ready to let go of childhood trauma and
pain.
Society in general has always begged for the pain to go away and be gone
tomorrow. So industry has chosen to make it a multi zillion dollar business.
You want to get rich? Write a diet book!! Tell people they can lose 15-20
pounds in a month, it’s bogus unless you are 100 pounds overweight, but it
sells.
The thoughts we focus on, generally driven by raw emotion, create our reality.
Our mind is a wonderful student, but a terrible leader. Most of us have learned
through our family to live by emotion, after all Love is a huge beginning. But
your feelings are not who you are, if you are depressed that is an emotion, not
part of you at all, but like a virus in the brain. Learning to take control and
chose how you will live regardless of your feelings is the key to overcoming a
negative way of life. It sounds like you have struggled for the majority of
your life, and my heart goes out to you. I’m hoping this is the beginning of
permanent life changes for you!!
Mark