Going off medication

Alessa71

Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a good day.

I haven't posted in a community like this in years because I have not had confusion about my weight and eating for some time. however, I took anti-anxiety (Zoloft) medication for about four months ending in May. I did not gain on it and even lost a few lbs as I was really stressed. I have been eating relatively low carb, high protein, moderate fat for nearly 15 years and exercise daily. I was at an ok weight before the meds and lost those few lbs that wouldn't budge before. I was also stressed and not enjoying food much, so even before that I had lost a few. Once I went off I started to gain slowly though my hunger and eating was the same (and quite regimented so easy to notice) and am now a couple of pounds higher than before but still eating less. My main vice is artificial sweetener (including diet coke) which I have probably abused for over twenty years so nothing new. I live in the city and walk about 4 miles per day and also do yoga and/or barre classes most days and other resistance once a week. I typically do a spin class once a week too.

I am trying to figure out this gain. Could it be a response to the medication, or to the two years when I have been stressed and eating less so perhaps setting myself up to have a hard time maintaining? I should note the stress has not left by any means, so I'm still never really indulging. I am not sleeping quite enough, but that too has been going on for two years so not sure why it would impact my weight now suddenly.

Thanks for any ideas.

Alessa

TigerAlum09

I'm not sure about Zoloft, but when I was on Lithium, it affected how my body retained water, so I would bloat/drop water weight in really weird, unpredictable ways. I'm not sure if it's different because Lithium is a salt (not the same as table salt obviously, but I only got a C in organic chem, so I'm kind of reaching here) but maybe it's just your body reacting to the chemical change and it will balance out in a few weeks?

I have super bad anxiety too and I know how hard it can make weight loss. Hope things keep going well and the stress stays manageable!

vismal

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. In order to gain weight you must eat more calories then you burn in a day. To maintain weight you must eat right around what you burn in a day. If you gained weight after coming of medication, it would be from consuming an excess of calories. If you are not eating any more then when you were on the meds then you some how must be burning less. The zoloft should not have affected your metabolism. Has your physical activity level changed? Diet soda has zero calories and such can not be the culprit here. Do you track your calories? How can you be sure you are eating exactly the same amount now as you were before? Eating just an extra banana per day can work out to gaining an extra pound each month.

Alessa71

Thanks for the feedback. I mentioned the diet coke and use of sweeteners because I have read articles on longterm impact on metabolism and blood sugar, so I am wondering if that could have kicked in after many years. Activity is steady. I am starting to track calories now but wasn't tracking before the recent gain, so I won't be able to compare exactly. Before this gain I was at my lowest in many years (and arguably lower than necessary I guess).

RodaRose

It is hard to know exactly because you were not tracking before like you are now. It is not the soda. It could be coming off the Zoloft. Those meds the docs give us have side effects that are not well studied.