Someone help, having problems with weight and medication

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ivanna3298
ivanna3298 Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been suffering from social anxiety disorder since I was 14. I can't relate to people or anyone and never had any friends in school. I was always a loner with no friends to hang out with in school and I would never talk to anyone in class.I would only go out with my family on holidays and weekends only and nobody else. I never went to a party in my life, have a night our, or anything. It didn't really bother me but when I turned 18 I realized how horrible my situation and started going to therapy. I felt so depressed and I want to live a normal life. I need to take medication such as antidepressants but I really don't want to take it. I used to be really fat before and 3 years ago I started working out at the gym everyday and lost a huge amount of weight which made me happy. Then a year later I started medication and was put on Paxil. Ever since then I gained 10 pounds and no matter how healthy I eat and no matter how much I exercised, I couldn't lose that weight. For 2 years I saw no results in my workout and healthy lifestyle. A week ago, I quit medication because I felt so frustrated and I'm finally losing all my weight which I'm extremely happy about. But now during the day I get depressed and my social anxiety increased. I want to take medication again but even with medication I still couldn't make any friends. I'm crying everyday because I feel I need to take medication but If I did that then I will never have the body I always wanted. The next time I meet my therapist I want to tell her that I want to change medication. I was thinking of Zoloft, which is similar to Paxil, but I'm not sure. Should I take medication and let it ruin my body or is my mental health more important than looking good? I really feel like i'm in an abyss right now and I want to start being happy. What should I do? Can I one day just get over my problem and stop using medication? Will sertraline also make me gain weight?

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  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
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    Do you count calories when you're on the meds? To my understanding, the reason some people put on weight with this kind of medication is because they can increase appetite and cravings and also decrease energy and cause drowsiness, rather than actually cause your body to gain fat differently. I could be wrong though :) Maybe you discuss with your therapist/doctor about options that don't have these effects. When I was on Lexapro for depression and social anxiety I found that it made me really drowsy so I never exercised, but my doc was able to prescribe me a small amount of edronax also which boosted my energy a bit.

    What kind of non-medcation therapies have you tried? Have you had any success with CBT? I did another one called Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT) which I found very helpful. Hopefully you are talking to your therapist about your weight issues and feelings around that as well. I've had social anxiety issues as well (mostly mild-moderate with a few isolated episodes of panic) but I'm managing it now with the ACT and regular exercise which works super well for me. I really hope you find something that works for you, feel free to add me as a friend if you need someone to talk to!
  • tangiemilligan
    tangiemilligan Posts: 3 Member
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    I would talk to your Dr. and see if changing medication would help. I am on Wellbutrin and when I first went on it, I lost 15 pounds without trying. Wellbutrin has less side effects than the other anti-depressants.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Look into Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
    Good daily routines help with depression: sufficient sleep, exercise, sunshine, . . .
  • tara_means_star
    tara_means_star Posts: 957 Member
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    Medications effect everyone differently. For instance, you gained on Paxil and I'm losing on Paxil. Others see no weight difference whatsoever. That being said, if one medication--Paxil for instance--isn't working like you'd want, another med may do the trick.

    I don't think Zoloft is going to be what you are looking for--you need an antidepressant that treats depression as well as social anxiety. I'm not positive, but I believe Effexor does that.

    The therapist that you are seeing, do you know what type of therapy that they are using with you? I ask because this is my area of expertise and I do know that certain therapies are better for certain problems. There are also therapists that specialize in treating social anxiety.
  • xmissbehaved56x
    xmissbehaved56x Posts: 12
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    Wellbutrin is probably your best option since it will make you lose weight. My doctor told me it is made from a substance similar to the main ingredient in adderall and if you know anything about adderall it causes elevated mood and weight loss. It is an antidepressant that works very well so don't let the fact that is has a similar ingredient deter you. I felt more social and not depressed at all when I was on it.
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    As a former pharma rep, no psych drug works 100% for 100% of the people and no drug is 100% side effect free. It is wrong to think that just switching to another antidepressant will magically fix any of the probs that the OP has. My suggestion is to not just discontinue any of these psych meds (looking at the warnings, ALL drugs that affect mood or anxiety disorders can be adversely affected) by stopping cold turkey.

    Talk to your doctor, first and foremost. They know your condition best and need to know what you are thinking. Try to switch up what you are eating. My understanding if these drugs is limited, but they may increase your insulin resistance so you might want to reduce your carb intake to something like a prediabetic would. Try switching up your macros and see if this helps a little bit with weight loss.

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