Getting fit while taking antidepressant/antianxiety medicati

I've been on Zoloft for about 3.5 years. I gain and lose as normal.

There's no reason you can't lose weight while on these medications. The weight gain is behaviour based, not due to the meds IMO.

I respectfully disagree with this too. I followed Weight Watchers while I was on Zoloft for several months and lost nothing, then I was switched to wellbutrin and followed the same plan, same amount of exercise and I ended up losing close to 65 lbs in 10 months. I truly think it depends on your body chemistry. Each person is so unique, a medication that may make person A gain weight, won't necessarily have the same effect on person B. My hubby is a Physician Assistant and we have had many conversations about this. He said his patients all experience different side effects some gain some lose, some stay the same when starting certain SSRI's. Just have to find what works for you!!!

As a nurse... I totally agree with you. Everyone is different. Check with your doctor about possible side effects, etc . Best of Luck to you!!

I am on Wellbutrin. It has helped supress my appietite and control impulsive eating.
It also gives me the energy that I did not have before.
I just started this med 3 weeks ago and I am down 5lbs. I have been working out and following a diet plan as well though. I think the wellbutrin has just given me back the energy I needed!

I can only speak for myself. When I went to my doctor for the first time (I'd moved to a new city and needed a new GP), I first shared with him the list of medications I was on. I then talked to him about my desire to lose weight. He said, "Well, I'll tell ya' part of the problem. Your Cymbalta."

He switched me to Welbuterin right away. While I was going through withdrawals, I was a major pain in the butt to my hubby. Once the withdrawal was over and I got back to "normal", I started losing weight normally.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, it depends on what type of antidepressant/antianxiety medication you're on. Talk to your doctor and see if you need to make a switch.

Wellbutrin has been known to help people lose weight but other antidepressants can mess with your metabolism like prozac and cause them to not only gain weight but make it difficult to lose.

You can lose weight. I really cannot say that it changed anything about my weight loss. Don't worry about them, and don't use them as an excuse. I did not and I have lost.

I've been taking Effexor since January, and was concerned about the weight gain. Happy to say I've been losing steadily and have more energy and focus to exercise and get things done around the house and with the kids.

never lost weight while on them i have a history of depression/anxiety and either stalled weightloss or was so numb to life i didn't care at all but i have to say i have not had the best of docs with my diagnosis of fibromyalgia they put me back on some and i gained 10 in one month i craved everything i slowly got off of it since have lost 48lbs however my life choices of friends and things like (basically i have low tolerance of negative people to better help me out LOL) that have helped with my anxiety/depression as well as the way i eat so iv been able to control it with out but if u really need it just research and like iv been reading here iv heard great things about welbutrin i broke out in rash so am unable to take it but i hear it helps ur moods and help with control of appetite

It really depends on the medication. I've been on Bupropion (generic for Wellbutrin) for a little over a year now, and according to the company that manufactures it, clinical trials on the drug have shown a small percentage of people who take it actually lose weight. I have heard that a lot of antidepressants stimulate appetite, but, like my medication claiming to stimulate weight loss, I think it happens in a pretty insignificant number of people, might be overestimated, and the evidence is anecdotal at best. The recipe for weight loss is diet + exercise, and like the person before me mentioned, it's all about behavior modification! Good luck.

(I know I am late posting on this, but I am new here and did not want to be redundant by starting a new thread.)

I have a love/hate relationship with psychotropic medication. I hate them because I've put on 100 pounds while on them. I like them because they do make life easier to cope with if you are truly suicidal. The catch 22 begins when the number on the scale gets so high that you hate yourself even more. At that point I take the medication only because, like any drug, it is an addiction. You need them to function. Hell, I had an easier time getting off street drugs than I have with head-meds. The withdrawals are 10 times worse and the permanent damage is much more pronounced. I know I will never be the same after all of these drugs are finally out of my system.

I recently kicked the antipsychotic I was on which caused me to gain the last 20 pounds. (I am still on an antidepressant and ADD medication.) I am hoping that I can drop even SOME of the weight since I am off of it. The frustrating thing is I have always watched my diet and exercised, depressed or not, medicated or not. So I will be overjoyed if the new fitness plan I am on actually works.

Even without an increase in appetite, these drugs can cause SERIOUS weight gain (even Adderall put pounds on me) which leads to other health problems. You have to be on them to understand this phenomenon. Most doctors don't understand it either. Chances are, they will prescribe you another med to offset the side effects of the one you are on. That is how the snowball starts, much like trying crack and then heroin.

Time will tell if what I am doing now will work. So far I've lost 5 pounds which is more than I've been able to lose in years. I've been on the meds a total of 6 years (probably been on every one out there at one point) and even though I'm an active person the weight has piled on. This has GOT to star reversing though.

I went from weighing 155 pounds to over 200 in 4 months when I first started the meds. By then I was hooked and whenever I tried to cold turkey them or wean off of them my depression/anxiety intensified to an intolerable and dangerous level. 6 years later I am still trying to get off of them and lose weight. We'll see!!!!