Posted by Laura Jane on September 3, 2000, at 11:31:09
How do you manage when your antidepressant causes you to gain weight, which in turn makes you depressed? I was on zoloft for 8 months, and it helped a great deal, but I stopped taking it (weaned slowly) because I gained weight. When I first noticed weight gain I was shocked. I swore I wasn't doing anything different in terms of my eating habits or exercise. Well, besides not exercising regularly, but duh! And when I stopped taking zoloft I expected the weight to peel right off. Unfortunately, when I stopped taking zoloft I started getting horribly irritable and depressed and would cry at work. My doctor suggested prozac, because he claimed it had less of a chance of making me gain weight. So I've been on Prozac for three months now and it has helped. Yet I'm depressed about the weight gain. I know I should be lucky that that's my chief complaint, as a year and a half ago I was waiting for Armageddon every day, and I would have done anything to get rid of the way I was feeling. I just think it's grossly ironic that weight gain is a side effect of an effective anti-depressant, especially for someone like me who has had and eating disorder in the past and has ALWAYS been acutely aware of weight and low body image. How does anyone else deal with this? I don't think I can go off Prozac right now. I work full time and I'm in grad school which causes a lot of stress and I can't bear be as upset as I was all the time. I suppose it's the lesser of the two evils. I know I should be thankful that I can keep a job and go to school and I have a wonderful support system in my family and friends. I'm just so sickened by my body sometimes. I feel trapped in it and experience rock-bottom low self esteem. I plan on watching what I eat better, (I'm somewhat addicted to carbs) and exercising more. Does anyone else experience a great wall of motivational block when trying to go exercise after a dumb day at the office? Thanks for reading. Laura
poster:Laura Jane
thread:44344
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000822/msgs/44344.html