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Will I gain weight on Sertraline ?

Hello.

I'm a 21 year old female, 5'2 and 154 pounds. I have been killing myself to lose weight, eat very little and only good food. I work really hard to not eat the food I enjoy (fast food, ice-cream, chocolate, etc) and I try to be much more active. It's been a hard and long process...

Yesterday, I was put on medication for depression and anxiety. For the first week 25 ML of Sertraline and chlordiazepoxide twice a day. I am overweight, and constantly tired. I told the doctor that I have heard Wellbutrin is the only antidepressant that doesn't make you gain weight, but he promised me I would actually lose weight on Sertraline. It is really important for me to not gain any weight, and actually continue to lose. I will not be able to handle it. Since yesterday, I've been constantly thinking and worrying about this. Honestly, I rather be depressed and miserable and have anxiety attacks that result in trips to ER, than to gain the weight I've been kicking my butt to lose.

I am so worried about it. I don't want to try it out and gain, that's like a huge step back for me. The thing is, I already eat so little, so it's dangerous to cut back. I eat under 1000 calories a day, sometimes even 500... But I know I gained a lot of weight because of food. I'm so scared of taking this medication. I did take it today, and so far (It's been about 9 hours ) I haven't experienced any of the side effects (because of low doses)... It's just that I can't stop worrying about gaining.
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Avatar universal
You're not listening.  Extreme calorie restriction will harm you in the long run.  Yes, you can starve yourself and lose weight for awhile, but eventually the lack of nutrients will come back to bite you.  What you want to do for weight is change to a healthy way of eating that lasts permanently, lose weight slowly, and it will stay off as it will permanently alter your metabolism.  If you don't exercise, you can't lose fat in a healthy way because you will lose muscle.  Muscle is heavier than fat, so it will make you look thinner but you won't be strong or healthy and eventually will become fatigued.  You say it works because you're losing weight.  Now, I have no idea if you have developed an eating disorder -- talking about weight as if it will relieve you of your emotional problems sounds more like an emotional problem than a weight problem.  Only altered thinking will take away the depression and anxiety, because the world will always have challenges you can become depressed or anxious about.  It's how you react to them that defines whether you have a problem with depression or anxiety.  Anyway, that's my piece -- you get to do whatever you want.  I hope whatever it is works.  But weight is not your biggest problem, and your current way of dealing with it sounds unhealthy as a long-term solution, which is what you want.  Good luck to you.  
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the comment.

I realize that it works different for everyone, but as a general rule... My anxiety isn't the biggest issue, I think my depression is. I mean, I definitely get panic attacks and more frequently the past few months but only because of school. I almost went on to abuse Adderal to get better grades, since pretty much everyone's doing it. (But I didn't)

Right now, though, I'm on a very limiting diet. It works. I lost all of the 8.8 pounds in 8 days. That is 1.1 pound a day... That's amazing! I just can not afford to gain any of it back, because I know it will going to just mess me up again. I think, if I lose this weight I've gained over the past few years, I will no longer be depressed. So, I'll take anxiety over being overweight.

Btw, if only I could get out of bed and exercise...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
This is a very individual thing that can't be predicted -- not everyone gets the same side effects.  Wellbutrin is a very stimulating antidepressant that might make you more anxious, so that could explain why you didn't get prescribed this.  You just have to wait and see.  But you also need to know more about nutrition -- you don't lose weight by cutting calories drastically, eventually your natural metabolism stabilizes to your norm.  Metabolism is the key to weight loss, not calories.  Some high calorie foods will not make you gain weight, such as fatty fish, while some seemingly low calorie foods that contain simple carbs such as white flour will metabolize quickly into sugar and, if not immediately burned off, will turn to fat.  Eating too little can make people overweight, too -- what you want to do is combine exercise and eating the right kind of food so you lose weight slowly and permanently.  
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