gaining weight and anti-depressants

Hello all, My name is Carrie and I am a 3 year postie.  I have never hit my goal.  The lowest I got was within 10 pounds and just couldn't get there.  Now, here I am 3 years later.  I have gained 12 1/2 pounds.  I went to the doc this morning for my annual.  I started crying....just sobbing about my love of food and how I used it to have such a huge relationship with it.  I started seeing a counselor and she suggested I need an anti-depressant.  The doc suggested Zoloft today and mentioned my obsession with food and that this might help.   Is anyone on it?  Does it help with both food and depression?  How does it work with the pouch?  I don't take meds...only my chewable vitamins and calcium.  Not sure how this will go, but willing to try anything.  I do not want to gain this weight back... Me

Hi, Carrie.  I took paxil for over a year and am now on Cymbalta.   I can say that the medication has made a wonderful difference for me, though not in my weight. I have regained more than you have...and I understand exactly what you are saying.  Please do whatever you can to stop now!  And know that you are not the only one... Sheryl

Hi Carrie, I have been on anti-depressants for 6 years.  I have tried them all (literally) I tried Zoloft, paxil, prozac, cymbalta and now I am on Effexor XR.  I did not like the Zoloft as I felt it zoned me out.  I HATED the Cymbalta because as it made me feel better, I gained 8 lbs in five weeks.  I was on Prozac the longest (4 years) but it stopped working for me.  I really like the Effexor XR and I have not gained with it.  Good luck to you.

HI CARRIE!!! geez can i relate to your post but i am only 2 years out.  I cant stand my moods... and damn this food addiction sucks. FOR me its the carbs... and truthfully if i eat very LO carb that out of control eating and "FOOD OBSESSION  eases" but doing this is hard i agree! I would love to know how that med works for you!!! I am trying an herbal remedy first myself...and if this  fails im gonna seek pills.  FOR me its nasty mood swings.... AT times i hate me for how i get and i cant seem to control  me at times  GOODluck!!! and update the board

Hi Carrie I am 1 1/2 years out. I have lost all but 10 pounds and gained 10 in the last 6 months. I am about 18 pounds to goal now. I was extremely depressed and didn't understand why. I started on prozac about 2 weeks ago, very low dose and it has helped a lot. It didn't make me feel zoned out and didn't spike me up to extreme high, it has just made getting out of bed easier. I also am less hungry and more relaxed. They way I looked at it was that by trying this if it didn't work oh well, nobody was forcing me to take anything and I could stop at any time. I attend WLS group meeting twice a month and my surgeons has support group once a week if I need it. I have once again started to go. good luck if you have any other questions just email donna

Welbutrin is the one that does not cause weght gain and for some, it can cause a slight loss. Same stuff used for quitting smoking. Only your doc knows if it's the right mix for you, tho.

I'm thinking just multi and calcium? If you're under supplemented, it would leave you WIDE OPEN for cravings of all kinds. Iron deficiency might make you crave salty things, for example, or ice. Low protein levels would manifest as sugar cravings, and so on.

When you got labs last, did you get about 4-5 pages? Maybe 10-12 vials of blood? Do you have cpoies? no less often than 6 months?

I'm almost 13 and I wonder sometimes how I've managed, cuz it sure isn't that I'm pure, you know? But I know I take more supplements than other ppl.

I like food just fine, BTW, so if I crave, I hunt down what I might supplement to keep me from eating too much of or nothing BUT the thing I'm craving.

Dear Carrie, I can't address the anti-depressant issue, but I do understand the obession with food.  Years ago before I even considered wls (and was dead set against it) I was "known" for my cooking.  I even knew where to get good Irish butter in Toledo, Ohio!  So whenever my church would have a pot luck, I'd fix a special dessert.  One week I made--from scratch of course--a three layer old fashioned cake with the nuts and dates and raisins, the Italian meringue frosting, the whole nine yards.  Everyone enjoyed it, and life went on.   A few weeks later there was another pot luck that I just didn't have much time to prepare for.  But I had a new cake recipe to try.  Well, it didn't work (to put it kindly).  It was late at night and I had to have it ready for morning.  So I go to the store and buy (shock to my system) instant pudding and Cool Whip--two products I have never purchased before or since.  I salvage what I can of the cake and make a trifle layering the cake, the pudding, and the Cool Whip.   Well, everyone just raved about that disaster trifle.  Even wanted the recipe!  One guy would have licked the bowl clean if he hadn't have been in public!  And I was devestated.  Here I had been buying only the best ingredients, finding just the right recipe, taking the time for all the right techniques, and all people really wanted was instant pudding and Cool Whip!  This made me realize that I was putting way too much of my own sense of self into food.  It was my way of treating myself as special and valuable because I couldn't do it any other way.  Clearly, cooking and food was about much more than eating and nutrition.   I write all this (sorry it is so long) to suggest that along with the anti-depressant, you look into some counseling about your food issues. We do have them, and I believe that dealing with them can only make you more successful in the long run. Good luck, Sally

I am on wellbutrin, and took it prn, as necessary, to help with my cravings right after surgery.  I just went on and off it for the first year.  Now I have been taking it everyday for a month, and I have gained 5 lbs, and did not realize it until I read here. Hmmmm, maybe if I go off of it, I will lose my 5lbs?? Anyway, I agree, we are all food addicts and I am right there with you.  I have seen the scale go down for almost 19 months and all of a sudden it jumps up and it is wigging me/us out!!! Just need to cut the carbs in my case, and fool proof the house!!  Sugar is not so bad on me anymore either, I don't dump like I used to, so I know I can't eat it at all, and still act as though it is the enemy. Just be smart and catch it early and you will be okay.  WE are all just letting the fear control us, because we have never been under the control of our bodies before.  Me too, I am saying this as much for myself as I am to you. It will help you I think with the cravings, but I can tell I have been a real WITCH the past month I have been on it, it has totally changed my personality. I am edgy, mean and just mad at the world in general. Take care, Deb