Zolft and weight loss

[Elisabeth]

I started taking Zoloft about a month and a half ago. I started with 25mg for a week and then 50 mg  for a month and now I'm taking 75 mg. This medication has worked well for my depression and obsessions with no side effects after the first week of taking it. My only problem is that I'm continuing to loose weight. 3/4 months ago I weighed about 120 and now I'm down to about 100-105. My pschiatrist is worried that this might be do to the zolft considering how well I'm doing in terms of depression, ect. Does zoloft make people loose weight? Does is mess around wiht metabolism? I'm just not very hungry. I'll eat a bagle or something like that for breakfast and then a sandwhich at dinner time and even the sandwich at dinner time I need to make myself eat. Any insight would be appreciated. I don't want to discontinue this med but I really don't want to loose much more weight!

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

It is common to lose weight in the beginning, but up to one third of people actually gain weight.  Other ssri's have a pattern of weight loss for ten-12 weeks, then regain weight, although this has not been a reported pattern for Zoloft.I think you should make changes in medication if you continue to lose weight during the next few weeks because it is impossible to predict how long that will last.

[Rocksea]

The same thing happened to me when I began taking Zoloft 6 years ago.  I had no appetite and lost all interest in even having a glass of wine! I lost 8 pounds during the first two weeks.  After about two months, the appetite returned, and I regained the weight.

[Introspective]

I very recently started taking wellbutrin, and I lead a very sedintary life right now...I too have lost probably a few pounds already and it has been a few weeks.  I intend on asking my psychiatrist (on my second visit) next week if it is normal.  The drug seems to accelerate my heart rate, that is why they suggest you not take it before bed... but that in turn would also speed up your metabolism.
As to the loss of appetite...after drinking a very strong cup of coffee, do you notice a loss of appetite... Or after working out?  When the medication starts to wear off I am pretty hungry.
We shall see, I will post what the psyciatrist says in 4 days=).

[JoT]

I lost about 12 pounds in the first week alone after starting Zoloft, but I think that was down to lack of appetite and the fact that it made me very shaky.  My weight levelled out fairly quickly though, and I subsequently regained all the weight lost plus a little more over the next year or so.

I have been on Zoloft now for about 3 years to treat clinical depression and panic.  The drug has literally given me a life back.  It took about 3 weeks before I noticed any improvement though.

I'm glad my GP didn't prescribe Paxil after what I've read on this board :)