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About 4 years ago, I was down to 178 from 224 and holding steady. I had gone from a size 20 to a size 14 and was pretty pleased with the loss. I had been having sleep problems for a long time and my doctor was trying to find something to help me sleep restfully and thru the night. He decided that I had suffered mild depression for many years and it needed to be addressed. He tried me on several anti depressants...Wellbutrin, Effexor, Prozac and then a 2 yrs ago he put me on Paxil. It seemed to be the only thing that even halped a little and didn't cause me side effects, or so I thought. I gained close to 40 lbs from November07 till March 08 and have been unable to lose it. I have actually gained another 7 lbs since then and no matter what I do, cannot lose more than 10. I have had my thyroid checked, lots of blood work which is normal, tried the Phentermine diet 2 times, which didn't help and had undesirable side effects. I'm frustrated and angry at myself, because as a nurse, I know what antidepressants can do for your weight, and it's never pretty. My family doctor recommended I see a gastric bypass clinic for possible further solutions, but that made me even more angry that he would resort to surgery. It didn't seem difficult to lose it on my own the first time, but almost impossible now. Any ideas, experience or suggestions to get my metabolism and /or endocrine system tuned up again would be appreciated. Thanks!!
bcdnurse,
I am an RN. I take Depakote. You know what that does to your weight, so I sympathize. But I am losing weight by using the tools here. I think if you will give it an honest try you can too. The SSRI's can affect your weight, but you can fight it.
1. Don't bother with Phentermine...as soon as you stop it you will gain the weight back plus some.
2. Go to the tools section and get a calorie target. Aim for that target.
3. Faithfully enter every bite of food on the food log. Enter any extra activity on the activity log.
4. Change your eating habits. change one and then keep the change...example: change from mayonnaise to mustard on your sandwiches, stop sodas. Drink more water. Park at the far end of the parking lot, take an extra trip around the outside of the store before you check out. Change from real jello to diet jello. Eat more fresh fruit and veggies... you get the idea. Oh, and decrease your sodium. JUST CHANGE ONE A WEEK, THEN NEXT WEEK KEEP THAT ONE AND START ANOTHER.
5. Weigh at least every week and log it in here.
6. If you slip on a meal or a snack or two...as soon as you come to yourself, start that very moment back on your program and forgive yourself.
7. Set small goals and celebrate when you get there!
8. Realize that depression and overweight also go hand in hand. It's a horrible downward spiral. You are overweight so you get depressed. You are depressed so you eat. You feel guilty because you overate so you get more depressed....spiral down and down.
9. Come here and talk to us when you need to. To celebrate, to rant, to cry, to crow!!!! We will listen and are where you are. We understand and even when you are having trouble forgiving yourself, we'll forgive you.
Good luck.
Thank you Texmom for your words of encouragement!! It's easy for me to help others, but helping myself is hard. Care takers/givers have the problem where they always put others above themselves, as you know. Thank you for the extra little push I need!!
I had a similar problem after taking a few anti-depressants. It took going off them for about 6 months before I felt like I was anything resembling "me" again. I too gained quite a bit of weight over the course of switching meds. That was the best course of action for me, but I don't recommend it for anyone else.
I've lost 10 lbs so far doing most of what Texmom has suggested. It really will work over time. Good Luck!
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