My name is Paul. I am 20 years old. My whole life I've suffered from depression. I took zoloft to treat it. Over the years, the dosage I would take of the medicine would increase. The most I took on a daily basis was 150mgs a day. I stopped taking zoloft back in april 2003. The reason I stopped taking the medication was because I was interested joining the military and the recruiters told me I couldnt be on any medication. In July 2003, I had a breakdown both emotionally and mentally. Over time my depression worsened. I also developed panic disorder. I couldn't go out to the mall, movies, or restaurants because I'd have panic attacks. I also have OCD. I recently started taking medication again to treat my depression, OCD, and anxiety/panic disorder. I take 1mg of Klonopin a day and 25mg of zoloft a day. Over time, I'm sure my dosage of zoloft will increase. As mentioned earlier, I used to take upwards of 150mg per day, so I might need a stronger dosage to help get me through the day.

Here's my problem. During the past 2.5 years, my weight decreased dramatically. My height is 5 foot 3 inches and the most I've ever weighed in my life is 130 lbs. But I lost alot of weight and dropped to 90 lbs. Thanks to the meds and therapy as well as a better diet and just living better, I've gained some weight. I'm now at 107 lbs. But I know that as a 20 year old man, 107 lbs is still quite low. I want to get back up to my original weight. Can you recommend any ways to do this? Also, does the klonopin/zoloft combination help or hinder my ability to gain weight? I ask because yesterday I weighed myself and I was 107. Today I weighed myself and I was 105. I don't know how that happened. Is it even possible to lose 2 lbs in one day? This scares me.

Something else I've noticed: I've been feeling much more hungry lately. The amount of food I eat is still the same as before I started taking the meds. I eat 3 healthy meals a day plus a midnight snack. Before the medication, this was enough to satisfy my hunger, but now I eat the same 3 meals and the midnight snack and I CONSTANTLY feel hungry. What does this mean? If I ignore the hunger, will I lose weight? What can I do to gain weight? How many meals should I eat per day? How big should they be? Should I eat a meal once every 2 hours? 3 hours? 4 hours? What should the timing between meals be? Does the medication speed up my metabolism/digestive process and is that why I feel hungry?

All of this scares me. I don't want to become thin. I want to gain weight and be healthy.

hi,
sorry you are having a bad time.
When i went through a period of bad anxiety i lost a lot of weight really quickly. I think it is because the amount of stress you have is acctually burning up you calories like mad. All I can suggest is to eat plently of food whenever you feel hungry...but make sure it is good quality food. Brown rice, oily fish, avacados, bananas....anything natural! Thay are all good to help with anxiety. Try and cut out sugar as that can worsen anxiety. Also make sure you drink plenty of water as losing 2lb a day is probably down to deyhdration.

Also... if you arnt already, look at other ways to reduce your anxiety/deppresion....excersise....relaxation... valerian tablets. Maybe one day you will be strong enough to reduce your meds.

Take care

Hi, I went from 180 to 165 in about one month due to anxiety. After I got on meds I was hungry all the time, no big deal as I figured it was either the meds or the reduced anxiety. I am off the meds now and 182. I should probably lose a bit but I feel good. If the Doc says you are Ok then you should stop worrying about it. It will probably fix itself then.

Hi Paul,
Since weight loss, extreme hunger, and depression can be caused by an overactive thyroid, I would see a doctor that you trust and have him run some blood tests.
Not to worry...just make the call.
This is easily treatable if that is the case, but only your doctor can investigate this for you.
It'll be OK.

I know how you feel. I too am still suffering from GAD, panic attacks, some OCD and an occasional depression that comes on and off. During my worse time a year ago, I too lost 10 lbs. I'm 5'0 female, and used to weigh 107 and went down to 90 also. This really scared me. I was having to wear a double zero which are hard to find and some fit a little loose. I was panicking more over this on top of my fear of getting sick. I have a very fast metabolism so I knew it would take ME a year to gain some weight. Sure enough, a year later and I've gained now about 7 to 8 lbs. My weight fluctuates daily from a pound to two. I used to panic but not anymore. It can be water loss too. Try this to help convince yourself and rid yourself from another fear. Weigh yourself before you go empty a full bladder and defecate. You'll see that you'll weigh a half to one pound less after you use the restroom. This helped me understand that it wasn't so much the calories I was burning. In my case I also weighed myself before bedtime cause I had a tummy and by morning, I'd have a flat tummy and weigh half a pound to a full pound. I slowly began to accept it and stopped being so obssessed about weighing myself. I could not accept that I had lost weight and was determined to gain 10 pounds at least. I now wear a size 2 or 3. I'm almost there. I tried buying food high in calories. I know caffeine and sugar are bad contributors to anxiety but since xanax would calm me down, I tried my own invented diet. For a midnight snack, I'd eat a Dove milk chocolate ice cream bar because it contains 270 calories. I did this every night and sometimes for breakfast too for about most of the summer and I started seeing my weight slowly increase. I now don't do that and have cut sugar and caffeine for 30 days now. I still haven't seen a difference in a lessened anxiety, but I must give it more time to see a difference in me. Most importantly, you MUST be patient, give it time, stop obessesing about your weight. If you are really concerned like I was, go see your primary physician and he can have a blood test done to determine if you are dehydrated as well as in a "starvation state". I was told that bu then again, I was fasting for the blood test for over 12 hours. This will tell you if you're eating enough or need to eat more. I hope this helps you. Feel free to contact me if you have further questions.

I call Risperdal my "fat pills." I had lost a scary amount of weight (from another medication) right before starting on Riperidone (or risperdal), an anti-psychotic used in small doses for anxiety.
What a relief for me from the risperdal! I'm in my 50's, and for the first time in my life I do not wake up with a feeling of dread. And I don't startle when someone walks into a room--or at least not to the point where I'm having physical reactions (heart palpitations, sweating, etc.).
But my personal metabolism is different than most, so it might not work for a lot of people.

Unfortunately, risperdal is known to cause 20 lb. weight gains, which is too much for a 5'1" older female. It's a good thing I lost weight right before starting it.

In my recent researching online, I read that zoloft can also cause weight gain. I'm also taking 100mg 2x/day of zoloft.

And I'm taking requip to counter-act muscle spasms from the zoloft and another medication, and, as you may have heard on recent commercials, requip makes the person taking it very sleepy--which not only means I have no desire to walk for exercise, but I'm so busy sleeping that I don't have time to walk, and so I drive.

But I've decided that tomorrow night, while watching the scifi shows, I will do many deep knee bends. :)

BTW, I've suffered from anxiety & depression since I was a small child. Too bad there's still a social stigma about mental illness. You can get in the army if you wear glasses, but not if you're taking medication for a mental condition. No doubt, in the next generation or so, people taking mental illness meds will be allow in the service if the condition is "under control," like poor eyesight corrected by lenses.