Depression and Weight IssuesHave you been diagnosed with depression, are possibly on depression medication, and find it affects your weight loss efforts? Post here for support!
Hello everyone. I'm a bit of a lurker here at 3FC. Started seeing a therapist about 6 weeks ago because I finally had had enough of working really hard to lose weight only to lose control and start packing the weight back on again. I had lost about 30 of the 65 pounds I need to lose. Felt really in control and happy thinking I had finally licked this thing. Why I would think that I don't know since I have never actually maintained any weight....always either gaining or losing. Long story short, my control ended and I have put back on almost 15 pounds and it may be more if I don't get control very soon.
It took a couple of session with the therapist (who is an MSW, by the way) to decide I had many depression symptoms.....waking up at 3AM and not falling back to sleep, inability to concentrate at work, low motivation to do simple daily tasks like keeping my apartment clean or paying my bills, tearfulness, feeling hopeless about the future....and suggested that I see a psychiatrist who could prescribe me medication while we continued therapy. She also thinks I have an eating disorder. Today my eating disorder is BED, with some tendencies towards bulimia. In my past I had very anorexic tendencies. I didn't know that then, but when I described to her what it was like and what my behaviors were when I was at a weight I considered acceptable, she said my mindset was very much that of an anorexic. So apparently I have suffered from disordered eating for about 10 years now.
Here is my predicament, and maybe some of you can help. I went to see the psychiatrist. Can't say I liked him very much...was extremely impersonal, although my therapist warned me that psychiatrists were more "medical" and "clinical" than therapists. He agreed with my therapist and diagnosed depression and offered me either Prozac or Zoloft. I told him I didn't want those because I had heard weight gain can be a side effect. He minimized that concern by saying it's only about 5 pounds that you can gain. That is too much. I had already gained and I don't want to gain more. My therapist had told me that Wellbutrin helps binge eaters alot in controlling their urges to overeat, plus weight gain is not a side effect of Wellbutrin. I told the Dr. I would like to try Wellbutrin but he said that wouldn't work for me and pretty much said "Prozac or Zoloft, take it or leave it." So I let him prescribe me Prozac. I have not filled the prescription and am not going to. I just cannot bring myself to take someting that could cause me to gain weight and from the personal experiences I have read about online, people are gaining much more than just the 5 pounds he talked about.
I know I am rambling. I would like to feel better but I am scared to take something that could make me fatter. I don't feel like the Dr. cared at all about my concerns. Plus I am not sure that my therapist is all that helpful. I am new to this therapy thing so maybe I just had different expectations from what is happening to me. How many weeks should you give a therapist before you decide if she is helping you or not?
I haven't posted in this forum yet, but I read your post and I thought that I would share a couple of things with you. First of all, congratulations for taking these steps toward bettering your life. I know it can be hard to decide we need "professional guidence" and realize that sometimes our issues are just bigger than us in some ways and we need that impartial view of a therapist. You are to be applauded for caring enough about yourself!
I know that everyone has a different experience with medication. Personally, I took a low dosage of Prozac (10 mg a day) for about 6 months. I lost 10 lbs. and didn't do anything differently food/exercise wise. I am thinking about starting it up again for various reasons and I can keep you up to date on how that goes.
As far as therapists go, I'd say first of all, ask yourself if you feel comfortable with this person. If you right away just feel uncomfortable with them personally, their style or background/education, find someone else. Outside of that, I think that in most cases, therapy can be a slowly invasive process, and therefore may take several visits to really get into the heart of issues and to really have insight into who you are and what's going on, on both sides. Personally I think that's a good thing. I wouldn't have much confidence in someone who makes a quick decision and labels me with a diagnosis before getting to know me and my background. Therapy isn't a quick-fix.
Let us know what happens, what you decide. I'm rooting for you!
My son takes a high dose of prozac and has not gained weight on it. He gained weight on another med, but lost the weight as soon as he got off of it.
Everybody is different but I thought most people did not gain weight on prozac. Also I thought I read that wellbutrin should not be prescribed for someone with an eating disorder, so if I am remembering that right, that may be one of the reason the psychiatrist didn't prescribe it for you, but he could have taken the time to explain it.
And I totally agree with Jessica - therapy can be a very slow process, but you need to feel comfortable with your therapist.
Please let us know how you are doing and we would love for you to join us on the daily thread. We have a great group of ladies and would love to chat with ya.
Congrats on going to the doctors for help, I just started going myself. My doctor put me on welbutrin but quite frankly I don't notice it helping me. I actually feel very nasty on it (like I felt on Zoloft) so I stopped taking it and will tell him so. I was on Prozac years ago and did wonderful losing weight, didn't gain what so ever. 2 years ago the doctor put my mom on prozac and she's lost 30 lbs. I'm thinking about switching to prozac again.
I think it will work for you if you try, if not you can always switch.
I would say give your doctor a little more time, and if you still don't like him, switch.
Cathy-
I did some research on Wellbutrin after your post told me it might be bad for people with eating disorders. It sounds like Wellbutrin occassionally has seizures for a side effect and this tends to be more common with bulimics who are actively purging, which I am not. Also it can cause anorexia. Not sure how or why, but that is what it says. Hmmmm....guess that probably is why he didn't give it to me.
goofgirl and Leenie-
Thanks for your support. I have an appt with my therapist tomorrow. I am leaning towards not taking medication at all. Just seems not worth the weight gain risk. I'd rather be blue than even fatter than I am now. Maybe that sounds vain and shallow, but my weight is the thing that bothers me the most right now. If it got worse I just don't see how that could possibly help my mood problems. I know I should just try it like someone said....that's what the doc said too, that you can't know what the side effects will be until you just try it. I am just not sure I want to risk it.
One other resource you have is your reg MD. Most doctor will listen to pts. I will admit sometimes it is just to get them out of their hair. One thing you have to remember is that the psych is part of a team that you make. I feel very strongly that you are your best advocate. Wellburtin may not be the best med for you. I am a nurse and I have heard good things about Prozac and most of the anti-depressents because they may help with the feelings that are making you overeat. You might give the med a trial. Say 6 to 8 weeks--anything less is useless because it takes a while to build up in your system.
I don't have any answers but I can share what happened to me.......I was going through a rough time nine summers ago......my son was ill and needed to see many specialists and his health was deteriorating......long story short I was losing my mind....I was not coping......I went to my doctor and told her I was having chest pain (anxiety attacks), not sleeping, not wanting to get up, having a few drinks from time to time to take the edge off.....I had no energy and was falling further and further behind.....my appearance, my health, my marriage, I was barely keeping it together at work......my MD put me on Paxil......(It is the only medication I have ever tried)....I was on it for six months......I did not gain weight......I lost weight, I went to therapy, I cleaned, I had energy.....I was manic....my MD described it as finally feeling good after feeling so rotten for so long......and she was right! The medication took the edge off.....it did not solve any of my problems but it gave me the energy I needed to do the work I needed to do.......
I had a situational depression......was depressed because I felt so out of control, angry, scared, hurt that my son was ill and the other stuff was less easy for me to cope with.......the work I did in therapy is still with me to this day......the following summer my son died.....July 16th 1996......my greatest heartbreak.....but I survived it.....and I credit it to all the work I had done the summer before. The meds helped me do the work.
The way I look at it....these drugs are not addictive, if you aren't depressed they won't do anything, then you will know......it can't hurt.....weight gain is still a simple formula.......eating more calories than you are wearing off.....the pill doesn't make you fat.....in my opinion.
Newly diagnosed
I finally am taking the time to catch up here!
