Anti-depressants and weight loss

[Aisling]

I've read/heard that anti-depressants cause weight gain. I've been on Cymbalta for 3 years, and I didn't see a gain, but I think I'm having a hard time losing. For the last two weeks, I've only been eating one meal a day, at night, and I've only lost 2 pounds! I haven't been exercising at all, but I'm going to start because I'm getting desperate now. I'm just afraid that the med will STOP me from losing weight. I've spoken to my doc about this, and she told me to do the Food Addicts diet, and said with effort, the weight will come off.

I just remember in 2001 I did low carb for 3 months, without exercise, and lost 30 pounds easily in that time. Of course by Christmas I started eating the Christmas cookies, and that put me right back on my bad eating habits.

I have 50 lbs to lose, and I'm afraid that I may have to choose between being depressed/anxious without the meds and be thin, or stay on the med and be fat. I know I need to be on this medication, though.

Can anyone help? My Disney cruise is in 8 months, and for the first time I want to be trim for a Disney vacation.

 

[Raenstoirm]

First off, stop starving yourself!! I am surprised you lost anything only eating once a day. 1200 calories is a MINIMUM. I don't mean to shout, but what you are doing is dangerous.
As one who has been on many different drugs with all sorts of side effects, I recommend you go to a nutritionist. He/She will be able to get a diet plan in place that will help you lose without jeopardizing your health (physically and mentally). Also, be careful with those drugs and no food, they can eat through your stomach lining without a buffer of something else in there, making you very .

 

[Aisling]

First off, stop starving yourself!!

I was so proud of myself for being able to resist eating all day! I thought it would be a good jump-start, although I know about starvation-mode. Psychologically, I felt that I was on my way for having such control over my food intake.

Thanks for the advice about going to a nutritionist. I never even thought about that, as I never felt I needed to be told about good foods and bad foods, but you made a great point that a nutritionist can help with the med/food issues. I started a thread on the CB about my sister who's going for a gastric bypass, and it made me very determined for me to lose weight the old-fashioned way. Thanks again.

 

[swim-mom]

Ok, to be honest (which is what I am assuming you want right?)

I am a counselor and I honestly think you need counseling in addition to a proper eating plan. You are only eating ONE meal, which is no way to live. Once you start eating three meals a day, all of the weight you gain will be creeping back on.

For what ever reason you are taking an anti depr. (which is not only used for depression anymore), and by only eating one meal a day you are becoming "short" fused. I know you are saying "NOT YOU", but in reality your blood sugar is dropping which will always result in short tempers episodes.

Another aspect is that you are seeking an ideal weight, which you only accomplished when you starved yourself. Low cal diets and basically all diets do not work. Even WW has a disclaimer that says "results not typical", therefore as long as you stick to something it will work. However, once y ou live a day in reality the pounds start coming back. What does work is realizing what got you to the point of being unhealthy, hence counseling.

My concern for you is that you on the verge of an eating disorder and you are consuming yourself with food and the numbers on the scale.

I am not sure if you wanted to hear this, but I want to be honest since I am concerned.

 

[Aisling]

Ok, to be honest (which is what I am assuming you want right?)

I am a counselor and I honestly think you need counseling in addition to a proper eating plan. You are only eating ONE meal, which is no way to live. Once you start eating three meals a day, all of the weight you gain will be creeping back on.

For what ever reason you are taking an anti depr. (which is not only used for depression anymore), and by only eating one meal a day you are becoming "short" fused. I know you are saying "NOT YOU", but in reality your blood sugar is dropping which will always result in short tempers episodes.

Another aspect is that you are seeking an ideal weight, which you only accomplished when you starved yourself. Low cal diets and basically all diets do not work. Even WW has a disclaimer that says "results not typical", therefore as long as you stick to something it will work. However, once y ou live a day in reality the pounds start coming back. What does work is realizing what got you to the point of being unhealthy, hence counseling.

My concern for you is that you on the verge of an eating disorder and you are consuming yourself with food and the numbers on the scale.

I am not sure if you wanted to hear this, but I want to be honest since I am concerned.

Holy cow, I wasn't expecting this response! I haven't been short-tempered, but I have been anxious, which I assume is related to low blood sugar. I never thought I was on my way to an eating disorder, in fact I was proud that I finally became able to limit my eating. As I said in a previous post, my sister is having gastric bypass, and it shocked me into submission to my own weight loss---finally!

I do appreciate your honesty, although I was hoping for responses like "sure, I have to take an anti-depressant, and I successfully lost weight."
Wow, I guess I'll be talking more to my doctor about this, although to be honest, I was hoping to be noticeably slimmer by my appointment next month. I want to show her I can do it, and I guess I want to show my sister that she doesn't need to resort to gastric bypass, by me being an example.

The last thing I need is to have an eating disorder, as I already have an OCD issue (hence my medication).

Thanks for the honesty, really.

 

[swim-mom]

Well, having a form of OCD only increases your chances of an eating disorder too. Since you seek to be in control, limiting your food intake is only adding to that control.

Be realistic about what you eat, which means eat smart. No one will ever be a perfect size, simply because everyone's body is different. You need to make the effort to eat breakfast, eat a snack two hours later, two hours later have lunch, two hours later a light snack and two hours later dinner. This will insure you have a constant & stable blood sugar level and your desire to eat more will be decreased too.

Take a minute and just think about it.

And remember when you starve or limit your food intake to one meal a day you are also killing your internal organs day by day too. You dont have to be an example and role model to your sister by starving and proving you dont need surgery. You can be a role model by working to change your body and proving that food is not the enemy, the type of food is.

Remember too that 50-70% of GB people will gain back up to 50% of their weight back, it is only a bandaide...........not a solution to their problem. Because emotionally their problems are still there!!!