Hi all – I’m starting this thread because I’m getting a bit desperate and I want to see if there are other out there with similar experiences and hopefully we can pool information. I currently take Zoloft for depression (and this is the sixth drug I have tried because I keep having horrible side effects) and while I know one of the side effects of antidepressants can be weight gain, I haven’t actually gained any weight that I can attribute to Zoloft or any of the previous other medications. My problem is that I get to the exact same point and my weight just gets stuck. I go up and down around 0.6lbs each day so I’m not actually gaining but I’m also not losing. I’m currently at 175.8lbs and want to lose about 30 so it’s not like I’m already low and struggling to get the last few off. I drink 3 liters of water a day, always eat under 20g of carbs. My protein is around 50g and my fats around 60 – 65. I’ve tried playing around with lowering and adding more protein and fat and still no change. I struggle to fast because the meds make me very dizzy and I don’t want to exacerbate things but have done the occasion 22 hours and usually do 16 hours and still no change. My measurements have not budged either and I do a comprehensive set of them, I’m not bloated from water weight, nor am I constipated. So…that only leaves the medication, right??
I’ve spent a lot of time looking for links between insulin and serotonin e.g.does serotonin increase insulin since that’s what the meds are doing (increasing my update of serotonin) and found very little. I’ve read many forums with people on antidepressants doing keto and found very few that have had a problem. I have found some information suggesting that they can maybe impede weight loss but no real data or studies seem to have been done and since no one really knows why antidepressants work, seems like there is still a lot of unknowns. Is there anybody out there having a similar problem or a genius that can fix it for me! All opinions welcome!

I really hope that those with personal experience/expertise will reach out to Kafin. I also wonder whether, although these forums are not moderated in the true sense, they are “monitored” for statistical/research purposes (and I say this not out of paranoia, more “no such thing as a free lunch”!). If that is right, then this might be a very helpful topic for future studies (or a tweet from Dr MM with links??). As Kafin says, even a very quick search of the internet brings up a lot of “advice”, so really digging deep must be quite overwhelming and maybe confusing. In the meantime Kafin, you know we are with you in spirit and sending you hugs. xx

Kafin13 not sure if this article will be of any help but have a read just in case.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/mental-health-get-started-and-medications?utm_source=Diet+Doctor+newsletter&utm_campaign=082fede4f5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_23_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_41db911777-082fede4f5-464541309

Thank you sweet 6T and Verano for your loving and helpful support! Verano – thank you, I have read this and it was one of my reasons for starting. I am (starting today) coming off the Zoloft (with advice from my doctor) which will take a couple of weeks so it will be interesting to see if it helps the weight loss. Even once I’m off, it can take up to two months to completely leave my system. I’m coming off because the side effects are not manageable and it’s not helping my depression but I am scared. Last time I came off, I was craving carbs and the depression got so bad that I ended up in hospital so will be monitoring very carefully.

Kafin: if you are scared, we will all be here! You are important to and so supportive to me and I am sure many others!xx

Oh Kafin hon, I’m with 6T, we’re here for you! My heart sank to read that you’re scared, do do do reach out if there’s anything that’ll help. Given that we’re spread all over the world, I expect there will be someone awake and online at any time of the day or night.

I’m afraid I have no suggestions that might help with coming off antidepressants. My depression was nowhere near as severe as it sounds like yours is (end of marriage caused it, pretty typical!), coming off the drugs resulted in common side effects like head spins for a while, but no actual symptoms of depression. But, I think it’s really positive that you’ve been through this before and you know what to watch out for, so you will be really alert in self-monitoring. That’s hugely important and encouraging.

In terms of craving carbs… if that happens – and who knows, it may not because your body is in a different place to where it was last time – maybe substituting fats might help? If I’m desperate for toast (which as you know is a weakness of mine), I can usually distract myself with salted nuts. They have that satisfying *crunch* as well as the salt hit. Yes they’re huge in terms of calories, but as an emergency solution for me the trade off is worth it. Would something like that maybe help you, just in the short term to deal with the carb cravings? Or if that fails, maybe try the less refined carbs like lentils? I know still not less than 20g, but way better than bread or pasta, and if it’s just in the short term then maybe it’s worth it.

I think the most important thing is that you look after yourself, and if that means some high carb and/or high calorie days then so be it. You’re in this for the long haul, a brief period of “slippage” while your medication if refined is not the end of the world. And it’s very very different to those of us saying “oh what the hell, pass me the bread rolls, I’m going to binge this weekend” – please please please don’t beat yourself up about it if it happens. I know you’re so frustrated about your plateau and that carbs are the last thing you want to eat, but please please please be kind to yourself.

And do keep checking in hon, because we’ll worry desperately if you go silent on us!!

Huge hugs, Elky

Hi Kafin,
Can’t really help on the topic of the antidepressants, although a quick search shows that Zoloft is maybe less likely to cause weight gain than some other antidepressants, but that everyone seems to react differently and some people do report weight gain. One thing that has struck me is that people with depression have been found to have lower gut microbe diversity than people without depression and that this is the same for people who carry extra weight as well. The American Gut Project has found this and a recent study found 2 different classes of bacteria missing in people with depression:
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/specific-gut-microbes-linked-with-depression–study-65427
Perhaps you could use a reboot of your gut microbes? It might be worth adding in lots of high fibre plant foods, fermented foods and probiotics into your diet and seeing if that helps. People who consume at least 30 different plant species per week tend to have higher gut diversity than those who eat less.
There was an episode of the BBC series Doctor in the House that followed one young boy who was overweight and the family had tried everything to try to get his weight down and nothing had worked. After Dr. Chatterjee started working with him and cut out a lot of starches and other carby foods, the weight still wasn’t coming off. He tested his gut microbes and found very little diversity, so put him on a diet to increase the gut microbe diversity and then the weight just started falling off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNOLnuS0iPA
I know you said your iron levels were normal, but the ferritin normal range is huge. Some labs consider even 10 ng/mL to be normal. I am practically non-functional and my hair starts falling out if I drop below 20 ng/mL though. I once saw an internal medicine doctor who wanted to see my levels over 60 ng/mL in order for him to consider that I was at normal levels.
The other issues to consider are stress, sleep and inflammation. Have you had your C reactive protein tested? That provides a marker of inflammation in the body. Also getting salivary cortisol levels tested may provide you with a measure of how much stress your body is under. If your cortisol levels are high you will have trouble losing weight.
Anyway, not sure if this is of any help, but just some other things to consider and maybe look into.

You are so lovely and supportive – thank you 6T and Elky, you don’t know how great it is to have such wonderful support. Elky, your advice is very sound and I will definitely use it if the carb cravings hit me ❤
Articfox – thank you!! This is all great info and definitely something to check out. I started losing my hair in June of 2016 and despite multiple dermatologists and endocrinologists, extensive bloodwork on a wide range of things, no one could find an answer. I personally believe it’s hormonal since it comes and goes but bloodwork doesn’t show anything. I’ll look into those other tests, fingers crossed insurance covers them ✌

Sorry to read you are struggling with your mental wellbeing. Have you been keeping a detailed food, symptom and activity diary? Do you have access to a registered dietician?

One contributory factor is that the balance and variety of your diet may be off. This is more likely the lower you take any macronutrient (carbs/ fat/ protein) or calories in general.

Certain micronutrients are known to be key in mental health, including long chain omega-3s (oily fish), magnesium (certain seeds/ cocoa/ low sugar dark chocolate) and bioavailable vitamin D (oily fish again).

50g protein a day may be low enough to contribute to hair shedding or – depending which protein sources are selected – may contribute to low dietary levels of vitamin B12, haem iron, vitamin D or omega-3s. Carbohydrate cravings may also be linked to nutrient imbalances or insufficiencies.

It might be worth sticking to high nutrient proteins (oily fish/ organ meats/ whole organic eggs/ molluscs) and avoiding low nutrient proteins (eg. chicken breast)? You can compare different protein sources on websites such as Self Nutrition Data, but ideally you would have specialist support.

Hope something in my post helps!

Hi Firefox – thanks for taking the time to read and post! Yes, I have an extensive food diary as well as writing down my thoughts and feelings on a daily basis to see if there are any patterns. When I am off my meds altogether, I do get carb cravings but hoping to minimize this by coming off very slowly. I eat salmon several times a week plus shrimp/prawns and scallops, eggs and I never have chicken breasts as I think thighs are much more delicious! So, I think I’m getting the best of the proteins plus I take magnesium which I’m deficient in – I still have several weeks of reducing my meds and then it will take time for them to be completely out of my system so I’m hoping I’ll see a difference then with my weight and measurement losses. Will keep everyone posted!