Anxiety meds

[sagitt1282 3]

I was just wondering if any of my fellow post gastric sleeve patients use Zoloft as an anti anxiety/mood stabilizer?

I was doing okay for a while, but I have been lately been having awful attacks here and there and I think it may be because my weight has finally plateaued and my body adjusted and now here I am :-(

If Zoloft didnt work, any other thoughts on a safe anti-depressant or mood stabilizer for us? Thanks!

[Deactivatedfatgal 377]

Good question, going to my pcp abt this Friday as I have full blown panic attack now & am spiraling out of control. Never had these issue before unless they were dormet.

[Keeshaleeann 1]

Magnesium citrate does wonders for my anxiety attacks.

[Deactivatedfatgal 377]

Just now, Keeshaleeann said:

Magnesium citrate does wonders for my anxiety attacks.

Is that the liquid laxative drink

[Keeshaleeann 1]

I take magnesium citrate pills made by nature made brand. 2 soft gels everyday. I had severe panic attacks for years and was on cymbalta. What a messed up drug that was! I don't recommend cymbals for anybody! I'm able to just take all my Vitamins required and my magnesium and I have had maybe one mild attack since my surgery last October.

[kimmarie_36 18]

I have to say I'd be careful with a SSRI such as Zoloft they all cause significant weight gain. That said living with panic attacks and depression is no good either so you have to do what's best for your health. A psychiatrist would be best to advise you on it. There are meds that don't have the wt gain side effect if that is even something you are worried about. Deep breaths and Good luck with it.

[B.Annie 290]

I have been on anti depressants / anti anxiety pills since I was 15 and diagnosed with chronic depression/anxiety. I was off pills for a few years and then had such bad post partum after my third son, I was put on 100mg of Zoloft. It was the best anti anxiety med I've ever been on, didn't cause weight gain (because I was overweight to begin with and every doctor will tell you the "weight gain" happens with people who have weight to gain and it's usually only 5-10 pounds).

I am now taking it post surgery and since I'm only a week out, my hormones are all messed up and making me very cranky. If I weren't in the Zoloft I believe I might have had a break down yesterday. (It was a bad day).

Talk to your PCP. If they're any good, they'll start you on a small dose and monitor you.

Natural pills never have worked for me in this area simply due to the severity of my anxiety

Lastly, take this as concern only, if your anxiety is triggered by a plateau and weight, I would believe counseling or psychology would be the best first step. Then reassess during that process to see if pills are a good idea. I went to a few years of counseling before I was put on pills at 15. I went to a few more years of counseling while off pills in my late 20s. The only reason why I went back on was due to major hormonal shifts from pregnancy. I plan to get off of them again as soon as my hormones finish adjusting from weight loss.

HW: 328 (02/21/17)

SW: 271 (05/24/17)

CW:

[Tessa1988 20]

I take magnesium citrate pills made by nature made brand. 2 soft gels everyday. I had severe panic attacks for years and was on cymbalta. What a messed up drug that was! I don't recommend cymbals for anybody! I'm able to just take all my Vitamins required and my magnesium and I have had maybe one mild attack since my surgery last October.

I'm on cymbalta now, I'm curious why you said it's a messed up drug and don't recommend it. What do I need to know?

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

I've been on Cipralex (Escitalopram) for anxiety attacks due to sleep apnea. Has worked great for me thus far.

[Keeshaleeann 1]

9 minutes ago, Tessa1988 said:

I'm on cymbalta now, I'm curious why you said it's a messed up drug and don't recommend it. What do I need to know?

I was put on this drug twice for major depression and panic disorder. It made me gain 50 lbs the first time. It helped with my depression but when I was ready to stop taking it my Dr didn't advise me to wean off. I just stopped cold turkey. It made me so sick! I had brain zaps and physical withdrawals. I vowed then, never again. Skip several years later and my depression and panic came back so bad I wouldn't leave my house for fear of driving, crowds etc. I was afraid I was becoming suicidal. I found a therapist and even though I told her my history with the drug she talked me back into taking it. I was afraid for my life so I did it. Again, I got better mentally, but I gained almost 80 lbs this time. That's when I decided to get healthy detox my body from everything. It took me a year of opening capsules and counting tiny pellets to wean myself off of this drug. If you do some research you will find many horror stories about cy mbalta. Fb has a page named cymbalta hurts. It has lots of members stories. While I'm greatgil that in my case it helped and I was able to get off of it, some people aren't so lucky. I'm lucky that as of now I'm at a healthy weight, and my diet and supplements and excersize are keeping my mental issues at bay. There are others medications that can help without the side effects of cymbalta.

[pharmD_vsg 99]

I was just wondering if any of my fellow post gastric sleeve patients use Zoloft as an anti anxiety/mood stabilizer?
I was doing okay for a while, but I have been lately been having awful attacks here and there and I think it may be because my weight has finally plateaued and my body adjusted and now here I am :-(
If Zoloft didnt work, any other thoughts on a safe anti-depressant or mood stabilizer for us? Thanks!

Zoloft is one of the safest meds for depression/panic attacks. I would ask your PCP to see if that's a good choice for you or not. Also weight gain is not a concern with Zoloft but there are other adverse events such as insomnia, dry mouth, Steven-Johnson syndrome, depression exacerbation, bleeding.....
but again those are not very common side effects. Most people experience insomnia tho.
As the natural product OTC goes, there is not a strong evidence that Mg citrate can help with depression/anxiety but it doesn't hurt to try but as long as you are not taking too much of it cause hypermagnesimia has very serious consequences.
And just as a reference, I studying medicine and I am doctor of pharmacy.
Good luck and I hope this helps

[Kiki37_vsg 0]

23 hours ago, kimmarie_36 said:

I have to say I'd be careful with a SSRI such as Zoloft they all cause significant weight gain. That said living with panic attacks and depression is no good either so you have to do what's best for your health. A psychiatrist would be best to advise you on it. There are meds that don't have the wt gain side effect if that is even something you are worried about. Deep breaths and Good luck with it.

I had the same thing with weight gain from Zoloft. I was at a normal bmi when I went on Zoloft and gained about 75 lbs in that year. That stopped really working for me and I was put on Paxil and again I gained more weight. These meds work for sure for depression and anxiety, and ppl have sometimes have no choice to be on them. For me it ended up causing more problems with the amt of wt I put on.

[sagitt1282 3]

@B.Annie

I didn't meant to sound as though the depression/anxiety is related to my plateau. I lost 97 lbs and have stayed a steady weight so I'm completely satisfied with my weight. I meant to convey that I wasn't having any panic attacks, of this severity anyways, or depressive thoughts/mood swings while my weight was falling off. I'm not sure it my hormones finally stabilizing at almost 2 yrs post surgery or my weight finally stabilizing for longer than 3 mths is the reason all this is hitting me head on.

I had taken Zoloft in the past after I had my Dr, and before my surgery, and it worked really well for me. I didn't gain much weight then, but 20 lbs on top of my already obese frame made my Dr take me off of it at the time and planned to revisit, restart after my body was stable enough to follow the medication effects successfully

I spoke with my Dr last night and she is restarting me on the same 25 mg of Zoloft I used to take. Here's hoping I see some relief without any of the gain, although 20 lbs from now wouldn't bother me in the least if the rest of this mess goes away with the gain!