SERTRALINE- any way to curb insatiable hunger? :-(

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This is the second time I've been on Sertraline in my life. Both times I've gained LOTS of weight.

Now I know about healthy eating, and before sertraline I had a healthy balanced diet. But now, if it's not nailed down - I'll eat it!

It's really not as easy as just eat less and move more. I know that. It's the absolutely constant feeling of feeling hungry, and mostly I'm craving carbs and sugar. My portion sizes have more than doubled and I continuously think of food.

I've gained 3 stone in 4 months.

Has anyone else manage to beat this hunger? Appetite supressers that work and are allowed to be taken alongside Sertraline?

Please help. I do not want to get bigger.

Thank you

I have been on it for about 14 months and gained huge amounts of weight and I was already huge. It's depressing in itself !

You could ask to go on venlafaxine instead.

It is a similar drug but suppresses appetite.

Your doctor should be the one you ask about this. Please don't take dodgy appetite suppressants off the internet.

Tell your doctor sertraline is not working for you.

I haven't been on Sertraline but I have recently started a keto diet and am amazed that I no longer feel hungry since banishing refined carbs/sugar and eating more fat.

Thank you all. The doctor has just said that unfortunately it can be one of the side effects and to try and opt for healthier choices. Completely dismissing the fact that I'm obsessively craving the wrong things!

I did want to switch to another medication but if I'm honest, im scared I will not react well to it. Sertraline has done wonders for my mental health - weight gain aside.

It's so hard isn't it. The weight gain seems so unfair.

I dont know much about the keto diet, but is that the one where you eat lots of meat and eggs as well?

I dont eat meat, eggs or some dairy. Not sure it would work?

A different SSRI but it seems to make my full switch faulty so i never felt satisfied, with massive carb/sugar cravings. Otherwise had very little side effects & worked, plus weight gain is common with many so didn't want to switch medication.

I went on VLCD meal replacement diet that's lower carb to lose the excess weight and was so great to feel full & feel in control of eating again, well in that its not a major priority of my mind.

I'm not veggie/vegan currently but would like to go that way, there's vegan keto books online so its definitely possible but likely not as straight forward. You could probably find a balance where its not strictly keto but carbs still low enough that your not getting the bad effects, like you may find smaller amounts of complex carbs are OK for you.

It's a real bugger isn't it?

I get around it by constantly reminding myself, "it's not hunger - it's the pills".

It's like saying - it's not you, it's me. Except the other way around. I had to re-educate myself about recognising the difference between an empty tummy and a drug-induced munchie bastard side-effect. And I stopped buying treats and munchie things because once in the house, they (and I) didn't stand a chance.

Does it do this wow I didn’t know it could I’ve been on it for ten years and haven’t gained weight from it perhaps it affects people in different ways, not trying to brag. I would swap.

I don't take setraline but another med which has this side effect, and it's fucking awful isn't it? I could eat my own hand sometimes. It's worse than the cravings I had in pregnancy, and they were bad.

My top tips (FWIW) are ice cubes or boiled sweets, or chewing gum as having something in my mouth (no smirking allowed) seems to slightly reduce the craving to eat. Also, I got this from MN originally, frozen grapes. I accepted that I couldn't stop myself eating more/grazing a lot so try and redirect my desire to eat crap to at least eating something to shut my mind up a bit. (My two top craves were chocolate or cheese for some reason. No off switch at all when I gave in either )

Unfortunately I couldn't change my meds as they are AEDs but if you can have any substitutes at all I'd definitely look into it.

Also, don't recommend this but ironically after being the biggest I've ever been 2/3 years ago after I started them, I'm now the thinnest as the stress of recent months, plus being a bit poorly actually reduced my appetite to zero I'm waiting to see what will happen...

I really sympathise as it's so easy for people (including myself obviously ) to say well just eat something else or distract yourself but it's not like that, is it? The pregnancy craving (there's a word for it I think) tends to help people to understand.

(I craved elastic bands in pregnancy and used to chew them but obviously not swallow them so I try and handle this the same. When I want a whole lorry bar of milk chocolate I use butterscotch boiled sweets)

There are many anti-depressants available - you don't have to settle for the first one, so do research options and discuss again with your GP.

The blood sugar diet thebloodsugardiet.com is similar to keto, low sugar, low carb, and I have a vegetarian friend that did it successfully - probably harder with no meat/fish, but definitely doable.

I had Sertaline and it made me lose my appetite! AD's are strange!

Thanks for all your replies. I can't answer individually as I'm in the mist of school week prep!!

But really good to hear other peoples experiences or similar.

I think the thing with diets is that they pretty much all work if you can stick to them. Well, I can't even start them!! I need will power, but currently my desire to eat is stronger than my mind!

Thanks for the tip on ice cubes and frozen grapes. I'll certainly give it a try. Might have to do sugar free juice ice cubes for the sugar hit 😂😂.

I suppose there is no magic solution. I just feel so uncomfortable and have outgrown my whole wardrobe.

I'm surprised at those who have lost their appetite. I remember that initially, but it soon found me!

My appetite is shocking since I've been on sertraline, I was always overweight but now it's a chore to stop eating all the time. No advice sorry, just know you're not alone

I gained a lot of weight taking an SSRI, when not on them I could drop 4lb a week dieting, I couldn’t shift the extra weight at all, tried everything, nothing worked until I cut out carbs and I started to lose weight quickly despite eating quite a lot of food. There has got to be a link between some people’s metabolisms and SSRI’s. Try low carbing for a week and see if it works for you.

This is interesting , also on it
I’m also struggling to lose weight now
It’s crept on
Now I Could blame lockdown
But recently been pretty active and eating very normally

So not having the side effect you state

Are you active , and what age ?

I have gained a lot on sertraline, I hadn't made the connection but maybe it has been a contributing factor.

I have always lost weight when stopping these so maybe they do have an impact on appetite. I think, in my experience, they are worth it. Good luck x

Ive eaten more while on sertrsline but its agood thingg, and im actually losing weight. With work being so busy eating csme a very poor 2nd and id grab whatever o could when i could, leading to binging on crap. On the sertraline, if i dont eat every 5ish hours i feel sick. Its made me have more substantial regular meals and im cookinh more which is good. It must be tough if youre crsving bad stuff. Better to be flabby than struggle mentally tho xx

Wow this seems very common.

I'll definitely try low carbs... fuck knows how 😂

I'm 39, and I have a very active job. I dont do additional exercise but I'm on the go constantly.

Ah that's good to hear Madein. I suppose it reacts differently with different people. Glad it's working out for you though.

Yes, the cravings are off the scale!

I think it's a combination of lockdown and sertraline. I also gave up smoking in Jan. But I know from past experience that I gain weight on these meds

Sorry I have no advice but I am exactly the same. Changed to sertraline in November and have since gained over a stone. It's horrible. I tried to do a fasting diet as so many people rave about them but I just felt sick with hunger after about 3 hrs of not eating. It's hard to explain but it feel almost like the feel of morning sickness, really sickly hunger that goes away if you eat.

I have decided to try and come off them slowly anyway and am doing this with my GP not alone. If it doesn't work I think I might ask to switch ADs but I already switched to these in the first place and they do work! It's so annoying.

Also I've taken up running in lockdown and still continued to gain weight. I wear a pedometer and normally do 12000+ steps a day. I say this because I think it's too easy to blame lockdown and not speak to the GP about it. If you know you are not massively inactive and haven't massively changed your lifestyle then I doubt lockdown has made you gain substantial amounts of weight and it certainly won't have increased your appetite.