Weight loss - when to worry?

[bellainthemiddle]

Sorry to ask here - it's probably pretty stupid - but nobody I know has any experience of this, and I want to know that I'm not being overly anxious before seeking advice from MW / doctor.

I'm 13 weeks, first pregnancy, and just before Christmas I started taking 50mg Sertraline because I was having really extreme anxiety. I've felt better anxiety-wise over the last week or so, so I'm guessing that the medication is working... But, since taking it I've constantly felt sick and have been really struggling to eat. I hadn't had particularly bad morning sickness before, so I do think it's the medication rather than that.

When I last saw the MW she said that I needed to start putting on weight - and I've just realised that I've lost another 1.5 kilos this week, which seems like a lot (I had a 17.something BMI pre-pregnancy so I really don't think I should be losing that much weight). I have no idea whether I should be urgently seeking medical advice (DH thinks so) or whether I should just chill out and take comfort in the fact that I feel more or less fine and everything was fine with baby when I had my scan.

I was supposed to have a review appointment with the GP about the Sertraline, but the reception said it only needed to be a telephone appointment with the practice pharmacist - which ended up being very brief! So I'm not sure what to do - I don't know if it's really concerning or if I'm just concerned because of the anxiety (if that makes any sense).

Any advice would be very welcome!!

I think you should get checked out. Starting with a BMI of 17.something doesn't give you much spare weight to lose. That's very low. Have you had an eating disorder in the past?

I'm glad the medication is helping the anxiety.

Good luck with everything

Thank you for replying :) No, I've never had an eating disorder - I've just always been that weight and it's never been a problem at all, but now it's worrying me to be losing so much weight :S

I'm also worried about bothering people unnecessarily and irritating them... But this might be the anxiety kicking in again!

Don't worry about that. Medical professionals want to help you and make sure you and your baby are well and stay well.

Let us know how you get on!

Don't lose hope, Stay calm and be positive .

Thanks both! I called the surgery this morning but the next available appointments are in 4 weeks, so that's not a huge help. Now wondering if I should ask the midwife, but since I'm pretty sure it's a medication-related rather than pregnancy-related issue, I'm not sure there is any point in bothering them!

You may need some anti sickness medication to help you with nausea and eating more. You may need a different antidepressant. You may just need to eat more (and may need some guidance on this). Whatever thing it is, I would get a Drs appointment ASAP

Hey OP - I would ask your midwife; if nothing else, maybe she can get you a GP appointment more quickly! Nobody will mind you asking and you’re not wasting anyone’s time - it’s always better to play it safe x

Thanks! I know I'm being silly, I just get worried about calling the surgery because the receptionists always sound annoyed and them having said that this isn't urgent, I am afraid they'll get angry if I keep pushing!

The receptionists at my GP surgery are like that too; maybe it’s something they put in the job description 😂 Don’t let it put you off - imagine they’re just annoyed at their computer 🙂

Not sure what your starting weight was or how much in total you have lost. My BMI was 22 so i'm a lot bigger, but was never sick and was logging what i ate aiming for 2000 calories but sometimes only getting up to 1400 a day. It was worrying me but after trawling google seems its quite common and i don't think they're that worried unless its more than 10% of your bodyweight and midwife told me you'll put on weight after 20 weeks. So i just made more of an effort to get more calories in for the baby, eg milkshakes, adding cheese, avocado, hot chocolate not the light one, nuts, all the little high cal things. I lost 3.5kg in the first few weeks, which i struggled to put on. At 16 weeks weight was finally on the way up, 21 weeks had a drop of 1kg again, then the last 3 weeks slowly started increasing. This week i'm 27 weeks and finally just overtaken my booking in weight by 0.2kg!! :) Baby has been growing spot on at both 12 and 20 weeks scans, so that really reassured me. And bump is looking huge now! So just make an effort to keep eating, and go for high cal stuff and track your weight once a week. And worry/stress always made me loose weight so try not to worry about it - which is easier said than done. Sorry, bit of a long detailed post about my weight!! But hope it helps. Everyones different and everyones body responds differently. If you're feeling good and baby doing good sounds great :)

I think thay you need to both talk to your midwife and push for an urgent GP appointment. The GP can review your medication and the midwife can make suggestions about monitoring your diet and support you with morning sickness etc. I have just started taking sertaline and found it best to take it post dinner. I need something in my stomach first but too close to bedtime gives me weird dreams. You also need to be making a conscious effort to be eating enough for you and baby, and take a decent pregnancy vitamin.

I'm sorted with vitamins but the food is just a massive struggle. I'm trying really hard to eat a proper amount, but I never feel hungry and as soon as I eat I start feeling sick and half the time whatever I've eaten comes straight back up (sorry, tmi!). The only trick that's working is to eat tiny amounts and very slowly - today I managed half a bowl of porridge for lunch and that was a major achievement! :) But I will try taking the Sertraline later in the day like you suggest - I pushed it back because of difficulty sleeping, but it does seem like a good idea to try taking it later again.

I weighed about 51kg pre pregnancy and now I'm down to just over 45kg...so it's a bit: eek. But the MW didn't seem massively concerned and yeah, both me and baby seem to be fine, so I can see why the surgery don't think it's urgent.