problems with zoloft :(

I am also on Zoloft (25 mg -- just started fairly recently) and am having similar issues. Weight gain is not a big issue with Zoloft, as it actually tends to cause people to eat less. Weight gain is more associated with Paxil and Prozac, among others. I would definitely see a psychiatrist anyway; if anyone needs to mess with your meds it should be a psychiatrist. They know much more about this stuff and can probably prescribe a more effective dosage/combination. If you have insurance, your insurance company can find you a psychiatrist. Also, a therapist/psychologist would be an excellent resource. Pills will not solve your problems, but they will make dealing with them easier. If you're in college, most universities have a free student mental health center or something similar.

Best of luck

 

The thing with college health centers is that they are cheap. Prozac came out in 1987, and Zoloft in 1991. It took a long time for them to become available as generics, over 10 years, though I don't know the statutory period. The student health centers will prescribe what's cheap, and not always what's necessary. Yes, a psychiatrist should be the one who works with the patient, and not a GP, though there aren't enough psychiatrists to go around. I think it's a specialty that's under-supplied.

I encountered this problem in school. The Zoloft would have worked, seeing how it kicked in, in about 2 or 3 weeks. They gave me some antiquated drug instead and in the morning, I felt like I weighed like a boulder, and couldn't get up, so I went without meds. When I started working and with that came the insurance, I then got the Zoloft, through a therapist who had a consulting link to a psychiatrist. I liked the therapist and I was glad I didn't have to see the psychiatrist, who was very nice, but not somebody I could have bonded with.

 

I take Zoloft for anxiety, and I find that it has been really helpful with that. Everything really depends on your brain chemistry and needs, but definitely bring up concerns with your doctor. It sometimes happens that depression and anxiety are interlinked- once I got my depression under ccontrol, my anxiety acted up, but I've finally found a medication that works for both.

 

I had really vivid and odd dreams while I was on it and I do remember feeling somewhat light headed when I first started. I took it for about a year and decided to stop. It was working OK, but it made me really lazy and listless. I gained 10 pounds, but I think it was mostly because I was inactive.