A Zolofteron pill would be nice

March 2, 2008 9:48 AM

Is it okay to start taking Zoloft while still on (and tapering off) Remeron?

I am currently taking 37.5mg of Remeron every night, and have been using it since 2005 mainly for insomnia and anxiety. My reason for wanting to substitute it with Zoloft is the weight gain and the mad appetite for carbs and sweets. I am scared of going into Zoloft directly because of its known insomnia side-effect, and hoping that Remeron will ease things for me at the beginning until it vanishes or becomes tolerable.

My doctor says it's okay to do this, but I want to hear from someone who has gone through a similar situation.

Also, is it true that Zoloft doesn't generally cause wight gain as much as Remeron? I would love to hear from Zoloft users about their weight gain/loss and appetite experience.

I know I am pushing it, but is there a magical anti-anxiety pill that doesn't have insomnia and weight gain as part of its SEs?

posted by howiamdifferent to health (11 comments total)

I just wanted to add that googling every anti-depressant/anxiety medicine's name that I come across with "weight gain" comes up with some hysterical variation of "OMG I gained tons of weight on drug X!!".
posted by howiamdifferent at 9:55 AM on March 2

Don't you have a doctor involved in this? Why not ask them?
posted by delmoi at 10:11 AM on March 2

As I mentioned in my post above, my doctor says it's okay but I am more interested in the anecdotes of people who actually went through this.
posted by howiamdifferent at 10:17 AM on March 2

It's pretty common to be prescribed Remeron for sleeping/insomnia together with an SSRI. I've been prescribed both in the past. I found Remeron to be too sedating for me, so I stopped using it. I gained a little weight with Paxil, but not too much (and probably got me to a healthier weight -- I was a person who lost weight while depressed).
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 10:24 AM on March 2

Zoloft isn't supposed to be so bad for weight gain as some other SSRIs, according to this study. My personal experience is that while Zoloft hasn't caused crazy carb cravings for me, it has made me tired to the point that I've gotten somewhat out of shape (and gained 3 or 4 pounds) in the 8 or so months that I've been on Zoloft. In the midst of an untreated depressive episode I was still able to run 5K a few times a week, but the first month an a half of Zoloft treatment killed my energy levels so much that I could barely get out of bed most of the time. My doctor noted that most patients on Zoloft who maintain their pre-treatment fitness level tend not to gain a significant amount of weight, whereas it tends to be really difficult to stave off weight gain on other SSRIs.
posted by thisjax at 10:28 AM on March 2

I've been on zoloft at 3 points in my life, and lost weight each time because when the depression lifted I was more able to go out and exercise. Also, I was less likely to eat junk food to deal with my depression. The magic anti-anxiety drug you are looking for is aerobic exercise. I am a gigantic hypocrite, because I'm not following my own advice at all - but if you want to sleep better, control your weight, and lower your anxiety, adding in exercise along with your medications will do it. Now if I could just do it myself.
posted by selfmedicating at 10:40 AM on March 2

Get a second opinion from ANOTHER doctor.
posted by hal_c_on at 10:43 AM on March 2

For about 3 months, I took Trazodone as an antidepressant; many people take it just to help them sleep. It did help my mood a lot. I stopped taking it because I was super groggy in the morning. I probably could have just taken less, but my doctor at the time was kind of unimaginative about veering away from the manufacturer's prescibing guidelines -- so she didn't even consider my taking a small amount of Trazodone. I don't hear or read much about Trazodone -- I guess ssri's have kind of taken over.

To answer your other question, a google search of "remeron and zoloft" shows that plenty of people take remeron and zoloft together. But experiences with antidepressants vary so dramatically -- you just can't predict anything for yourself based on what happened to someone else, even someone in your own family. Unfortunately, there's a lot of trial and error when you're figuring out what antidepressant(s) to take. It can be very confusing and frustrating for a while.
posted by wryly at 11:57 AM on March 2

From personal experience, using other medications to help taper off an existing medication can help but leads to the constant use of the said new medication.

That being said, I had horrible horrible problems with remeron and stopped cold turkey. It wasn't fun for the first few nights but it got better and I no longer feel any effects from detoxing off it.

Find a second opinion from a different doctor, specifically a psychiatrist.
posted by Schuby at 2:06 PM on March 2

I would not take them both together because if you DO have a problem with the side effects of Zoloft, you won't know whether it's the Zoloft or the Remeron. If the side effect is dangerous or very uncomfotable, you might need to go off of both at once. Yikes.

"is there a magical anti-anxiety pill that doesn't have insomnia and weight gain as part of its SEs?"

Yes, Lamictal. Watch for the deadly skin rash, though!
Lexapro.
Cymbalta--actually might decrease your appetite.

I am not a doctor or shrink, but I think that if weight gain is a huge issue for you, you should make that known to your shrink and ask them to prescribe something that does not cause weight gain.
posted by sondrialiac at 3:03 PM on March 2

Sorry I'm late to the game, but Zoloft caused fairly significant weight gain for me after about 1 or 1 1/2 years on it. 5'10" female, and I gained probably 30ish pounds (I don't generally use the scale) which looks in photos from that time to have been bloaty water weight. Docs I've talked to about this say that some people have immediate weight gain from Zoloft, and others have this delayed response a year or more into being on it. For me, it was an indication to switch meds.

I know nothing about Remeron, so can't help there.
posted by ahimsa at 10:13 PM on March 15