Hi All!
I am new around here and have some questions for all you veterans! I am taking Buspar and zoloft and I was wondering if anyone else is successfully taking these medications and losing weight?? I am on day 9 of my Atkins induction and since I have TOM I am not bothering to weight myself until it over. Has anyone wiened themselves off of these medciations before, and if you have how did you do it? What natural supplements are people taking instead??? What is the lowdown on this 5-HTP I have heard about?? I really need to lose weight and I really think the Aktins plan is for me, since starting it I really feel great. I want to try and get off of this medication by myself and see how it goes. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated!

Kathy

I think it may be possible to go off it, but I would talk to your doctor about cutting back, and you probably don't want to think about trying to cut back for a bit yet. Don't want to make too many changes to your system all at once!

I have successfully lost weight while taking Prozac. For me personally, I would not cut back or go off of it. I like me just the way I am.

I'm on Buspar now and it hasn't effected my weight loss at all, in fact I think it may be helping, if only because I don't eat as much when I'm not a mess!

I was on Zoloft for about a year several years ago, the more I think about it, the more I believe that it may have caused alot of my original weight gain. HOWEVER, Zoloft did not work for me! So don't panic and take this as real evidence LOL One piece of advice, please don't try to stop the Zoloft by yourself, get your dr's advice and supervision. I tried to wean myself off it and ended up wrecking my car... The Buspar on the other hand, I've been on half my usual dose with no problems. Again, this is just me, these meds seem to effect everyone differently...

Tamara

Well I take 14 different medications every day and I need each and every one of them to stay alive. I have congestive heart failure, pcos, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, sinus polyps, thyroid removed in '99, migraines, allergies...I am a total wreck for my age of 34. I don't have option of stopping meds, not now, not ever. Truth be told I am losing the weight so I can be eligible for a heart transplant if I need one down the road. They will not even consider me if I don't get down to at least 180 pounds.
In short, if you take necessary meds for depression you will have to adapt your eating plan to compliment the meds you need. I have no clue what all my meds will do to this diet and frankly I don't care...I need the meds and I need to lose weight. If it takes me longer because of meds, so be it.
Good luck!
~Cindy

I have battled OCD over the years with a severe relapse during my pregnancy ( I didn't take my meds while I was pregnant). I have found that my best resource for information on concerns, dosages, weaning myself off, etc., was my pharmacist. It couldn't hurt to call your pharmacist and ask if you could have a few' minutes one-on-one with him or her to ask questions and address the concerns you have about adjusting your meds. I have often found that the pharmacist is more knowledgeable about the side-effects of specific drugs rather than the DR. The doctor deals with so many diff illnesses, disorders, etc. The pharmacist deals specifically with meds.

(from another thread):
Try L-Tyrosine, 300 mg,
Phosphatadyl Serine, 300 mg,
Vitamin B-12, 2500-5000 micrograms,
DMAE, 300 mg,
and/or Pregnenelone, ~50 mg.

I used to take Zoloft and Adderal for ADHD and OCD, until a change of jobs caused loss of health benefits. I had to find non-MD-prescriptive solutions. These worked for me. There was an almost immediate lift (within 45 minutes) after taking the megadose of Vitamin B-12 the first time, and L-Tyrosine works better than caffiene.

5-HTP=5-Hydroxy-Tryptophan
I occasionally use 5-HTP to get to sleep with, in doses of 100-200mg--it takes 2-3 hrs to kick in. My daughter's Wing Chun sifu, who had been suffering from chronic insomnia, tried it at my urging, and got the first real sleep he had had in several months.
Dr. Atkins recommended it for sleep disorders and depression, although he describes much higher doses in his book Dr. Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution. A quote from page 190:
People who are depressed have low blood levels of both serotonin and tryptophan. Prozac, Zoloft...work by extending the life of serotonin in the brain. Tryptophan attacks depression more safely...

This site, from a post by DuPont, has a lot more info on 5-HTP.