There is one explanation for all the pounds you gain. You do eat! It’s simple, isn’t it? If you get just enough calories for basic things like breathing, you have to burn fat to get the energy to walk around. Eat more calories than you need given your basal activity level, and your body puts on fat. Your body is actually protecting you against the next famine when you will have nothing to eat and need your fat to survive until the next sandwich comes along.

Now turn to many of the forum sites where people discuss their experience with zoloft. The general spirit of these posts is, “I weighed 120lb until I took zoloft. Now I am…”

All this histories don’t tell you the main thing. Their authors were eating too good, and living too bad. . . and a side effect of zoloft. It is a natural association to make. You start taking a medication and immediately you put on five pounds with no obvious change in your diet or level of physical activity. So, let us start off by accepting that some people react to medications by putting on weight. Why? The medication may increase or decrease the basal metabolic rate. If this happens, your weight may fluctuate even though you do not change your caloric intake. In some people, the medication can cause hormonal changes and increase appetite. Increased levels of serotonin are also associated with hunger pangs which encourage you to eat more.

Now we are into the business of balancing the advantages and disadvantages of the particular medication. Let us say that zoloft has made a dramatic improvement in your emotional life. For the first time in months (or years), you do not feel (so) sad. So. When your weight is about 120 pounds, what prise you want to pay to decrase it? Or will you get depressed again because your body has become less attractive? As a gentle warning, if your regular doctor asks you whether you want to try a different medication, zoloft causes less weight gain than the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).

You’d better start exercising. These are most likely to stabilise your weight. Only if you do change your diet and exercise to no effect, should you talk with your doctor. If self-help has failed, see what the professional recommends.