Ariel Winter says changing her antidepressant medication helped her lose weight

The Modern Family star has opened up about her recent change in appearance and the one asset she can’t wait to get back.

Ariel Winter says changing her antidepressant medication helped her lose weight. Picture: Frazer Harrison

Ariel Winter is no stranger to body shaming and comments about her physique.

In January she came out strongly after online comments about her weight loss and overnight the Modern Family star took to her Instagram story to set the record straight after a fan asked “Why so thin?”

The actress, 20, explained she initially put on weight due to the antidepressants she was taking, which she didn’t have a problem with, but when the medication proved to be ineffective and she went off them switching to another — that’s when her weight dropped noticeably.

Ariel Winter says changing her antidepressant medication helped her lose weight. Picture: Gabe Ginsberg

The Modern Family star has faced criticism in the past about her physique. Picture: Vivien Killilea

“For years I had been on antidepressants that caused me to gain weight that I couldn’t lose no matter what I did,” she wrote in her answer.

“It was always frustrating for me because I wanted to be able to get fit and feel like the work I was doing was paying off, but it never felt that way. I had accepted it and moved on.”

She explained that she stayed on her first medications for a long time because the process to go off of antidepressants is “really long and difficult” and was taxing on her body.

“I wasn’t ready to go through it again so I just accepted feeling eh instead of trying to find something to actually feel better,” she wrote.

A fan asked Winter — ‘Why so thin?’

She also addressed the breast reduction surgery she had when she was 17 years old.

However, last year, she got to a point where she “was sick of feeling” stuck and had no choice but to look for alternatives.

“I started the process again and was able to find a great combination of medication that works for me,” she continued in her post. “The change in medication instantly made me drop all of the weight I couldn’t lose before by just giving me back a metabolism. That was very unexpected.”

Winter said that although she feels better mentally, she still wants to gain a few more kilos of muscle and get healthier — and ended her lengthy post by saying, “Also want my butt back”.

The young actress first addressed her dramatic weight loss in January clapping back at an internet troll who accused her of taking “coke/meth” to drop 13kg.

She says she wants to put on a few more kilos in muscle and get her butt back.

She admitted then that medication was the reason behind her transformation but the follower was sceptical.

Winter spent much of 2017 dealing with online criticism and was frequently defending her wardrobe choices on Instagram and Twitter. The comments led her to take a brief break from Twitter in July 2018.

In her Instagram story last night, Winter explained the importance of mental health and admitted she has been in therapy every week for the past six years.

“I don’t know where I’d be without it,” she said.

“I’ve grown so much as a person and been able to learn how to deal with things from my past that affect my present.”

She said that she is finally on a good combination of medications that actually work.

“It’s a journey so I’m not all the way there, but I’m doing pretty good.”

If you or a loved one needs help with depression, please see Beyond Blue for a list of organisations that can help.