I've lost weight since being on Lexapro....around 8lbs.
I want to stop taking Lexapro now, but I'm afraid of gaining back the weight and then some.
I've adjusted to this new weight and don't want to change.
Has anybody else been in the same boat?
I want to stop taking Lexapro now, but I'm afraid of gaining back the weight and then some.
I've adjusted to this new weight and don't want to change.
Has anybody else been in the same boat?
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I have been on 10mg of lexapro for about 4 years and just 2 months ago the dr. increased it to 20mg. I have continued to gain weight during this time for the 1st time in my adult life. My eating habits and lifestyle has not changed but my weight has continued to increase. I am now trying to get off of it by cutting the dosage to 10mg per day for one week the 5mg for the next week then to 5mg every other day for a week. I'm nervous about the panic attacks returning after subsiding for the past 3 years. I don't want to put my body through anymore. Previous to lexapro I took wellbutrin and paxil (not at the same time). I'd like to be "drug" free for the 1st time in 8 years. Any suggestions for natural rememdies?
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i couldn't agree with all the Lexapro posts. i too had been on lexapro (60mg) for a combo of depression and ocd symptoms. i was prescribed it with Topamax for weight control. Over the course of about 6 months i have watched my weight go up nearly 30 lbs! My doctors assure me its not the med but rather my age (early 30s) and the depression . i say no as i do not eat very much and my age should have little impact as my grandparents are much older than myself and have much greater metabolisms than mine; the Lex works ok but the weight gain makes the depession so much worse and to have the prescribing physcians not take these claims seriously - well that just makes you feel 100 % worse. I have been on zoloft, paxil, topomax and wellbutrim and i have never had such a spike in weight gain as i had with good old Lexapro. It has to be a fact and i am currently working on weening myself off it and claiming my health (and hopefully) my old self back. its very disheartening... :-(
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I've been on Lex since Jan and have gained about 15 lbs - am completely miserable about it, enough so that I've decided to get off this medicine. When I saw my dr. on Friday, he acknowledged that the weight gain was in fact due to the Lex. It made me feel validated and relieved, because I've read on many boards, including this one, that many drs. deny this.
He agreed I needed to get off the med and onto something else, so he referred me to a psych to see what he recommends. But in thinking about it these last few days, I don't know that I want to take this route. I would prefer to not be on any medication, but of course, I also question if the time is right for me to do this.
I'm also curious about a more natural approach and am wondering if Sam-e would help. Anyone have any experience with this?
He agreed I needed to get off the med and onto something else, so he referred me to a psych to see what he recommends. But in thinking about it these last few days, I don't know that I want to take this route. I would prefer to not be on any medication, but of course, I also question if the time is right for me to do this.
I'm also curious about a more natural approach and am wondering if Sam-e would help. Anyone have any experience with this?
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It is comforting to know that others have gained weight on Lexapro.
I cried every day for no reason, than two months ago I started taking Lexapro. I walk 1 - 2 miles a day and work vigorously in my yard and have gone from 165 to 190 pounds in just two months! Not fitting into my clothes and feeling fat is very depressing. Help, I have tried Welbutrin and Celexa in the past and all they did was make me a nervous wreck. There has got to be something out there that works without making me fat.
I cried every day for no reason, than two months ago I started taking Lexapro. I walk 1 - 2 miles a day and work vigorously in my yard and have gone from 165 to 190 pounds in just two months! Not fitting into my clothes and feeling fat is very depressing. Help, I have tried Welbutrin and Celexa in the past and all they did was make me a nervous wreck. There has got to be something out there that works without making me fat.
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I totally agree. I was a big guy at about 6'8 and 270 pounds before lexapro and now after 6 months on that **** I am pushing 300
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Thank you all for sharing, I am certain that there is a link to Lexapro and weight gain. I am 5'9" 40 year old female who has gained 12 lbs. in the same # of months while on Lexapro. The irony is that in the same period of time I significantly increased my activity and fitness levels. I just can't take it anymore! The weight gain and subsequent trouble finding clothes that fit and feeling self conscious are indeed worse than the irritability and anxiety I went on the drug for in the first place! I have begun to taper off and have found that running, hard, for at least 45 minutes, alone each day gives the same mental relaxation that I was getting from the pill and then some. I recommend it highly as a substitute for the lexapro and you'll get the added benefit of getting the weight off that you gained on the drug. I am expecting the weight to drop off, will stay tuned with results.
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I went to the Dr yesterday and complained about gaining 15 lbs in a year - he agreed that Lexapro could very well be the culprit. I eat very healthy and exercise regularly and am 38 so this weight gain isn't possible. Prior to Lexapro I was on Zoloft and did not have the same reaction. I was on 10mg, I am weening myself off, for 2 days I have taken 5mg and yes, I have had a headache and feel lethargic. I am confident the weight will come off with an intense exercise and healthy eating.
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I'm so happy that i read your guys comments about lexapro ? cause i weigh 185 right now and im trying to lose weight this wight is not healthy for a women thats 5'6 so everything you guys said really helped me about lexapro and my doctor is trying to get me on (10mg) so i think I'll pass on that so thank you all ;-)
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I am so glad that I have found these sites with information on how others have gained weight on Lexapro. It's too bad that I can no longer take it, but this weight gain is obviously not going away unless I do, and in fact, according to all I keep reading everywhere, it will only go up.
I weighed around 116 about a year ago and now I weighed in at the dr. office at 128. That just can't stay that way. I am an active 39 year old woman, at 5'7. When we talked about this at the dr. office the other day, he wasn't very sympathetic. In fact, he said, "Ok, well if you gain weight, what will happen?". I cried. I have been noticing the pounds coming on and the scale going up and it stresses me out to weigh now. I am used to exercising and putting in the effort to maintain my weight and seeing the results. Now, no matter what I do, my weight either stays at the higher weight now, or goes up!
So I decided to take myself off of it. I have been taking 5 mgs. a day, for a bit over a year now. For the past few nights, I have been shaving more and more off. No real withdrawl side effects so far. I hope it stays that way. I get really bad headaches when I forget to take it or wait too long. Also when I first took it, I had headaches then too. They pretty much went away.
I was/am taking Lexapro for anxiety and panic attacks. And while I think it did help, I think lately I have been handling life on my own. We will see. At first when I took it, I was like "Eh, whatever!", and I really liked that compared to oversensitivity. That whatever feeling wore off and I was more or less back to me. I lost my Mom November 2007.
Good luck to all of you and to myself! I have lost 1 and a half to 2 pounds in the past few days. I hope it goes back down to my size I have been most my life.
BTW, I have read about growing older and metabolism and we don't necessarily have to gain weight just because of the age. It doesn't happen that way, but because we aren't as active. Walk and do some weights. That helps. =)
I weighed around 116 about a year ago and now I weighed in at the dr. office at 128. That just can't stay that way. I am an active 39 year old woman, at 5'7. When we talked about this at the dr. office the other day, he wasn't very sympathetic. In fact, he said, "Ok, well if you gain weight, what will happen?". I cried. I have been noticing the pounds coming on and the scale going up and it stresses me out to weigh now. I am used to exercising and putting in the effort to maintain my weight and seeing the results. Now, no matter what I do, my weight either stays at the higher weight now, or goes up!
So I decided to take myself off of it. I have been taking 5 mgs. a day, for a bit over a year now. For the past few nights, I have been shaving more and more off. No real withdrawl side effects so far. I hope it stays that way. I get really bad headaches when I forget to take it or wait too long. Also when I first took it, I had headaches then too. They pretty much went away.
I was/am taking Lexapro for anxiety and panic attacks. And while I think it did help, I think lately I have been handling life on my own. We will see. At first when I took it, I was like "Eh, whatever!", and I really liked that compared to oversensitivity. That whatever feeling wore off and I was more or less back to me. I lost my Mom November 2007.
Good luck to all of you and to myself! I have lost 1 and a half to 2 pounds in the past few days. I hope it goes back down to my size I have been most my life.
BTW, I have read about growing older and metabolism and we don't necessarily have to gain weight just because of the age. It doesn't happen that way, but because we aren't as active. Walk and do some weights. That helps. =)
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Man, I can't tell you how relieved I am to read these things!!! I also gained a lot of weight (like 40-50) pounds while on Lexapro. I think the heavier I kept getting, the worse I was feeling , so the more I kept eating!!! We all know how this goes :-( If I would have known it was so common, maybe I wouldn't have beat myself up so much, thinking it was all me.
I lost my bottle of Lexapro a week ago and I tried everything to get more, I called the pharmacy (for a "lost or stolen" courtesy refill) and my doctor (for free samples) and I think I went into PANIC mode for the biggest part of last week because I didn't think I could make it without it.
But as you all can see, I survived, lol. Now I'm even noticing that I might just be ok.
This might sound cheesy but I'm going to practice some new calming techniques and eat foods that are shown to reduce anxiety/depression/lack of focus....all those things that I was experiencing before. I have nothing better to do with my time as I wait for these 2 weeks to get my prescription refilled. Who knows, I may not even start back on it in 2 weeks :-D . We'll see how it goes.
I lost my bottle of Lexapro a week ago and I tried everything to get more, I called the pharmacy (for a "lost or stolen" courtesy refill) and my doctor (for free samples) and I think I went into PANIC mode for the biggest part of last week because I didn't think I could make it without it.
But as you all can see, I survived, lol. Now I'm even noticing that I might just be ok.
This might sound cheesy but I'm going to practice some new calming techniques and eat foods that are shown to reduce anxiety/depression/lack of focus....all those things that I was experiencing before. I have nothing better to do with my time as I wait for these 2 weeks to get my prescription refilled. Who knows, I may not even start back on it in 2 weeks :-D . We'll see how it goes.
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It's good to hear that I'm not alone from the anectodotes I'm reading above. I was prescribed Paxil for nighterrors approximately 15 years ago and had put on approximately 25 lbs over the course of two years.
Then about 13 years later I was prescribed Lexapro for panic attacks. And like the Paxil, I put on another 25 lbs over the course of 12 months or so.
So I weaned myself off the Lexapro about a month ago in order to try and lose all of this excess weight that I've gained and to stop any further weight increase. [Well, the withdrawal from Lexapro has been a sheer and utter NIGHTMARE! Had I known that I'd be going through this I would have NEVER taken this damn drug in the first place! The doctor downplayed the weight gain. And never mentioned the withdrawal process! ]
Well, I continue to exerice and work out approximately 4-5x/wk. but you'd never know it. And I bust my ass at the gym. Yet people look at me like I'm full of it and must sit around eating snacks at the gym instead of breaking a serious sweat!
I am going in for blood work today, as per my doctor's recommnedation, in order to begin the process of dropping some of this damn excess weight. I hate how I look and I hate how I feel about myself! It's really gotten me down. I'm hoping I'll be able to make some progress once this withdrawal has passed and my blood work comes back. In the meantime, I'll continue working out. I've also cut out all sodas (diet soda in my case) as well as caffeine since it seems to increase my panic attacks during my medication withdrawal. I've also decided to really try and avoid cheese as much as possible too since it's really fatty and my cravings for it are through the roof for it lately!
Perhaps one day I'll be back to a more reasonable weight.
Then about 13 years later I was prescribed Lexapro for panic attacks. And like the Paxil, I put on another 25 lbs over the course of 12 months or so.
So I weaned myself off the Lexapro about a month ago in order to try and lose all of this excess weight that I've gained and to stop any further weight increase. [Well, the withdrawal from Lexapro has been a sheer and utter NIGHTMARE! Had I known that I'd be going through this I would have NEVER taken this damn drug in the first place! The doctor downplayed the weight gain. And never mentioned the withdrawal process! ]
Well, I continue to exerice and work out approximately 4-5x/wk. but you'd never know it. And I bust my ass at the gym. Yet people look at me like I'm full of it and must sit around eating snacks at the gym instead of breaking a serious sweat!
I am going in for blood work today, as per my doctor's recommnedation, in order to begin the process of dropping some of this damn excess weight. I hate how I look and I hate how I feel about myself! It's really gotten me down. I'm hoping I'll be able to make some progress once this withdrawal has passed and my blood work comes back. In the meantime, I'll continue working out. I've also cut out all sodas (diet soda in my case) as well as caffeine since it seems to increase my panic attacks during my medication withdrawal. I've also decided to really try and avoid cheese as much as possible too since it's really fatty and my cravings for it are through the roof for it lately!
Perhaps one day I'll be back to a more reasonable weight.
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I was put on Paxil approximately 10 years ago for Night Terror Disorder (which is basically a panic attack while in a non-dreaming state) then gained 25 lbs. over a 2 year period. I slowly titrated off Paxil after about the second year of being on it with my doctor's help due to a noticeable weight gain and absense of any Night Terrors.
Then about 18 months ago I was put on Lexapro for a severe panic attack that lasted 24 hours thanks to taking some Contact-D (Pseudoephedrine).
Since being prescribed Lexapro I've put on another 25 lbs.! My family seems to think that I've just become some glutanous fat *ss over the years. Yet I bust my butt at the gym 4-5x/wk. still you'd never know it because my food cravings have gotten more intense over time since being on this terrible med!
So with a doctor's guidance, I slowly weened off the Lexapro over a two month period. And now I'm hoping that all of this withdrawal that I've been experiencing over the past month that I'll be able to actually start to lose some of this excess weight that's been making me feel like TOTAL c**p about myself lately!
I've noticed lately that since the withdrawal from Lexapro began, I've been even more sensitive about my weight. I'm suspecting it's all hormonal. Until my brain gets reset neuro-chemically.
Nonetheless, I'm going in for blood work today to rule out any other factors that might be inhibiting me from losing weight and I continue to workout regularly.
I would NEVER recommend Lexapro or Paxil after having put on 50+lbs. from the both of them as well as the GODAWFUL withdrawal I'm currently going through from the Lexpro (i.e. excessive sweating, increased generalized anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, irritability, decreased concentration, dizziness, agitation, headache).
I hope this helps others who are going are going through similar or are considering taking either aforementioned anti-depressant.
Then about 18 months ago I was put on Lexapro for a severe panic attack that lasted 24 hours thanks to taking some Contact-D (Pseudoephedrine).
Since being prescribed Lexapro I've put on another 25 lbs.! My family seems to think that I've just become some glutanous fat *ss over the years. Yet I bust my butt at the gym 4-5x/wk. still you'd never know it because my food cravings have gotten more intense over time since being on this terrible med!
So with a doctor's guidance, I slowly weened off the Lexapro over a two month period. And now I'm hoping that all of this withdrawal that I've been experiencing over the past month that I'll be able to actually start to lose some of this excess weight that's been making me feel like TOTAL c**p about myself lately!
I've noticed lately that since the withdrawal from Lexapro began, I've been even more sensitive about my weight. I'm suspecting it's all hormonal. Until my brain gets reset neuro-chemically.
Nonetheless, I'm going in for blood work today to rule out any other factors that might be inhibiting me from losing weight and I continue to workout regularly.
I would NEVER recommend Lexapro or Paxil after having put on 50+lbs. from the both of them as well as the GODAWFUL withdrawal I'm currently going through from the Lexpro (i.e. excessive sweating, increased generalized anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, irritability, decreased concentration, dizziness, agitation, headache).
I hope this helps others who are going are going through similar or are considering taking either aforementioned anti-depressant.
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After I submitted the first posting I ended up having to register for this site. So I thought my posting was going to be lost forever. So I registered for this site and made some relevant changes to what I had originally posted after looking up some stuff from my medical records that I keep at home. Sorry for any confusion.
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I am so glad to know that, although I might be anxious, I am not crazy! In the 5 years that I have taken lexapro, I have not changed my food intake or exercise level except for the better, and I have gained 45 pounds! This is ridiculous! It has helped me enormously with anxiety and OCD but the weight gain is obscene.I also am reluctant to mess with a drug that has helped me live a better life, but the 'fat but happy'routine is wearing thin. People who haven't seen me in a while seem quite shocked. I am 5'1" and have always been petite. I now look like a middle aged mom who doesn't care about herself. I feel guilty over every morsel that goes in my mouth. I know it looks like I have no self discipline. If they only know how much self discipline it takes to live a normal life with panic attacks, OCD and anxiety! I am proud of my progress, and try to consider it the cost of good mental health, but, really....is this the way its going to be? Fat but happy is a lousy mantra.
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