Posted by HannahBeGood on February 13, 2003, at 1:22:05
In reply to Re: LEX wieght gain anybody,or not? » male34, posted by ayuda on February 12, 2003, at 18:58:06
> > my paxil quitting reason was gaining weight has anyone been on LEXAPRO long enough to say it does or doesn't make you gain weight? please thanks!
>
> I haven't gained anything on Lexapro. I had gained 40 lbs in 6 months on Effexor (also one of my main reasons for quitting it), so it is nice that the weight gain has stopped. In fact, my appetite has decreased, and I will hopefully start dropping weight on the Lexapro. But everyone is different....I've been n 10 mgs. daily for last 3 months. And no real interest in food. I think it has to do w/some residual dysthymia we have yet to clear up.
Altho my depression is generally more of the atypical, fatigued, reactive sort, since I lost my parents, 2 beloved pets, my best friend (who was simply tired and agitated by my depression becoming full-blown + the fact that it was taking me more than a year since beginning therapy to stabilize and stay there, same is true of my husband-he's getting very impatient- I know I can be a burden-& that's a drag, but, sorry, gang, I'm ill and I'm workibng on it!). Anyway, my depression 'bouts', which cannot be ignored or camouflaged, what I call those periods of time from 1-3 days of almost total immobilization, 20 or more hours of sleep a day, are taking on more morose, sad, frightened aspects that have not been hallmarks of my previous major depressive periods and periodic brief, but disturbing 'dips'. Too much death in the past 2 1/2 years. Too many endings. And since my mother died of Alzheimer's 22 months ago, food has ceased to call my name the way it used to.
So, it may be my dep. has changed in quality, but I still think The Lex is appetite neutral. I did take Effexor for 9 months just before I began the Lex. It did increase my appetite a bit, made me crave ice cream, and also slowed me down physically. Made me quite drowsy, which we vigorously fought with stimulents, but after 9 mos. I had to drop it, due to the lethargic cocooned, 'so what?' feeling I felt on it. It did however help me greatly by desensitizing me at a time when every individual nerve was raw, & I cd. not cope with the intense feelings of grief I was facing.Anyway, point being---Lexapro has not sharpened my appetite even during my 'normal/positive' days which comprise about 2/3's of each month.
I did a full trial of Celexa 2-3 years ago, I had no side-effects whatsoever, but it also was a dud for my depression.
Only Desipramine (which I took for 4 mos.) and Remeron greatly increased my appetite. I used Rem for about 8 wks.--best sleep I ever had, markedly reduced anxiety within 8-9 days, but I never stopped eating. Everything tasted SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I couldn't quit grazing. Desip. I was using 100 mgs daily for pain relief augmentation and I craved sweets and chocolate daily. It also gave me horrific dry mouth, no relief from depression (I was not yet under a pdoc's care) and set the stage for a lot of dental work that might have been avoided.But I was new to A-D's at the time--didn't know doodly-squat.
I have also used zoloft, prozac, wellbutrin, trazadone, elavil--all were neutral as far as appetite affectation.Hope this helps~sorry so
longwinded~~~ HannahBeGood
poster:HannahBeGood
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030208/msgs/140820.html