Posted by LCSW2APN on April 21, 2003, at 9:09:27
In reply to Re: Lexapro and weight, posted by annlanka on March 19, 2003, at 9:59:39
There are many factors which could have to deal with weight gain, beyond the medication. Some people eat when they are depressed. Thus as the medicaion resloves the depression, they can control their eating better. Others avoid food when they are depressed, thus when the medication starts working, they gain. Beyond that the thyriod can caused both depression and weight gain. Additionally, exercise can help reslove depressive symptoms and help with weight gain. There are medications which can help with weight gain, i.e. Topamax or phentermine, however most PCPs and many psychiatrists will not Rx the former due to problems with memory loss at higher doesages, and the latter due to not having much experience with it and for fear of "rebound" weight gain. In an event phentermine can interact with antidepressants in veryb dangerous ways, not to say MD's never Rx both it and Prozac. Also, muscle weighs more than fat, so you may find that you gain some weight, while your BMI actually goes down! So, bottom line, it is not as easy as this medication does or does not cause weight gain. I do not know how much overweight you are. If you were not overweight to begin with diet and exercise alone may help deal with this side effect of Lexapro for you. You may wish to consider seeing a "weight doctor" or if you are currently being treated by your PCP, you may wish to consider seeing a psychiatrist or of course his Nurse Practitioner! If you wish you may email me directly at LCSW2APN@aol.com or you may catch me on line with AOL's instant messenger IM name chatstate or LCSW2APN. Best Wishes.
LAM
poster:LCSW2APN
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030417/msgs/221115.html