Posted by sip on December 10, 2003, at 22:34:57
In reply to Re: Preventing weight gain from medications, posted by Patient on December 8, 2003, at 13:28:47
Hey, thanks to everyone for your responses (and links)! I had trouble finding my way back to my thread on this board. It's my 8th day on Lexapro. My doc started me on 5 mg and I was supposed to up to 10 last night but I decided not to because I am in grad school and have a final next week and may wait til after that to up the dose -- I FINALLY feel clear headed and don't want to be foggy, drowsy, cotton headed, and in a bit of a daze for my final. PLUS I noticed I had trouble with orgasm and sex drive until about 2 days ago. It's kind of nice that that seems to have gone away (sexual s/e). I suspect if I go up to 10 mg it might really affect that area (although maybe that would dissipate as well after awhile).
I also think (although I am not sure) I am feeling fairly decent so I wonder if I should just stick with 5 mg? I hadn't realized til reading your post that some people might do OK on just 5 -- I wondered if it was too small an amount to make a difference. But maybe this is just the placebo effect because it seems awfully soon to be seeing any sort of results.
Anyway I am supposed to see my doctor for a f/u in a few weeks so I will discuss with her but may well stick with 5 mg til then since I am feeling OK. Just curious if anyone else is on 5 mg of Lexapro???
(Re: my appetite -- it's diminished a little but that may be a s/e that's temporary).
Thanks for the comments and commiseration.
> Hi,
>
> You might be interested in reading the following from "The Antidepressant Survival Guide" by Robert Hedaya, M.D.
>
> Hypoglycemia self-evaluation test
> http://www.rxlist.com/rxboard/paxil.pl?read=7517
>
> The Five-Day Jump Start
> http://www.rxlist.com/rxboard/paxil.pl?read=7518
>
> I've not had a problem with weight gain from antidepressants (each of us acts differently toward these meds.) and I've been on several different ones (Zoloft, Celexa, Prozac, Wellbutrin, and Lexapro). I actually had a slight weight problem from binge eating before starting on ADs-originally started on Zoloft-and my carb. craving I once had has disappeared. I think I may not be average when it comes to weight gain and medicines. I do have problems with an increase in appetite from carbamazepine, which is used as a mood stabiliser, and even antihistamine Benadryl. Benadryl, like antidepressant Remeron (mirtazapine), are both H1 antagonists, which actually cause an increase in appetite. Most people complaining of weight gain from antidepressants, especially SSRI's and Effexor, say it makes them crave carbs., but others say they gained weight without a change in their diet.
>
> The key to preventing the weight gain is steering clear of simple carbohydrates, which the American diet is so high in. Stay clear of hydrogenated fats, as well-these are in practically every processed food so you really have to read the label. I tell people to switch to brown rice instead of white, eat WASA whole grain crackers, nuts and seeds as snacks, avoid white bread-eat toasted bread instead of soft bread (the toasting makes for roughage), avoid sugar; well the above information will tell you. It's difficult to generalise the side effects of the antidepressants, but for the most part, Prozac is the least likely to gain weight and Paxil is the worst-but there have been some that have had the opposite effect to these generalisations.
>
> As for sex drive and Lexapro, I had a low sex drive due to my problems with borderline personality disorder/depression/high anxiety, so losing my libido after starting on an SSRI (Zoloft) was no big deal. The good thing was antidepressants made me more relaxed where I could enjoy sex once again, even if I didn't have an orgasm. So far, Celexa 20mg daily has been the only SSRI that didn't cause anorgasmia-Zoloft (I was mainly taking 25mg.) being the worst.
>
> Yeah, you can skip a day-some doctors will suggest skipping Friday and Saturday's dose, then restart on Sunday if you usually have sex on the weekends. This can be tricky though, especially for short-acting antidepressants, like regular Paxil, which can result in a return of depression/anxiety or withdrawal symptoms. Doctors will also suggest taking the lowest dose that works for your depression to reduce side effects. I found 5mg of Lexapro to work for me, any higher and it caused me to be anxious, but it wasn't strong enough (pretty weak in my opinion-I felt the need to take something in the evening to calm me-like a glass of wine or 0.5mg lorazapam). I felt ten times better when I took the Lexapro with 100mg of Wellubtrin SR. The Wellbutrin didn't make me nervous as I thought it would, but made me feel calm. Once again, each of us is different, making it hard to predict how you will be affected. I'm now taking 20mg Prozac, for budget reasons-it's working well.
>
> Well, the best to you, and hope I didn't overwhelm you!
poster:sip
thread:286112
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031208/msgs/288630.html