Mental health and weight loss

I believe the only thing it could cause as far as weight gain is increased appetite. You sound very active but do you track your calories? Doing so will help you to prevent overeating if you do begin to feel hungrier. Hope this helps!

I recommend first paying attention to the scale each morning to see if the meds actually increase your appetite enough so you gain weight. You might not have any problems and there's no point in escalating your response unless you need to.

If you end up gaining a few pounds (2-3?) then start logging all of your food on MFP. You may have to play with macros to figure out the best types of foods to satisfy your hunger.

alexoftroy wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I started a low dosage of Lexapro today, 10 mg, to treat my anxiety. I have done the worst possible thing and googled "Lexapro and weight gain"--the horror stories floating around the Internet are enough to make me want to throw my pill bottle out the window!

I am 25, 5'5", and 117 lbs. Health and fitness have been my lifestyle since I was a young teenager--running, lifting weights, eating clean, etc. I've managed to maintain and even lose weight while dealing with the stress of law school, so I'm hoping I'll be able to muscle my way through any curveballs this medication throws at me.

I am still extremely nervous and can't shake the worry. It's important to me to maintain my weight, and it would be a deal breaker if Lexapro inhibited that. I was hoping that you all might be able to educate me, share some insight, or even offer your own advice or personal stories on the issue. Thank you all so much!

Weight gain doesn't just happen. If you're concerned about it make sure you're watching what you eat. I take Citalopram which is also linked to weight gain but to be honest when I'm taking it I'm much more likely to workout and eat healthy. It hasn't made me gain any weight as far as I know. I got fat because of a *kitten* diet and no activity, I can't use medication as an excuse.

I just weaned off of Lexapro 20 mg. The reason I decided to come off the medication was due to gaining 5 lbs over the course of 6 months. While this doesn't seem like a lot, over time it can really add up (potentially 20 lbs in 2 years). My doctor and I made the decision for me to stop taking it. There is no guarantee if the Lexapro contributed to me gaining weight, but I am hoping to see some weight loss over the next couple of weeks/months.

As others have said, keep on eye on your hunger and your weight to see if you notice a change before you make any decisions (not everyone has the same side effects). When I was on Lexapro (I have varied between 10-15mg) I did not notice any huge increases in hunger or weight gain, and was successful losing weight while on it. Actually, having more control of my depression and anxiety helped my activity levels and my eating habits! In short, don't panic... just see how your body reacts, and adjust accordingly.

Usually these meds cause weight gain due to increased appetite, sometimes as a side effect, other times simply because an anxious person often loses appetite thus loses weight and when the anxiety is treated they will eat more, remember that not everyone will be tracking calories or monitoring their weight but you are which puts you in control here.

I had a nervous breakdown in November, was put on meds (different type,similar side effects) and did gain a few pounds but that was because during the early stages of the breakdown I could barely eat, I lost weight and then when I started to feel a bit better I was just eating what I could, I was aware that I did not want to regain much but at the same time I was too ill to closely follow calories so I gained about 3-4 pounds.

As soon as things settled down again and I started to monitor things properly it came off, took a few more pounds with it and now I am maintaining at the happiest weight I have ever been.

So if you feel hungrier just look at ways to use your calories to their best potential, if gain comes out of nowhere then you could adjust activity, intake or ask to try a different type of medication.

Try not to worry too much, these studies that conclude weight gain as a side effect will include a lot of people who were too anxious or depressed to eat properly, got treatment, felt better, ate more so simply went down the natural path of weight gain.

Monitor and observe and you have the upper hand already, I too believe that having more control over my mental health improved things, I am much more active now than I have ever been so it can actually be a positive thing.

Edit:

Just had a look back over my weekly check ins.

Pre breakdown: 105.5 pounds

During without treatment: 103 pounds

With treatment, not following cals or doing activity: 107 pounds for a while.

Still with treatment, improved state of health and back on track, weight reducing again,slowly some weeks but still reducing and now maintaining at 102 pounds (102.3 to be exact).

So really all you see there are what you may see in the natural fluctuation of maintenence anyway, nothing major and note that I gained when I was not tracking or monitoring closely so if you can still do that you will know if the meds are causing an issue and be able to tackle it in whichever way suits you best, hope the anxiety eases for you, it's a horrid thing.

i've had a lot of scares over this in the past and really the only thing you can do is watch your own self. that's the worst of the medication game -- a med can half kill one person and save the life of another. if you know the meds will raise your hunger levels, you have to compensate for that when you get there. don't set yourself up for failure by saying, "oh well it's just my meds, i can't help it! =(" also check the dosage of the people reviewing the medication whenever possible. i've freaked myself out so many times looking up the side effects of my meds only to find out the people who gained the most weight were on much higher dosages than me so of course they had worse side effects when you're that knocked out half the time!

I gained most of my weight after starting Mirtazapine, but it was only due to the increased appetite and my comfort eating. I'm still on it and have lost 40+ lb so if the willpower is there you shouldn't gain.

Yup, everyone is different. And you do have the upper hand knowing that it is possible to gain weight. Everyone reacts differently and I hope you start to feel better soon! Anxiety and depression are very difficult to live with but you are not alone!