Lexapro

Options
froehlich1986
froehlich1986 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started taking Lexapro about a year ago and gained 15 pounds. I was convinced at my annual that it was the quarantine 15, but I started training for a marathon in February and started morning boxing classes 3 mornings a week a month ago. I had a weigh in at boxing and lost 2 pounds and .4% body fat. I am triathlon/ marathon training at night. Im over 25+ running miles a week! I am portioning my meals and I just don't understand.

I started researching and found that usually after 6 months Lexapro has caused weight gain in individuals. I started to think about it. I am a triathlete and I raced IMNC in 2019, I maintained my race weight for the entire year after without all my extensive training. It was after being 6 months on Lexapro the weight started to creep up.

After reading some of these threads I am no convinced it is the Lexapro. Weight is in my midsection and upper body and I cant seem to lose it. I am going to talk to my dr and make a post for others. I felt so helpless, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    Options
    What is your calorie intake like? Losing weight by exercising is hard to do. I know it didn’t work for me.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    Options
    I believe I started to gain a bit when I started Lexapro, but it didn't seem to be until about 6 weeks after I started. I thought it had to be the medication, because I continued to track my food and exercise as I did before going on it. I also found out that a lot of people gain some amount of weight on it (about 25%, I believe, according to the listed side effects), and like you that it was more common to occur after being on it 6 months.

    I'm happy to say that my weight has stabilized, but I still feel like I have more cravings and just feel hungrier than I used to. I do feel like I have to be more careful than I was before. I have read that adding or changing to Wellbutrin can help, as that typically decreases appetite and/or weight loss is a more common side effect.

    Hopefully you'll be able to find a solution that works for you.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    Options
    It's the calories, as you noticed you're getting hungrier on Lexapro. Wellbutrin tends to reduce cravings; some people lose weight on it, they use it to help people break addictions to hard drugs too. But Wellbutrin also tends to make people feel more anxious.

    Most people will tell you to talk to your doctor about changing your meds. This is a subject where they don't know much more than you, on a practical level. They don't do a blood test to figure out what antidepressant to put you on, they try one, they try another of it isn't working. I would suggest deferring to your doctor on most things related to health and medicine, but for antidepressants you should do a lot of reading yourself. From legit, credible sources.
  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    Options
    are you weighing and tracking all of your food?
  • hist_doc
    hist_doc Posts: 206 Member
    Options
    froehlich1986 wrote: »
    I started taking Lexapro about a year ago and gained 15 pounds. I was convinced at my annual that it was the quarantine 15, but I started training for a marathon in February and started morning boxing classes 3 mornings a week a month ago. I had a weigh in at boxing and lost 2 pounds and .4% body fat. I am triathlon/ marathon training at night. Im over 25+ running miles a week! I am portioning my meals and I just don't understand.

    I started researching and found that usually after 6 months Lexapro has caused weight gain in individuals. I started to think about it. I am a triathlete and I raced IMNC in 2019, I maintained my race weight for the entire year after without all my extensive training. It was after being 6 months on Lexapro the weight started to creep up.

    After reading some of these threads I am no convinced it is the Lexapro. Weight is in my midsection and upper body and I cant seem to lose it. I am going to talk to my dr and make a post for others. I felt so helpless, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.

    It can be difficult to lose weight while marathon training because it’s hard to eat in a deficit while increasing mileage. Are you weighing your food?

Categories