Lexapro and weight gain

Anyone experienced a marked weight gain after taking Lexapro for a while? I've gained 15 (or more) pounds in the last year or so, while on it.

(I know, I know, go talk to my doctor. Don't worry, I will.)

espngrl

Sun. Sep 30, 7:33pm

Actually, I did some research on it after my doc put me on it, and found out that an incredible amount of people gain weight on it. EVen though the warnings and side effects say somehting like only 4% of people, it's actually more like 90. Strange, but true. I quit it after taking one pill, really not worh it, since weight issues were what was causeing most of my depression and anxiety in the first place.

Sunday, September 30, 2007, 7:46 PM

I'm not sure where the pp got those numbers. I was on Lexapro for 3 years and didn't gain any weight. One of the reasons I *liked* Lexapro was that it doesn't tend to cause weight gain!

To the OP: Could some other factor be causing your weight increase?

Monday, October 1, 2007, 10:05 AM

I suggest looking at your habits before singling out the medication. Usually a weight gain to worry about is a huge jump within months after starting a new med.
My coworker is on Lexapro and she's gained at least 20-30 pounds since I've known her but I think it's because she doesn't exercise and chooses to eat poorly.
But the most important thing is: does the medication help you feel better? Would you eat more or less if you were off the medication? And I think talking to your doctor is a great idea.

Monday, October 1, 2007, 11:50 AM

long term weight gain

Most antidepressants cause weight gain in the long term, but weight loss in the short tem. That's why a lot of them say they cause weight loss, but only initially. The drug companies have done very few studies on long term side effects.
The doctors aren't always helpful either, I would do my own research.

Monday, October 1, 2007, 1:54 PM

Weight gain with Lexapro

The reason that you don't see weight gain in the PI is because pivotal studies to get drugs approved only really need to be 6months to 1-year..therefore, there is probably no long-term data that shows this weight gain associated with the drug...another reason is that in order to get into the label, weight gain needs to have been reported by the investigators running the trial and they may not have reported weight gain bc they most likely attributed it to patient's underlying depression... I work in drug safety so I have a good deal of insight into how 'adverse events' get into labels

Monday, May 26, 2008, 8:12 PM

My husband's aunt gained over 100 pounds on Lexapro. She had worked really hard for a long time to get down to her goal weight. She told me that Lexapro made her just simply not even care that she was gaining the weight, so it came on quickly and without resistance.

Monday, May 26, 2008, 10:37 PM

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