Lexapro= fat and sleepy?

[Guest Guest_Pirate_*]

HI

I'm starting Lexapro soon and I'm scared to take it. It will probably help me but I am tired of the side effects of weight gain and lethargy. (mostly from other meds)

All the things I've read so far lean heavily in the "fat and sleepy" direction. But my pdoc says it is more energizing and actually wants to monitor me closely so I don't go manic on it.

Anyone have any experiences with this med? I want help for my BP depression but I can't keep buyin' the next size up and my house has to be cleaned some time!

Thanks

[Pirate]

Sorry, I was not logged in. (blush)

[LunaRufina]

Ok, just to give you some rates from the PI sheet

For Major Depressive Disorder:

Fatigue 5% Somnolence 6% Appetite Decreased 3%

For Anxiety:

Fatigue 8% Somnolence 13% Lethargy 3% Appetite Decreased 3%

However, then it says under Metabolic and Nutritional Disorders: Frequent Increased weight

[frequent means it occurred in at least 1/100]

The sleepiness, if it happens, has a good chance of going away after a few weeks and your body adjust to the medication.

The weight, it can sneak up on you if you aren't careful, but it's not always going to have that effect on you. If you keep track of what you're eating and maybe exercise a little more often, it probably won't be a problem for most people. But sometimes we don't realize we are having these new eating patterns and suddenly "where the hell did those five pounds come from?"

A great site for keeping track of your food intake and exercise is thedailyplate.com.

It is true, though that SSRIs can be activating in BP. Are you taking anything else right now?

[Pirate]

Thanks for the numbers. (saves me browse time

I am re-starting risperdal and have been taking lithium.

The weight I did gain already is proving difficult to get rid of. (love weight watchers though)

Now it seems harder to take care of my diet because all i want to do is eat and lay around! arrgh I do walk for 30 min 3X a week.=win

Thanks again

[Artemisia]

Well, I've been taking Lexapro for over 2 years at this point. It has yet to make me start gain any weight, but it definitely makes me require a lot more sleep than I normally do. I'm seriously considering switching antidepressants once school starts. Right now I have the luxury to be a bum and sleep 12 hours a day*. But come September, I'll have to work harder than I've ever work in my life, so being half-awake won't really be an option any more...

*Before Lexapro, I operated best on 9 hours of sleep a day, which is still a lot, but sleeping for 12 hours would make me feel like crap. (I feel really bad for those individuals who do need to sleep for half the day or longer, no matter what meds they take)

[GoldCoin]

I was on Lexapro for about 8 months. I gained no weight at all, and had no sleepy side effects.

It was very neutral for me.

I have also been told the same thing by a few other people i know who have taken it.

Hope you find something that works.

[kdbee]

Lexapro is my fav of the SSRI's. I didn't have any side-effects on it and it worked the best.

Prozac was the worst for me insofar as weight gain. And in second place: luvox!

EDIT: oops. I was actually sleepy on it (as I have been on every SSRI)

[celestia]

I've been on it for I think almost 3 years. It has never made me sleepy. I have gained weight, but I don't think it is directly related to Lexapro. Lexapro for me I think contributes to a sense of lethary, not really fatigue but more like, "why bother." For me that is a huge improvement over being suicidal. And most of the time I'm not really depressed. I guess what Im trying to say is it's been a really good and reliable AD for me. But I had others, Effexor was good, Prozac was good. I'm not BP FWIW.