I gained a lot of weight on Paxil. I was gaining 3 pounds a week and it didn't matter what I ate. I even went into Boston to see a specialist and he said "It's from the Paxil. You will level off eventually." Great... I did finally level off but only after I gained 100 pounds. Now, to be fair, I did eat like crap once I felt like it didn't matter what it was I ate. I gained weight whether I ate an apple or an apple fritter...so naturally I chose the apple fritter. :-) It's possible I would have leveled off at a lower weight if I were actually eating healthy food.

I should also mention that I have seriously messed up my body with eating disorders. For 15 years I was a non-purging bulimic which means instead of purging, I starved. So I would binge for a week and then starve for a week (sometimes longer). I did a lot of damage and am still struggling to fix it all.

Since it seems that you have managed to overcome your eating disorders before taking Lexapro hopefully you won't experience such a high weight gain. In the end, for me, I weighed the pros and cons and the pro of taking the med - no more anxiety - outweighed the con of gaining a lot of weight.

Take care

I had that with Effexor and was left with "Effexor belly" - I gained 30 lbs. and never lost it. But I decided to go off of it after about a year because I didn't feel it particularly helped.

That said, it's interesting you brought this topic up. As I'm getting older, I'm gaining weight and it feels like nothing helps. I recently decided to go vegan and hired a personal trainer. Within 10 days I was having dizzy spells. I quickly decided that I'll eat healthfully and do my usual mellow workout and my weight will go where it goes.

It is hard though because it feels like one more thing I have no control over and it pisses me off.

If the medicine works well for you, the weight gain may be worth it.

If you decide to go off Paxil be absolutely positive you do it with help from your doctor and wean off. Otherwise, you could have some very unpleasant side-effects.

I pretty quickly gained about 20-25 lbs on Zoloft, and it's making things very difficult for me. This is the heaviest I've ever been - my previous top weight was about 12 lbs lower, and it was the result of decently unhealthy eating and the absence of any exercise. Now I go to a very rigorous exercise class every other day (kind of like boot camp), and while I'm not eating a salad every meal, I would argue that I have maintained the same eating style that has held my weight steady for years, and there has been absolutely no change in my weight at all. I know that there has been some muscle gain, which is nice, and I know that it isn't all about the numbers, but frankly it's difficult to feel good about yourself when suddenly you can't fit into any of your clothing.

I suddenly found that the morning was the worst time of day for me, because I'd struggle to find something to wear for work and would end up in tears and depressed. To try and mitigate that, I went through my closet and put away everything that I knew I couldn't wear right now, so that my only options are things that I can work with. That has helped, to some extent. But the fact that my weight won't budge is truly starting to wear on me. I don't feel attractive, I worry that my partner feels I'm less attractive, and even though I'm exercising more than ever, it seems to make no difference. I've used programs like Weight Watchers successfully in the past, but I'm being stubborn and feel like I should avoid pressuring myself and depriving myself (maybe counterproductive? I confuse myself these days).

Point is, I understand what you're feeling, and unfortunately I don't have any good advice. This has been the toughest part of the process for me, and it's really starting to wear me down.

I think when you're dealing with SSRI's you're talking about messing with brain chemistry. They state in commercials that they don't really understand how these meds work and weight issues start in the brain with the hypothalamus and other areas. So, it could impact weight.

I think this is especially troublesome when people with eating disorders are put on anti-depressants almost as a standard course of treatment. It creates another issue.

I would encourage you to get your vitamin D levels checked as well. Often people who are depressed have low levels of vitamin D and when you get this adjusted, it can impact other health issues you may have.

What I like about vitamins is that, if you take the right amount, there are no side-effects and it can help treat other issues affected by the vitamin you're low on. For example, vitamin D can lift your mood, pain level can improve, arthritis can get better and the risk factor for heart disease may drop. It also helps you absorb calcium so it can strengthen your bones.

With meds, you have to take a separate medicine for each issue and often, you need meds to handle the side effects from the first medicine!

Thank you all for your responses. Lucky, I've been weighing the pros and cons, too, and for now it feels like it's worth it. I think I'd rather gain some weight but have a lot less anxiety to deal with. So far, it hasn't been like Paxil where I felt like I couldn't stop eating and the pounds just piled on and on. In the end, I think the weight gain made me so depressed, it completely cancelled out any benefit I got from the meds.

Sarasalt, I'm sorry to hear things are so frustrating for you right now, I've been there, believe me! Reed, I didn't know that about vitamin D, but it might be worth looking into.

I guess part of my problem is that I'm also starting to see my age now that I'm pushing forty. I don't feel as attractive as I used to feel. I feel like every day I notice something new - new lines on my face, tiny vericose veins appearing, more cellulite than ever, and the skin above my knees sagging a little, among other things. Adding weight gain to all that makes me feel like my youth is over. Don't get me wrong - I don't think appearance is important in the grand scheme of things and it's futile to fight time, but it's still a little discouraging and it just nags me every day. I guess it's making me feel mortal.

I did find this article that some of you might find useful. I think I'm going to try some of the things it suggests:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judith-j-wurtman-phd/weight-loss-10-tips-to-pr_b_629564.html

One thing it says is to learn the difference between hunger and appetite. I've started asking myself if I'm hungry enough to eat baby carrots. If the answer is yes, I'm really hungry. It's a little tough, though, because I think sometimes the meds just make my stomach upset which feels a little like hunger. It also feels better when I eat, especially if it's something heavy. I haven't tried the suggestion about eating a tums when your stomach is growling, but that might help, too.