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Posted 1/20/2005 5:44 PM (GMT 0)
Help!  I just started taking Lexapro 2 weeks ago and have gained 5 pounds, am constipated and am having trouble sleeping.  The worst is the weight gain.  I am very active teaching 7 fitness/aerobic classes a week. This sucks.  Does this go away?
Posted 1/20/2005 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi. I was so against taking Lexapro,but really had no other choise since my Anxiety was affexting my ability to drive. I started out on .5mgs and felt the side effects the first night. I felt bloated and had horrible pain in my head daily. I also sweated and yawned uncontrollably. I am also physicall active and weigh 100 pounds. I am ALWAYS Energetic and found myself having trouble walking across the room. I ewven had to succomb to naps. Thank goodness I was on leave from work. I almost gave up and called the Dr. to tell him I was weaning off. He told me to give it a bit more time. I was up to 7.5 mgs. FINALLY, it all kicked in and all the side effects left. I felt great and am so much happier and calmer. I tried to go to 10mgs,but feel worse so I stick to 7.5. My Husband sees a HUGE difference in me and is very happy. My Dr. told me that Lexapro usually doesnt cause more than 1-3 pounds of weight gain. Try sticking the side effects out a bit longer. I think it is easier to wean on the pill very slowly instead of starting at 10 right away. Good Luck and let us know how you are doing.
Tabbee
Posted 1/20/2005 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
This is all so new to me and I feel like such a jerk calling the Dr. all the time and saying this is happening, that is happening. I feel really bloated too!  I should have posted this earlier and found out how other people reacted to it.  I was never tired.  As a matter of fact, I felt more awake and ready to do stuff than ever.  No headaches.  I feel more patient with my family and husband.  I am laughing more!  Have you had any adult beverages with the medication?  I have been leary about alcohol. 

Posted 1/20/2005 10:37 PM (GMT 0)

I only had one drink at home. Im not a drinker. I didnt notice anything.  It is great that you didnt get tired. That was the hardest thing for me to get through. I am glad that you ar laughing and doing well so far. I am sure the bloating will go away. Good Luck.

Tabbee

Posted 1/26/2005 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hello I am new to this site. I was looking for something to help me with me depression and to deal with some major happenings in my life. I too am new with Lexapro. I take 20mg. I too got very tired and couldnt get up in the morning and haveing to kids not in school...well lets say that is a challenge. Anyways I started taking it in the morning and I do better. I gained 3 pounds and that made me even more depressed since im still trying to reach my goal. I havent really seen a big difference yet. I've been on it about 4 weeks now. I began on 10 now up to 20. I was having alot of anxiety and the med i was on Effexor XR increased that for me so I was swtiched. But Like I said I am looking for support and trust since I have no friends . well hopefuly i will find a few here.
SadnessQueen
Posted 1/26/2005 2:52 AM (GMT 0)
hello all, saddness queen, tabbee and reichenj,

I am new to lexapro too, this is my first week on it- my doctor started me out at 10mg and the first day i was dizzy and spacey and kind of out of it. I have not experienced any of the other side effects yet, although i was very encouraged by Tabbee's experience after a couple of weeks it seemed as though the side effects dissappeared. I am anxious to hear besides side effects if any one else thinks that lexapro is working for them - i am going to give a try -this is my first time on any type of anti depressants so i am not really sure what to expect. I have recently been diagnosed with depression and I am pretty anxious and scared but I am hoping for the best. I am also very active and I am really afraid of gaining weight on this medicine. Anyway I hoping to chat with others and we can all get through this together.
Flower
Posted 1/26/2005 9:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hey all!  Good news.  I was feeling so bloated and constipated and finally all that is starting to get better!  I have been on Lexapro now for 3 weeks at 10 mg and feel much better.  I went to the Dr. yesterday and we discussed a lot of side affects,etc.  I am now taking the meds in the a.m. as I couldn't sleep or was very restless at night.  I hope this helps.  Oh yeah, and after I finally went to the bathroom (after a week), my weight changed dramatically.  Imagine that!  My feeling is that we need to give the drug and our bodies time to adjust at least for a month.  It seems things are going better.

 

Posted 1/27/2005 1:24 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Flower and everyone else. I hope that you all had a better day than i had. today i got really depressed and start thinking about dieing. No I dn't think I will actually go through it since I have 2 children to care for, but having the feeling not to be here anymore is how i feel. I have been on different anti-depressants since i was 13. I've been on Zoloft,prozac, paxil, Effexor ER and now lexapro. Prozac did good however i lost my sex desire on that. So i was put on Effexor ER. It did good too but again it made me loose the sex drive and it increased my anxiety alot since i lost my Dad and grandma to cancer 2 weeks within each other. anyways the medicine is not to cure but to help us manage our moods and daily living things. Well I have been on lexapro a month now and i dont see how it is working for me, however i am still waiting to see if my body needs to still adjust to it. a month isn't really that long when we think about it. So I agree that we need to give ourselves some more time on it.
SadnessQueen
Posted 1/27/2005 2:10 AM (GMT 0)
hi sadness and queen and reichenj,

nice to see some posts from you all-reichen i am glad that your bothersome trouble with #2 is over that must a relief! I am glad that you think lexapro is starting to work for you after 3 weeks! I hope it continues to help! I had the same kind of effects today as yesterday on lexapro i was really dizzy all day did either of you experience dizziness like dizzy all day? I wonder what is up with that i hope it goes away it's kind of fun at first but when it lasts all day it is somewhat impairing. Anyway let me know. would be good to know that it will go away!

So SadnessQueen sounds like you had a rough day but you know that tomorrow is a differnet day and you have to be open to the possibillities that it can bring. You have to keep a positive outlook everyone has bad days and after losing two loved ones in such a short time span what is normally a routine bad day might seem devestating. I lost my father when I was 16 - he died very suddenly, he was killed in car accident. Just so you know it does get better I was sad and felt hopeless and asked why me? alot but now i have really come to terms with his passing and try to reflect on all the good times that we had. what helped me was before i went to bed i would "talk" to my dad and tell him how much i loved and missed him and tell how my day was and i would imagine what he would say backto me. It might sound silly but it helped me for awhile. Anyway I hope you have a better day tomorow! :-)
Flower
Posted 2/24/2005 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi FLOWER. sorry that it took me longer to get back. I read what you said and it helped me. no i do not think it is silly to have talked to your dad at night, i am writting to mine. i write to him and keep all the letters in a folder and it helps me. i am sorry to hear that your father passed on while you were such a young age. i am 26 and it feels like i am still kid inside not an adult sometimes. i am trying and it is hard. yesterday a little boy was going around collecting donations and at first i didnt know what for so i asked him while my husband went to get some money. the boy told me for the american cancer society! i held my tears and listened to him as he told me he only needed 10 more dollars to get a trip reward, i encouraged him and told him i was pleased to see him doing this. after he left i broke down in tears. those donations help. my dad didnt have all the money for his cancer care. so it also made me sad thinking how he was so miserable and how much that i miss him.

thank you flower for responding. it helped!

SadnessQueen

Posted 3/1/2005 11:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi SadnessQueen.
I lost my Dad in 1997. He was bed-ridden for 11 years after having a stroke. We were very, very close, and his death devestated me. I still miss him a lot, and I talk to him all the time. Whenever I see a pretty sunset, I imagine that Dad is smiling down at me. I firmly believe that once your loved ones go up to heaven, they can still hear you when you talk to them, and you can still feel their presence within you. I am very sorry for your loss, and the best advise I can give you is to take it one day at a time.
Posted 3/2/2005 1:32 AM (GMT 0)
Hi ceirragold,

i do talk to my dad and believe he can hear me, however sometimes i do wonder if he cannot. but i also write letters to him and keep them all in a binder. one of these days i am gonna get a nice one and buy  covers for them. taking one day at a time is all we can do. some days are better than others and i seem to do better not to talk about my dad to others around me. because then i get all depressed.

i am getting weaned off lexapro and getting put back on Effexor which worked better for my depression. so too i am on a rollar coaster with that. i have been trying to find an online friend who i can chat with on my messenger with msn. if you are interested please let me know and i will give you my screen name for that. i am lonely and need a chat sometimes. well i better get going.

ttfn and i too am sorry to here about you loss with your dad. it is so hard seeing the suffering and having to remember it too.

take care

sincerely erin (SadnessQueen)

Posted 3/2/2005 10:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hi SadnessQueen,

i'm very sorry about your dad and i can't imagine if something happens to my dad or mum i won't be able to deal with it very well i think.

I'm Available for chat but my times might be dificult for you. i have a yahoo IM Account but i could make an MSN one.

this thread is really great thanks guys, i'm currently on Effexor and i'm starting to think i might be better on lexapro , so i may talk about it to my doctor since i have these Anxiety attacks specially at night where my face heats up, and heart beat starts going crazy and i race with thoughts too fast for me to think about them and feel worried for uknown reason. i'v bin thinking latly something is not right with me your posts are very usefull and this might help me.
Posted 3/2/2005 2:36 PM (GMT 0)
Unfortunately, I can't access chat at my work computer, and my home dial up is so slow it's pathetic. I can't wait to get a new computer! I am on Prozac and it has helped me a lot. My husband is on Lexapro and has great success with it.

SadnessQueen, have you thought about making a scrapbook in honor of your Dad? I enjoy scrapbooking (when I have the time) and it's a wonderful way to put together the letters you have written with photos and other momentos.
Posted 3/3/2005 1:21 AM (GMT 0)

cierragold, no i havent thought about making a scrapbook of my dad. that is a good idea! i'll have to look for a real nice scrapbook and work on it. i have a yahoo id too but the chat wont wont for me some odd reason.

i used to be on prozac. it worked but i totally lost my sex drive and that was messing up my relationship. well 2 more week of being on lexapro then i am on effexor.

akram, i used to think that. but when my dad passed a couple months ago there is no other way but to accept the fact and go on. it is so hard and there are lots of tears but you learn to accept it and  you do your best to go on but  never forget the memories or the person.

well today i was very cranky and yelled more at the kids. i feel so bad about that. i just could not deal with it all as much as i usually can. i hope tomorrow will be a better day. also too i gotta rememeber im getting ready to switch meds. but still i feel so bad for my kids. i know they are like what the hec is wrong with mommy.

ttfn

erin

Posted 2/2/2008 4:04 AM (GMT 0)
HI SadnessQueen

I'm currently on Zoloft, but I've had alot of weight gain.  So I'm going to my doctor

this week and see about going on another medication.  I crave sugar and starchs

alot.  I've had trouble with depression since I've had children.  I love my children

dearly wouldn't have it any other way.  I was also on prozac at one time and had

a very bad experience.  I'm going to ask my dr about lexapro.  Has any one else

had weight gain on it ?  I guess you may have weight gain on alot of the medications

but maybe lexapro isn't like Zoloft.   I know that I have to be on something. 

My depression always comes back.  I also have anxiety too.  I've had some

stressfull situations with my family.  Hope you feel better.

mom01

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