[izzothecat]

Hi,
I have been on 20mg of Lexapro for a little more than a year, and after reading a lot of depressing posts on this site, I am even more confused as far as what I should do. The many claims on this site further substantiated the claim I made to my doctor during our quarterly check-up: That despite my having made no changes in my diet and/or exercise habits, I have somehow managed to gain ~30 pounds of belly-fat since starting Lexapro. I don't even drink, yet I look like one of the characters from "King of the Hill" that has skinny arms, legs and chest, and then a nicely-formed beer belly. I also told my doctor how Lexapro (and many other drugs before it) has essentially changed my mood from severely depressed to a static state of anhedonia; I am pretty much emotionless (blunted affect), I go to school and then go straight home and study...never going out, relaxing, having fun, etc, and I am completely uninterested in forming any type of relationship--whether it be romantic or just a friendship--since the very start of Lexapro. So, I can honestly state that Lexapro helped me significantly in that I don't stay in bed all day and cry when I am not sleeping. However, this is not how I want to live or feel--I might as well be lobotomized...and all of the comments that I have been reading about how "the weight gained while on Lexapro is impossible to reduce even AFTER discontinuing it" really adds the finishing touch to the huge damper I now feel regarding all of the major life-style changes I have made and been planning to implement next week (work that I have been slowly building-up over the past 2 months with the help of a therapist).
To make matters even more confusing, my doctor's solution was (of course!) to give yet another "brand-new, state-of-the-art" anti-depressant, just like Lexapro was advertised to me when I was given it (I think this brings the total medication count to 19...over a 3-year period...and yes, I am dead serious) to switch over to: Pristiq.
So my first question is this: If Effexor (and Effexor XR) also cause weight gain as people on the forums have claimed, how come nearly every positive posting under the Pristiq forum involves another person's claim that a sustained-release form (i.e., XR) of the "active" isomer of Effexor actually helps to improve weight loss? Is the L-isomer of Effexor some sort of microscopic crystal composed of pure beef fat?
More importantly, I experienced the pleasure of learning the horrific withdrawal symptoms of Lexapro by reading through this site's forum...of course, my doctor never mentioned anything of the sort, but you can find vague descriptions of some these w/d symptoms in the PDR, but how many people have that handy (I only have it b/c I am a medical student)? So, my doctor wants me to take Pristiq every other day (while taking Lexapro on the days in between) for a week, and then take Pristiq for 2 days (and 1 day of Lexapro in between the two days of Pristiq) for 2 weeks, and finally switching completely over to Pristiq after the last 2 weeks. Is this a common practice used when switching medication, because I have (in the past) always been given the new medication to start immediately while discontinuing the other without any tapering? Furthermore, isn't there a possibility of my experiencing serotonin syndrome by alternating an SSRI with an SNRI, since Lexapro is built-up in my system (in addition to the 2 drugs' half-lives, which I do not know off-hand)? If I were to just switch over to Pristiq completely--ignoring the tapering of Lexapro--am I still apt to experience w/d effects from Lexapro, even though Pristiq actively blocks serotonin re-uptake inhibitors? Lastly, would there be any benefit/reason for me to temporarily switch over to Prozac--for say, a week--while stopping the Lexapro altogether, and then starting Pristiq after a week of Prozac (stopping the Prozac completely when I make the switch)?
I know this is incredibly long, but this is the last question that has been running through my mind for a long time (for at least 3 months now). I, personally, am not too big on the whole "chemical imbalance" theory of disorders such as depression and anxiety (which, btw, are my conditions), and I actually believe that throwing all of these psychotropic medications into people's brains--the most complex organ in the body that scientists do not only have a substantial lack of knowledge about, but also have no empirical evidence to base any theory of chemical imbalances as the causes of problems--are actually THEMSELVES causing chemical imbalances. Thus, I have long wondered if I should just "get-off" of these medications and hope that my brain will eventually restore itself to its 'normal' state of functioning. Regarding this last issue, does anyone have any input or advice that might help me?
I apologize for writing such a long question, but I truly hope that some people will take the time to consider my questions. I will greatly appreciate any feedback that people are able to provide...particularly those who have switched from an SSRI that requires tapering onto another drug, how their experience went overall, and what--if anything--they might have done differently if they were able to start over (besides simply stating, "I would have never taken any of these drugs in the first place if I could do it all over again," because I already hold that viewpoint).
Thank you to anyone who can provide me with some answers here...I am so sick of the "art" of psychiatry, and I hope that others can help me out by discussing their own idea.
Best wishes,
Kiera