Lexapro - weight gain due to appetite increase, or medicine in general?

I was happy to finally be able to eat again normally after I started on Lexapro. Then the drug seemed to make feel hungry. Like it was slightly upsetting my stomach and it felt like I was hungry when I really wasn’t. So naturally I would eat or drink more often to calm my stomach. It’s easy to eat to much then. Just be mindful of how much you’re eating. In time you should get used to the stomach discomfort that can happen with Lexapro. Hope this helps!

Hi, Taurus!
That's a tough question to answer because a better appetite is one of the early signs that the medication is starting to work... assuming that your appetite was poor because of depression/anxiety. This could lead to normal weight gain.
On the other hand, antidepressants can sometimes cause increased appetite and carbohydrate cravings. These metabolic changes can also include effects on the fat storage mechanisms which could cause weight gain especially in the abdominal area.
A healthy diet and exercise can help eliminate or at least minimize weight gain in many cases.
Either way, despite the horror stories you might hear only about 1-10% of users experience this side effect and for most the weight gain is only cosmetic.