{"id":637336,"date":"2026-10-08T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=637336"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T17:09:20","slug":"does-lexapro-cause-weight-gain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/does-lexapro-cause-weight-gain\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Lexapro cause weight gain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lexapro<\/a> (escitalopram) is a widely used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor<\/a> (SSRI) antidepressant in the U.S. Some people gain weight while taking it, but the average amount of weight gain is usually small. Many people do not gain any weight at all.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know about weight gain with Lexapro, including why it may happen and when you should talk to your healthcare provider about switching medications.<\/p>\n

Does Lexapro cause weight gain?<\/h2>\n

Lexapro may cause modest weight gain in some people. Factors such as your starting weight, metabolism, genetics, other medications, and changes in depression or anxiety symptoms may affect whether you gain weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividuals\u2019 reactions vary significantly from each other; therefore, I am not going to assume that every individual who initiates Lexapro will gain weight,\u201d says Allen Masry, MD<\/a>, a psychiatrist board-certified in adult and addiction psychiatry and medical director of All in Solutions located in Florida, New Jersey, and California.<\/p>\n

The clinical trials used for FDA approval did not find a clinically important difference in weight between people taking Lexapro and those taking a placebo. According to the prescribing information<\/a>, decreased appetite occurred in 3% of people taking Lexapro and 1% of those taking a placebo.<\/p>\n\t\t\t

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How much weight might you gain on Lexapro?<\/h3>\n

On average, people taking Lexapro gained about 1.4 pounds in the first six months, according to a study<\/a> published in Annals of Internal Medicine<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The study followed 183,118 adults across eight U.S. health systems who were starting one of eight commonly prescribed antidepressants. After six months, people taking escitalopram (the generic version of Lexapro<\/a>) had gained an average of 1.4 pounds, compared with 0.5 pounds among those taking Zoloft (sertraline).<\/p>\n

The study did not include a comparison group of people who weren\u2019t taking an antidepressant, so the researchers note that the difference between medications is more reliable than the total amount gained. Some of that weight change likely reflects factors unrelated to the medication, such as changes in smoking status or diet.<\/p>\n

Escitalopram was among the medications associated with more weight gain, along with Paxil (paroxetine) and Cymbalta (duloxetine). Compared with sertraline, people taking escitalopram, paroxetine, or duloxetine had a 10% to 15% higher chance of gaining at least 5% of their starting weight.<\/p>\n

After two years, people taking escitalopram gained about 3.6 pounds on average, compared with about 3.2 pounds in the sertraline group.<\/p>\n

The two-year figures are also far less reliable than the six-month ones because only about 4% to 5% of participants were still taking the antidepressant they started with by then. That made it much harder for researchers to attribute the later weight changes to any specific medication.<\/p>\n

Why does Lexapro cause weight gain?<\/h2>\n

Lexapro can change the way your brain signals hunger and fullness. It can also restore appetite if depression or anxiety had previously affected your eating patterns. Because these changes can occur at the same time, it\u2019s difficult to know whether weight gain comes directly from Lexapro or from an improvement in mental health symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce depressive or anxiety disorders improve, many individuals report normalization of their appetite,\u201d says Lauren Grawert, MD<\/a>, a double board-certified addiction psychiatrist and clinical advisor at Retreat of Boston. \u201cIt is thus challenging to differentiate a direct pharmacological effect from improvements in one\u2019s psychiatric symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lexapro raises serotonin levels in your brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps with mood<\/a>, but it also affects how hungry or full you feel.<\/p>\n

One review<\/a> suggests that long-term antidepressant use may reduce the activity of 5-HT2C receptors. These receptors normally help signal when the body is full. Escitalopram does not strongly affect the receptors that cause greater appetite changes with some other antidepressants. This may be why Lexapro usually causes only a small amount of weight gain.<\/p>\n

An increase in appetite is not always a side effect of the medication<\/a>. If depression or anxiety previously reduced your appetite, returning to regular eating habits may mean your symptoms are improving.<\/p>\n

Does a lower dose of Lexapro cause less weight gain?<\/h2>\n

Researchers have not directly compared weight changes between people taking a daily dose of 10 mg and 20 mg of Lexapro. The FDA does not list weight gain as dose-dependent. It is unknown if taking a lower dose, like 10 mg instead of 20 mg, will reduce the risk of weight gain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are certainly some prescription medication side effects that appear to correlate directly with dosage, there is no evidence supporting a linear association between dosing of Lexapro (escitalopram) and resultant weight gain,\u201d Dr. Grawert explains.<\/p>\n

She notes that a number of factors may affect your weight more than the Lexapro dose itself, including:<\/p>\n