I exercised and kept an eye on what I ate during my 12 months with Lexapro...gained went from 163 to 225...stopped the meds, and in 2 months back to 178...maintained it around there. Then to Cymbalta, and up to 200 again within a few months. Stopped and back to 175 in about 6 weeks. Now, I'm no effexor and I'm losing weight. BTW, with lexapro my second (and third) time around, I was only on it for 2 weeks due to some horrible anxiety that resulted. Best of luck to you