Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; SSRIs - Side Effects that lead to G.I. Problems

I am not a doctor, a nurse, a chemist/scientist -- but it doesn't matter, because I've experienced hell on earth because of trusting a few doctors.

Lexapro (only one of them): Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors, or SSRIs - Main side effect weight gain, then G.I. Problems -- if you run to a Gastro doctor because you are burping more, don't do that...get someone to help to get off the drugs slowly and start walking and eating a Mediterranean diet -- fish, salads, nuts, etc.

By: Meredith A. Iager

Selective Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors are deadly in the gastrointestinal tract after several months of eating like a pig – I’m talking more than three times a day, and more than snacks. You want mountains of food. Tons. You can gain 60 to 80 pounds in less than 7 to 8 months, from SSRI drugs.

The drugs push against your hypothalamus, causing it to enlarge and you want more and more food. Gaining weight is a “side effect,” however the actual side effect the fact that it's altering an organ causing this effect. Nothing is wrong with your brain. Someone keeps telling you to exercise more and you're on one of these types of drugs is nothing to do with exercising more, the drug is causing you to want more food.

These drugs are messing around with your body chemistry and they are very dangerous in the long run. The chemical compounds are making you want more food and messing with a crucial gland in your brain, not to say that the hypothalamus the only crucial part of in your brain, because it’s not, but it is part of everything underneath your skull bones. These drugs don't just address the hypothalamus the address the whole entire nervous system.

The fact is millions of people are put on Citalopram, Celexa, Lexapro, and countless others in the “class.” The even scarier part is as I am using a software to help me get my thoughts into articles faster is the fact that the device I'm using doesn’t write curse words correctly but it has drug names come out correctly – hence they must have gotten paid by Big Pharma to put these already into the system. Now, that’s sick. This is a very scary thing to me but I know it’s real; I’ve already died and came back once.

When you are on Lexapro, or Xanax (however Xanax is a benzodiazepine addressing the nervous system in a different way than Lexapro does) – because the Lexapro is a serotonin addressing drug, these drugs are addressing the same type of function in a different way.

For example Lexapro slows the body down, you're eating more, things typically seem like they're calmer, but in fact the whole time they are messing with your normal chemistry and body and brain functions.

The Xanax will be entirely a different article but the Xanax is actually suppressing the nerves for about 20 to 40 min. and then they come right back (it is a faster acting drug), then you think you need more – you are only perpetuating the problem. The drug just makes everything worse, and then you think you need it when the drugs are suppressing your nervous system and the nerves come crawling right back and make you want to run or crawl up a wall – like in a creature feature. In the Xanax is a fast acting drug, similar to Ativan. All SSRI’s, are different than Ativan and Xanax because you actually take the SSRIs daily like you would a blood pressure medication. It becomes a "maintenance" drug.

I'm not saying Lexapro doesn't work for people, because it can work for people, however, it is altering functions that are essential, and some people that get off of them have a severe withdrawal and then work back to thinking in their brain that they actually need the drug. When nothing else is wrong with your body sometimes these drugs can help you at a very low dose, 5 to 10 mg daily. However, I do not endorse taking any of them because in the long run they can do severe harm. Why do you think there are so many babies being born with severe mental problems, and deformities?

The main point is when you take Lexapro or and SSRI drug or as some people like to refer to them as a “medication,” because of eating abnormally -- like craving 10 cheeseburgers at once, eventually leads to G.I. problems because you are gaining too much weight. The weight is pushing against the organs and you also start having more burping (burping is normal it's a part of eating I'm talking about excessive burping) too much because you're eating too much and the fat and your body is getting dragged down and you are slower (not just digesting). Then a lot of people start complaining of the reflux symptoms because the actual motility of your digestive system is a lot slower on SSRIs or other drugs similar to that class of drugs. Many people start complaining of a reflux symptom even though there burping more and having more reflux symptoms because of the slowdown and because of gaining more weight because of what the drug does to their hypothalamus, and brain chemistry in general.

Then when some people complain of a reflux symptom they might wind up going to a gastroenterologist. Then if you have a gastroenterologist that is either inexperienced, or tampering with drugs to collect data which is about 90% of them, they will wind up giving you 40 to 80 mg of Nexium or Protonix or one of the other proton pump inhibitors and you will start having even worse problems and probably have to stop working. And most will even say that this can be a maintenance drug. This is insane, and will eventually kill you, from the inside out.

Then the person gets in the vicious cycle of getting severe inflammation in their G.I. tract. You begin having more stomach pain, and a rancid feeling (your pancreas is being attacked -- your pancreas can cause pancreatitis because of a bile formed stone aka a gallstone, but PPI drugs are telling the pancreas not to send signals to the stomach to let the parecial cells to secrete the stomach acid.) The 3 things going on at once is the pancreas in turmoil, the gallbladder motility is being slowed and eventually stopped and GI inflammation. If you are put on these drugs when you have a clean endoscopy, there is a severely high chance you will get inflammation from it and loose your gallbladder in just a few weeks, and have pancreatitis. And the surgeon will of course tell you it's because a gallstone was blocking the ducts and it is true, but it was already being attacked because the pancreas is what signals the stomach acid to begin with.

The point is everyone, if you are on a DRI, SSRI, Benzodiazepine, etc., These all severely affect the slowdown of motility, and cause digestive problems. Different classes of these “calm you down type of medications or drugs” whichever you prefer to call them, I like to call them drugs; the fact is they all lead to G.I. problems whether it's through digestive inflammation, or weight gain that causes motility in the entire body in the esophagus to make the person start having reflux symptoms. If you begin to have some reflux symptoms, taper off the drugs, please dear God do not go to a GI doctor. Slowly get off these drugs. You don't want to get caught in a PPI and serious digestive nightmare, your life will never be the same.

Either way they all lead to a digestive problem.