child on Lexapro

[FallingApart]

Hi there,

 

DD has been on Lexapro for about a year. We definitely saw an improvement in her when she went on it. It wasn't a cure all, but an improvement for sure. DD has always had a distended belly and it grows with a flare. However, she is actually doing really well right now, but her belly is enormous. I see that this is a side effect of Lexapro. Anyone else had this and how did you combat it? I'd be afraid to take her off of Lexapro because of the improvements we have seen. I would 95% say it isn't her diest as that is clean and she gets tons of exercise.

[peglem]

My daughter has developed giant tummy starting last May. I don't know why- no lexapro here. She's had some med changes, but that was after the tummy started swelling. Trying to get an abdominal ultrasound to see what's going on.

[FallingApart]

We have had the ab ultrasound and it shows terrible constipation. But mag hasn't had a huge effect on this.

[mama2alex]

Have you checked for yeast (candida albicans) overgrowth? This can cause a distended belly as well as constipation. If you just want to try something before testing, you could increase probiotics and decrease refined sugar/carbs in her diet and see if that helps.

[MomWithOCDSon]

My DS took Lexapro for almost 4 years before we found PANDAS, and we didn't have any large belly or distended belly issues. I do think that it caused him to gain weight in general, even though his psych at the time denied that this was part of the profile. But his weight gain was general . . . limbs as well as torso.

[hugs2day]

Clostridia and yeast caused distended bellies on my otherwise skinny children and the doctor treated with Flagyl and Diflucan for 30 days. Treatment was a success and the boys felt so much better and the PANS symptoms diminished. Both were getting mild anxiety and OCD and as each day of treament went on I saw mild victories and then dramatic improvement after about 10 days. I will mention the first 3 days I could see they were more on edge and agitated I assume due to die off from treating the GI infections.