Worried About Medicine Side-Effects

I know it's an oft-talked about subject - medications for anxiety disorders and their side effects, but I am sick of them.

At least I HOPE that whatever is going on with me is a side effect of medicines. I take Xanax and Lexapro.

I am gaining weight. A LOT of weight. I look 7 months pregnant because I'm gaining it all in my stomach. I've gained like 40 pounds these past two years - and ten pounds since we moved across the country two months ago!! I'm really worried. :(

I hate being overweight to begin with because it makes me anxious about my health. It was never my fault for gaining weight - it was the medicines like Paxil and Zoloft. I started out at 130 or so and ended up at 250 or so - when I stopped taking Paxil and got pregnant, I ended up having lost 50 pounds in about a year.

Now I've gained that weight back, well - all but ten pounds of it, and I am scared shitless. What the hell could it be??? My skin over my belly is so tight it feels like I'm going to pop sometimes :( I was reading a blog where a girl mentioned that she had this problem with stomach-weight-gain, and she went to her doctor who said that her thyroid was messed up. I have had my thyroid tested, but not all the thyroid tests, so I wonder if that could be it? The girl said that her doctor mentioned that she probably had the problem for seven years - so I guess it's not deadly, but still - I'm scared about it.

I plan to start the Atkins Low Carb diet for New Years with my husband, but I've also been trying to pay attention to what I eat, and not overeat or anything.

But see - that's the thing - I never HAVE overeaten! I don't get even close to 1200 calories a day - that's for sure. No, I don't exercise, and because I'm agoraphobic and phobic of my heart I don't exercise, but that's no different than it has been with me for years and years. Why all of the sudden this weight gain??

Ugh. So that's my nervous/panicked rant for right now.