Celexa- Weight Gain or Loss?

I was only on Celexa for a week or 2 once (didn't work for me) but I had been on various anti-depressants & anxiety medications over the years. (Finally got myself off xanax last year, & even though I still have anxiety it's mostly manageable with changes I made.)
It is a possible side effect when you go on stuff like that. Everyone has a different reaction, but it's not uncommon.

P.S. I hope you don't consume caffeine. That was a big change I learned to make & it helped immensely.

I started taking Celexa for anxiety during my peri menopausal stage and it was VERY hard at the beginning. I was so tired, had excessive yawning and loss of appetite due to gagging feeling. I am really sensitive to most medication and OTC drugs but my Doctor told me to hang in there and it should pass. I finally had to take one every other day until the worst side affects had passed. I the beginning I had strange feelings in my head, like electric sparks. That really annoyed me but my Doctor still told me to hang in there and take one every other day or cut the pill in half. The pill was too small to cut in half. I lost 12 pounds and have kept 10 of it off for a year. I am pretty much used to it now and I take one daily because every other day seemed to start the side affects over again. I take the pill every day at 12:00 NOON, I use the alarm on my phone for a reminder. It really took about 6 months for me to get used to them. They now seem to make me not want to eat in excess. I really used to think about food quite a bit. I personally hate taking the medication but I have tried natural choices for years prior to my menopause and they helped somewhat. SAME was the best natural OTC I took but I seemed to need more when I reached age 53. I still get mild weird feelings in my head when I try to go to sleep and when I just relax which is always during going to sleep and waking up. Other than that I am always on the go.

I took it. It seemed like I gained about 10 pounds when I did. I've since lost that weight. Who knows, it could be just a coincidence.

This is an iffy question we get all the time. If you really want to know how likely it is as the cause, then when your in to see your physician ask if he'll pull up the side-effect stats in his CPS or PDR (Canada or US). The statistic is minute, because its not conclusive. Sort of like how anti-depressants 'seem to cause suicide'....or maybe it was depression? Correlation is not cause and effect. The usual complaints are weight GAIN, if your just not LOSING weight, you might want to count yourself lucky to have a medication that is treating your condition effectively and it not seeming to have something to do with thicken you out.

It is best left up to your physician....and YOU! Tell him your concerns, don't let him wave them off (a good tip is "I'll still have confidence in you Dr. So and So if you say you just don't know") and if protocol is being followed than an attempt to take you off them should occur no later than 6 months after treatment became effective.

The thing with psychotropics is that we really just sorta guess how it all works and we don't actually understand how the brain totally works...so....when we mess with your brain we're kind wandering around blindfolded in a wind-chime shop with our arms out and only a vague idea of which direction to go. We're bound to set off a few of the chimes that then set eachother off, and so on and so on.

If your only having sporadic anxiety/panic attacks a short-term/rescue treatment might be an option to discuss with your prescribing physician, rather than a long-term/maintenance treatment. i.e. Lorazepam vs. Sertraline.

Best Regards,
- Mharren

im experiencing the same thing, i have been on it for a year and been eating 1600 calories a day and working out daily and the weight wont budge.

I find a lot of Dr's prescribe, but don't necessarily understand all the side effects. I have been on it for almost 5 years now. For sure it contributed to weight gain and my loss has been incredibly slow. I have a love hate relationship with my meds. I'm a happier person, wish in a way I'd started them years before I did, but hate the way I look. I'm working on that part :-)

I am on Citalopram which is the generic for Celexa. At first, I was nauseous and didn't want to eat. That went away, but I still lost weight on it. It can go either way.

I've been on Celexa for my OCD for 3 months now and I didn't gain any weight. A doctor told me its not the medication that will determine if you gain or lose while on it, but the effects on your humor might change how you eat. Some people eat less when they have anxiety, some more.

Good luck!

Meds affect everyone differently. However it has been my experience that I lose weight easier while on antidepressants. It makes me less likely to eat for comfort. Sometimes I would get so down on myself I would think about just giving up for the day and pig out. While taking Celexa I am a happier person and I don't feel as much need to binge to get that temporary satisfaction or comfort.

I have been on celexa for over a year now, I have found it very hard to lose weight and have gained 40 lbs. I have not changed my eating habits at all and how I am struggling with gaining so much weight... I want to change to something else or stop taking it all together but I do not want my issues to come back... I really like how celexa affects me but at the same time I am not sure if I want to be this big.