Citalopram/Celexa DOES make you fat!

Reading this thread made me really scared to try citalopram but i decided to give it a go - started about 4 months ago. So far i think I have lost weight. I always exercise a lot but i think i may be getting more out of my workout, i have more energy to put into it. This may just be coincidence but my abs all the sudden tightened up more than ever before! I think Im slightly less interested in food as well. I still have an appetite but im not eating for entertainment as much. I dont know what my weight is but Id say i look like ive lost around 10 pounds - people keep saying i look too thin -and i havent been trying to loose weight. Anyway, my mood is much much better, for me its been amazing. There is a lot of negative stuff on the web about citalopram but I think people are more likely to write about a negative experiences. For many the drug really does help and often does not affect weight. I'd also like to add that citalopram has not made me feel numbed or lethargic, I do notice less interest in food yes, but i'm also noticing an increased interest in a lot of other things, like hanging out with friends etc.

From WebMD

"Antidepressants and Weight Gain: What Happens and Why

Although there are a number of theories as to why antidepressants lead to weight gain, Sussman believes that both appetite and metabolism may be affected.

"I have had patients who swear that they are not eating any more, but still gaining weight, so that tells us there is some kind of metabolic influence going on; I have also had patients tell me that they are not only more hungry and eating more, but that the medicines are encouraging a carbohydrate craving that is hard to control, so we know appetite also plays a role," he says.

Fincham says antidepressants may also simply help us to rediscover pleasure in our life -- including food.

"It might be a situation where someone feels so much better when taking an antidepressant that lots of things suddenly start feeling more pleasurable to them, and food is just one of them. So in this instance they may actually be overeating and not even realize they are doing so, says Fincham.

Findings from a group of Italian researchers published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics suggest that the simple act of recovery from depression may play a role in the weight gain."

The posting is one view. The other view - we live in a society where we want a quick fix to a problem, i.e. a pill and that is how problems may be solved. Many of us have found that with a healthier life style the need for medication to help depression and anxiety are no longer needed ( I haven't been on any - but I think I speak for others).

i really only signed up to MFP because of reading these threads about people putting on weight and struggling to lose it.

I was on citalopram for 18 months (I never agree that the doctor shouldve put me on them in the first place they just didnt want to give me counseling which is what I really needed) and put on 42 pounds.

I've struggled with my body image all my life having grown up watching my mum battle with her weight going on and off diets (which she still does by the way) and so have been on every diet possible since the age of 12. In high school, I came to terms with the fact that I'd never be skinny and that my weight was at its best at 11st. I never ate badly (due to eating the food my mum cooked for her diets) and between the ages of 11 and 17 did at least 20 hours of intense exercise a week (I was a keen dancer and gymnast) yet I was still not lean like I ought to have been.

When I went to uni i put on 2 stone in my first year (I know exactly why because I was only eating junk) but in my second year I got ill and lost it again within 6 weeks (I couldnt keep any food down). Until I started taking citalopram I managed to maintain this weight with my obsessive calorie counting however as soon as I went on the meds, my weight crept up even though I'd started doing cheerleading and going to the gym 5 times a week. Throughout this time I tried every diet under the sun yet never managed to even maintain a weight.

By the time i got to 200 lbs I decided that the drug was doing more harm than good and with the doctors constantly telling me to lose weight and feeling the pressures of living with 2 skinny minnies (even though one of them ate like a mammoth and still stayed a UK size 6!) I came off the citalopram. Within the first two weeks I had crippling withdrawal and came close to collapsing dozens of times. My appetite completely disappeared so i was only eating 1 tiny meal every day yet still gaining weight (even though I was still managing to keep up my exercise regime).

I found a thread that said the only way to lose weight during and after citalopram is to go on a low carb diet. So I did my research and even though everything was telling me not to do it, my desperation to lose weight got the final say and I went for it.

Within the first few days the scales were telling me I'd lost almost a stone and measurments of my legs, hips, arms and waist showed I had lost a little. Obviously this was just water weight as within the next few days, it continued to creep back up (at this point I was doing 15+ hours of intense exercise a week as well). I've lost all hope that I'm ever going to lose this weight which is awful because my body image is the lowest it's ever been!

I've got a doctors appointment in 3 weeks but I know exactly what he's going to say (the whole diet and exercise shpeel) but I can go in knowing I have done everything I can myself to shift this weight.

I have never been on Celexa/Citalopram so can't help you there. I have been on Effexor XR 250mg for the past 2.5yrs. I have never had any problems with this medication making me gain weight. I did gain weight while on it but it was b/c I was eating alot, drinking alot & not exercising. Recently I noticed the Effexor not working as well so my doctor lowered my Effexor dose to 150mg and put me on 150mg of Wellbutrine. Iv been taking this now for 2wks and I have noticed my appitite has increased which is weird b/c 1 of the side effects is weight loss or loss of appitite. I go back on Thursday to talk with the doctor again.

Check yes or no...


Do you love me do you wanna be my friend

I gotta say...stay AWAY from Remeron (mirtazapine). That stuff actually actively causes increased insulin resistance and deposition of abdominal fat. I cannot believe my Dr ever thought that was appropriate for someone already struggling with weight.

Oh and for citalopram...libido crashes are a super common side effect!! A drug that can cause you to gain weight AND lose interest in sex?! What a crappy solution for depression (obviously works for some though!) :frown:

I agree...mirtazapene has been prescribed for one of my dogs to help her gain weight.

Sorry .. I don't buy it. I have been on anti-depressants for 20+ years and recently Mirtazapine (people say it causes weight gain too). Well guess what ... the pill doesn't cause weight gain .. the depression does.

When people are depressed .. they eat more. When I was depressed .. I ate junk food and drank pop. Guess what .. I got fat. Pretty simple .. eating more causes weight gain. So unless you actively do something about it while you are depressed .. you will probably gain weight.

Not rocket science, but the pill does make a easy target as it cannot complain about being the victim here.

OK, well I have to agree with this. The vet told me that she wouldn't gain weight if she didn't eat more and exercise less...the vet said that mirtazapine merely makes her want to eat more.

I'm taking this drug to combat menopause symptoms that had taken over my life! It works great on the symptoms, but I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME!!!!!! I have gained 4 pounds in about 9 weeks. Also, this medicine messes with my sleep so my energy level is horrible. So... While the menopause symptoms are gone, the weight gain & tired feeling are worse. I'm stopping it as soon as I can get back to the doctors.

Thank u for your post been on celexa for about a month..80 mg and has given me energy like have never had before, eating right and walking about 2 miles daily nothing lost to date in fact gain about a pound. Go to dr next week and hoping loweing the dose will help. Daughter getting married Feb so need to loose the 15 pounds before that plus working so hard to loose it and feel myself starting to get down

80mg of celexa is double the recommended adult dose. I'm a psych nurse. Ask your doctor if he would recommend Lexapro.

I'm taking this drug to combat menopause symptoms that had taken over my life! It works great on the symptoms, but I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME!!!!!! I have gained 4 pounds in about 9 weeks. Also, this medicine messes with my sleep so my energy level is horrible. So... While the menopause symptoms are gone, the weight gain & tired feeling are worse. I'm stopping it as soon as I can get back to the doctors.

I too take celexa for pre-menopausal symptoms and I did gain a good 20 pounds in 4 months while on the drug. BUT, I also attribute it to the lack of physical exercise and just being lazy lazy. I went from 20mg to 10mg and take the drug AT NIGHT. I also take 2 capsules of cinnamon, a multi-vitamin for 50+ (no I'm not over 50 but I want the minerals in the capsule) and I take 1 tab of iron. I have conditioned myself to go to bed an hour earlier and CALM down before trying to sleep. Slowly but surely it's all working. BEFORE I began all this I was a miserable ***** with a good week of pre-period hell moods and I'd sleep, maybe 3-4 hours a night before tossing and turning. I exercise daily and count all calories. still trying to lose the weight gain but I need the celexa. tried Lexapro but didn't do a thing for me

Just want to add I'm a long time psych nurse and I FINALLY listened to not only my dr but my peers who were going thru the same thing