Citalopram/Celexa DOES make you fat!

@daybehaviour I joined this purely to reply to you because I disagree hugely with your points and think what you are suggesting is offensive to people who have been affected by SSRIs and weight gain. I was prescribed them for depression but I also struggle with OCD and the remnants of an eating disorder. For me this means I keep a complete log of my calorie intake and I workout routinely at a minimum of twice a week. I have been doing this for 5 years and during the 4 preceding citalopram my weight has stayed exactly the same (excluding water fluctuations at time of the month). NOTHING in my dietary or exercise routine changed during my medication time. I kept the same log as I always had done. My weight was constant for the first six months, after this I gained on average 2-3lbs a week. I have gained a total of 14 lbs since. As soon as I realised it could be the citalopram I weened myself off it. Since not taking any for a few weeks my weight has remained stable. Again nothing in my excercise or diet has changed. While it's still true that energy in < energy out to lose weight, I believe that citalopram effects the 'energy out' rather than 'energy in'. I agree to a small extent that people can blame SSRIs for lazy habits but there IS a strong body of evidence that they cause weight gain and this is not due to changes in diet/excercise. I have been reading the literature and it is hard to ignore this. It is people like you who are hurtful to people like me who have genuinely gained weight beyond our control because of an SSRI. Yes not everyone will, but I find it hard to believe that my gain was caused by anything else.

I know this is an older post, but daybehavior has outraged me. I was on MFP for over a year and lost a good amount of weight, was halfway to my goal weight, and was feeling awesome. Due to issues with hormones and my moods I was put on celexa last May 2013 and began gaining weight. I continued to track, to exercise, accounted for every calorie, and the weight wouldn't budge. I ended up gaining back half of what I had lost. My doctor told me it had something to do with the medicine, my doctor said that everyone reacts differently, and the affects of drugs like celexa on the brain can cause issues with metabolic tendencies. I don't need someone like you @daybehavior to tell me I'm an idiot and obviously not doing something right. Just like all drugs, some will gain, some will loose, but you will always be an idiot.

I totally agree. Celexa gave me really bad carb cravings and if I didn't eat carbs I felt nauseous. It really helped my depression though so it was worth it at the time.

That *kitten*!

What about Celexa makes someone gain weight, is it loaded with calories?

I have been gaining since starting celexa, I've also been over my calorie limit by approx 400 calories each day. Coincidence?

www.cchr.org
Get informed about what you are doing to your body and soul by taking psychotropic ****!

Looks like they're selling something.


Deported.

What about the pill itself causes weight gain? I'm just curious.

I have gained weight as well but I am chalking it up to my lack of weighing/measuring my food, plus over eating.

For those people who have to say " you're a special snowflake" try walking a step in other people's shoes before handing insults like those out. Calling people that when they have taken meds that are proven to cause weight gain is not only insensitive but also shows how little you really know.

You're missing the context of the whole argument. People are saying that they are gaining weight while apparently being on a caloric deficit, which is impossible. They only reason I was being "rude" was because I was sick of everyone jumping on me for reiterating what was already said (in ruder terms) by several other posters yet I was the one being singled out for pointing out this physical impossibility.

For the record, I was on Citalopram for six months and I managed to lose 40 pounds all the while battling some horrible things going on in my life, so don't tell I need to "walk in their shoes". If SSRI's had the magical property of making you gain weight while eating at a deficit, people wouldn't be dying of starvation all over the world.

I gained 25 lbs the first two years on Zoloft/ Trazadone, but I AM eating more, no doubt. I am also feeling great and exercising more though.

I don't think about the meds too much though, because I still believe in CICO. Does it make it a little harder- maybe? But having kids makes it harder, working full time makes it harder, being married or single can make it harder. There are a LOT of barriers to weight loss, but none of them insurmountable if you're completely committed to clearing the hurdle.

I take Zoloft in the morning, but the whammy for me is when I take the Trazadone at night for sleep. When it kicks in I become the most ravenous animal. After a full day of eating well/ healthy over all, I engage in a 700 (or more) calorie binge, preferably on unrefined carbs. I have stopped the chips/ cookies since re-starting here this week, and have replaced it with tuna/ baked chicken/ triscuits with low-fat cheese etc, but I haven't eliminated the 700 calorie binge yet. I think it's a bad habit I've developed but it's also something related to the meds, and probably the underlying imbalance as well. Right now (the next week or two) I'm just getting the habit down of logging, eating better foods and looking at my patterns.

I don't have the science but I believe SSRI's slow down certain body systems. Perhaps, it's the fact that they allow more Seratonin (relaxing, balancing) to remain in the brain, in comparison to other neurotransmitters like dopamine and neuroephendrine (sp?) which are more stimulating (i.e. the reduction in libido as well). I imagine it may be similar to how we weigh and watch children on stimulants for ADHD because it can decrease appetite and induce weight loss. I believe SSRI's can have the opposite effect.

I tried Wellbutrin for ONE day. I felt better, my appetite for food was down and for sex was up, lol. My husband was happy until the crazy, anxious, angry, insomniac wife showed up and he was like- Get back on the Zoloft/ Trazadone! You can just be fat and frigid (I'm JUST KIDDING!!) I'm neither and if I was, we've been married 17 years- he'd know better than to say it!

So, here's to slimming down on SSRI's!!

The thing is, all of our bodies work differently. We have different genetic makeup, metabolism, etc.

We're not all that different. Humans are 99.9% percent genetically similar. Your metabolism doesn't stop or slow down to the point where weight loss becomes exceedingly difficult just because you're on anti-depressants. Calories in / calories out still applies. Celexa doesn't help you defy physics and make you magically gain weight.

the problem is that when i have started eating better, i'm still gaining weight.

You could have been "eating better" but you were still consuming more calories than you expended.

People really just need to stop trying to blame their doctor for their fatness and start owning responsibility and changing something.

This.

You are incorrect. My father is a noted psychiatrist, dual board certified in internal medicine. He specializes in psychopharmacology and has an additional certificate on that subject. He also teaches courses on psychopharmacology to medical students. He says that ADs affect people differently depending on a whole host of various chemical and genetic characteristics and interactions. That is why most antidepressants include both insomnia and somnolence in the list of possible side effects, ditto for weight gain/loss. Some people, for example, metabolize drugs at different rates than other people do. This is well documented fact.

Also, most studies are fairly short term. Weight gain sometimes doesn't start to kick in until several months have passed.

You are incorrect. My father is a noted psychiatrist, dual board certified in internal medicine. He specializes in psychopharmacology and has an additional certificate on that subject. He also teaches courses on psychopharmacology to medical students. He says that ADs affect people differently depending on a whole host of various chemical and genetic characteristics and interactions. That is why most antidepressants include both insomnia and somnolence in the list of possible side effects, ditto for weight gain/loss. Some people, for example, metabolize drugs at different rates than other people do. This is well documented fact.

Also, most studies are fairly short term. Weight gain sometimes doesn't start to kick in until several months have passed.

I never said SSRIs don't have the possibility to make people gain weight. For the 50th time, people are claiming they are gaining weight WHILE BEING ON A DEFICIT, which is impossible. I don't know why this is so hard for everyone to understand.

You are incorrect. My father is a noted psychiatrist, dual board certified in internal medicine. He specializes in psychopharmacology and has an additional certificate on that subject. He also teaches courses on psychopharmacology to medical students. He says that ADs affect people differently depending on a whole host of various chemical and genetic characteristics and interactions. That is why most antidepressants include both insomnia and somnolence in the list of possible side effects, ditto for weight gain/loss. Some people, for example, metabolize drugs at different rates than other people do. This is well documented fact.

Also, most studies are fairly short term. Weight gain sometimes doesn't start to kick in until several months have passed.

I never said SSRIs don't have the possibility to make people gain weight. For the 50th time, people are claiming they are gaining weight WHILE BEING ON A DEFICIT, which is impossible. I don't know why this is so hard for everyone to understand.

I too wonder how one can gain weight while in a deficit.

For the 50th time, I have been on Citalopram for about 5 months and have gained weight steadily the entire time, I have also been over my calorie goal nearly every day for the past 5 months. Coincidence?

Or, is it just the med making me gain?

I only used citalopram for a month, it did nothing for me depression/anxiety wise and I got the rare side effects which sucked, so I switched. My doctor suggested that it would aid in weight loss for me, but I think a lot of it depends on your mentality at the time of dosing.

I was switched to venlafaxine/Effexor, not sure I'd recommend that to anyone unless they got the extended release. It works well until you accidentally forget a pill or run out and don't have time to get more. The withdrawal is the worst. It's fairly weight neutral but sides more with losing weight rather than gaining. It does cause you to feel like not eating for a week or two.


I was just switched to bupropion/Wellbutrin yesterday, anorexia is not common as a side effect but weight gain is unheard of unless used as a smoking cessation aid.

To find a good pill for yourself you may need to look at multiple different pills over a period of at least 1 month for each, if one is making you gain weight then go to your doctor and ask for a different SSRI or SNRI. SSRI's are "supposed" to be less serious side effects, but they have a more influence on your weight.

I was on Citalopram for anxiety for exactly 1 year 3 months before I started to wean off. It was great the first 5 months. I lost weight, I felt great and I thought -- wow, this is a magic pill! Then, month 6 came and the weight started piling on. I've noticed a lot of people making remarks that month 6 was when it all began for them too. Weird....

I will say that I am an organic health nut, I do drink alcohol (it's my guilty pleasure but it's always in moderation) and I only was eating junk 1 meal a week (and barely at that).

Originally 125 pounds, I ballooned to 150. I was shocked. And it literally was over the course of 2-3 months. I lost my entire self esteem...I had always identified with being a relatively thin girl. Then all of a sudden none of my clothes fit and I'm embarassed to leave the house. Mind you, I had gotten married the summer before so I'm sure my husband (who has dated me for 10 years) was like what the heck happened to my wife?! For those who swear it's not the medication, you are SO wrong. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. My thyroid was fine, everything checked out... and my doctor agreed, it was 100% the medication.

Surprisingly, I barely had any side effects going off the medication (I was on a low dose... maybe I never even needed it?). Now 1 year later, I've been off 100% and am down 18 pounds but I had to fight like hell to get to this point (even though I was exercising like a mad woman and eating 100% HEALTHY). Another 5 or so to go.. but I feel like it's SO MUCH tougher than before. It definitely did something to my metabolism. I used to lose weight so easily.

Now I feel like I need to go back on medication and I'm so stuck. I liked citalopram but I swore I'd never go down that road again. Afraid how bad the others are...

On a 100% serious note (because I too have gained since being put on celexa), how was your intake ratio during the gaining process? Calories in vs. Calories out. I am curious to know, btw I am at the 6 month point.

Please don't mention calories in vs calories out in this thread or you will get dog piled like I did. It's just easier let them believe some voodoo priestess in Haiti is conjuring up fat cells for them while they sleep.