does anyone take celexa? does it make u fat?

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jardimgirl
jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
in Chit-Chat
ive been paxil for anxiety for 12 years and just discovered it makes you gain weight! (and i have it strangely on my stomach only) anyways i talked with my dr and she switched to to celexa to a very low dose of just 10mg, she states it doesn't have the weight gaining side effect and will help with my anxiety. i read some people online say they have gained weight with this. now im confused! anyone taking this drug and what are your experiences?

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  • jardimgirl
    jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
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    Anyone?
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    I used to take it. It didn't make me fat; too much food did that.
  • jardimgirl
    jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
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    I used to take it. It didn't make me fat; too much food did that.

    true. i guess it just makes your appetite bigger.
  • jardimgirl
    jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
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    Anyone else?
  • jardimgirl
    jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
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    .
  • maz504
    maz504 Posts: 450
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    I used to take it. It didn't make me fat; too much food did that.

    ^ this.
  • Enkeli88
    Enkeli88 Posts: 6 Member
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    I took it for a little while (assuming that Celexa is a brand name for citalopram), but it didn't work for me so I was switched onto something else. No weight gain in that time, but I did feel nauseous quite a lot. However, I do know other people that have been absolutely fine with it. Also agree with the other posters - it's not the drug itself that will make you gain weight, you'd still have to eat more than usual.
  • vkdarling
    vkdarling Posts: 161 Member
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    I used to take 40mg and it didn't seem to have an effect on my appatite. and at just 10mg maybe you could go off of it after awhile thats a very low dose.
  • techgal128
    techgal128 Posts: 719 Member
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    I'm on it right now. There's so many factors that I'm not really positive if it made me gain weight. I know Abilify did though.
  • teneillea
    teneillea Posts: 3 Member
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    I started paxil when i was 17 and i was fine on it i maybe gained 10 lbs which wasn't a big deal but when my dosage was doubled over the course of a few years all of a sudden i realized i had gained 40 lbs. i tried dieting exercise and would maybe lose 5 lbs at most. i decided to go off the medication after years of being on it. Within a week i lost 8 lbs which was almost scary but it didn't seem to change much, or so i thought. i had finished school and had a lot more time on my hands and i started going to the gym 6 days a week just to have something to do for myself and to keep my spirits up since i was no longer on the meds. i lost all 40 lbs and more within a couple months. A year later i started having som issues with my anxiety and depression and went back to the doctor and begged for something that wouldn't make me gain weight and wouldn't kill my sex drive. He gave me celexa which worked better than the paxil i wasn't as tired or groggy and i felt like my libido dropped a little but not bad. Then after 3 months i gained 40 lbs again... its been almost a year and a half since i stopped all the medications and I cant seem to get my weight to go down. I had my thyroid checked and had every test ran, and nothing. I work out at least 4 times a week but usually more and i don't eat horribly. i do tend to not track it very well but a lot better than when i was thin! I got a prescription for phentermine and i took it for few days and felt like my heart was racing constantly and i decided to stop it. i lost 5 lbs in those few days but i wen through a really hard few days of depression and so tired i could barely stay awake. it scares me to try this again and take it for the 3 months and literally be a zombie after i get off of it. I don't know if any of you out there have any success stories losing the weight after stopping celexa or another SSRI... paxil was easy but this celexa has ruined my body.
  • hilaria81
    hilaria81 Posts: 84 Member
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    I did gain a lot of weight on Celexa in college - maybe 20 pounds in about 5 months. (I gained 3 in the first week I was on it!) Even worse than that, though, I have almost no memories of the time I was on either Celexa or Paxil. They both had a major depressive effect on me overall, like living underwater, which was maybe why I gained the weight - increase in appetite and decrease in activity? Everything seemed so fuzzy and gray, it wasn't worth it. I was relieved to get off those and feel like myself again, even with the anxiety attacks (which have improved on their own as I've gotten older).

    Edit: I never did lose the weight after going off it, but at that point I think I was just used to eating way too much! This was almost 12 years ago and I kept gaining weight gradually over those years. I'm now at the same weight as almost 6 years ago, so still have a long way to go.
  • teneillea
    teneillea Posts: 3 Member
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    I did gain a lot of weight on Celexa in college - maybe 20 pounds in about 5 months. (I gained 3 in the first week I was on it!) Even worse than that, though, I have almost no memories of the time I was on either Celexa or Paxil. They both had a major depressive effect on me overall, like living underwater, which was maybe why I gained the weight - increase in appetite and decrease in activity? Everything seemed so fuzzy and gray, it wasn't worth it. I was relieved to get off those and feel like myself again, even with the anxiety attacks (which have improved on their own as I've gotten older).

    Edit: I never did lose the weight after going off it, but at that point I think I was just used to eating way too much! This was almost 12 years ago and I kept gaining weight gradually over those years. I'm now at the same weight as almost 6 years ago, so still have a long way to go.

    that seems to be the case for most people. im worried i will never really lose the weight and i this will be my new 'normal weight' =(
  • pandabear_
    pandabear_ Posts: 487 Member
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    I take citalopram. i started with 10mg then went up to 20mg.

    It was also the time I started dieting on MFP and exercising. I actually lost 30 lbs in a year and maintain that, and I was taking 20mg once a day.

    I decided to come off it in March last year because I ran out while I was living abroad. I put on some weight then and I was exercising a lot but it might have also been because I was drinking a lot of beer (I was studying in the Czech Republic).
  • pandabear_
    pandabear_ Posts: 487 Member
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    I wouldn't say that's true... A lot of drugs used in the treatment for epilepsy cause fluctuations in weight, either weight gain or weight loss is listed rather than "loss of appetite or increase".

    And a lot of people report gaining weight on anti-depressants or on the contraceptive pill, so it's not something to casually shrug off as people's choice of diet. It is a factor to consider amongst exercise and healthy eating.
  • pandabear_
    pandabear_ Posts: 487 Member
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    I wouldn't say that's true... A lot of drugs used in the treatment for epilepsy cause fluctuations in weight, either weight gain or weight loss is listed rather than "loss of appetite or increase".

    And a lot of people report gaining weight on anti-depressants or on the contraceptive pill, so it's not something to casually shrug off as people's choice of diet.
    but i disagree, if I'm allow to eat 2000 calories and I take meds and eat 2000 cals or less then I'm not going to gain weight.

    I don't understand why people can't comprehend its all cals in cals out.


    and I know medicine, it's my job haha =)

    Well, you obviously don't know anything about epilepsy medication... Look at the reports and look at the side effects. Weight fluctuation is a known side effect of the drugs.

    And "medicine.. it's my job" is just a silly argument, perhaps you are specialised in a certain field or are a GP, either way... You are not trained about specific specialised drugs for an area you are unfamiliar with. I really don't mean to be offensive, but this is the reason people are referred to specialists rather than GPs.
  • salembambi
    salembambi Posts: 5,585 Member
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    i took it when i was a teenager and it never made me fat
  • pandabear_
    pandabear_ Posts: 487 Member
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    But your argument is completely flawed.

    Research, publications and listed side effects? Ok....
  • s_pekz
    s_pekz Posts: 340 Member
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    Ive been on Celexa for almost five years now. Celexa did not make me gain weight. The only time I did gain weight was when I started feeling better (aka this crazy mythical emotion called happiness) for the first time in my life. Because I was feeling better I started enjoying normal people things like eating out, hanging out with friends, going to the bar etc. So I gained weight because I was taking in more than I did in the past. I also was used to not moving much due to depression so my calories in were more than my calories out. BUt the way I see it, this was a sign of my recovery. NOw that I am on a stable dose of that and my other meds I am losing weight at the right speed and amount for what my intake vs output is.

    Celexa in it self will not make you gain weight. recovery from depression might. but it depend who you are and what is going on.

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