Citalopram/Celexa DOES make you fat!

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  • zarelcl
    zarelcl Posts: 1
    No doctor can say a drug will or will not make you gain weight. Everybody is different and will have different experiences with it. For me it made me gain weight. I am very active, running 50+ miles a week and eat very clean. My diet and exercise did not vary when I got on celexa, but I put on 20lbs. Very frustrating. Especially when you are doing everything right with eating and exercising. Slowly weened myself off of it and stopped taking it all together yesterday. Hopefully, I will see some results.
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    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.

    Lol. I am having a great deal of trouble wrapping my head around weight gain while in a deficit.
  • nicola8989
    nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
    I'm on 20mg of Citalopram and my weight gain did start when I started taking it.

    Previously when I lost weight it just dropped off me without too much effort - I don't know if part of that is getting older though. Or maybe I'm just remembering it wrongly!!!

    Anyways, this time around it's really hard to shift. I'm coming off Citalopram now, first a lower dose then coming off completely, so I guess I can report back.

    I do take on board what people have said about how we eat more/less depending on if we're happy or not. I'm happy at the minute and just want to eat like a pig!
  • cherys
    cherys Posts: 387 Member
    It DOES cause weight gain in a significant number of people. It's listed as a rare side effect in the paperwork that comes with the packs of meds. (1 in 1000 people report weight gain.) The reason is that it slows you right down. You move more slowly and less often. The metabolism almost hibernates in some people. I rate this drug very highly as relief from severe depression. I'd go back to it like a shot as it is so effective, But I gained 20lbs on it. After years on it I weaned myself off over summer. Suddenly noticed I was moving faster - if I ran upstairs my body felt less heavy. My running partner can't keep up with me. This is without any change in diet or exercise regimes. On Citalopram (Celexa) I felt as though I was carrying a heavy backpack - it was impossible to rebound. I've only lost a tiny amount of weight since stopping. About 5lbs. But was on it for years.
  • daybehavior
    daybehavior Posts: 1,319 Member
    smittybuilt19 wrote: »
    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.

    *crickets chirp*

    :disappointed:

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  • FormerSuperHero
    FormerSuperHero Posts: 70 Member
    I have been on citalopram for almost a year and in this year I have been very active and training but it's more sluggish feeling and I have been craving high sugar foods like never before. So this year I have gained 40lbs and even when I'm watching my food and eating right I still can't lost it. So I have taken myself off the pills and I want to see how this impacts the weight loss
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    edited October 2014
    Everyone's different and you have to consume surplus calories to gain weight in the first place. As I understand it, if you're feeling depressed, lethargic or the medication increases your appetite, it's likely to 'cause' weight gain.

    I didn't gain weight on citalopram, but I lost the ability to have an orgasm. So yeah, that one was no good. I gained a buttload on mirtazpine and went whackadoodle on venlafaxine and lost 2 stone in about 3 months. They all affect people differently.

    I usually overeat when I'm depressed, so not sure if the anti-depressants I have tried in the past added to this or it's what I would have put on anyway.
  • define__us
    define__us Posts: 1 Member
    Okay, I was freaking out because my doctor just prescribed me celexa today. I was worried that it would make me gain the weight I lost. I guess all I have to do is try it & see what happens!
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