Weight Gain with Nexplanon implant or Citalopram prescription?

e_v_v
e_v_v Posts: 131 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all,

Within the last 18 months, I have been diagnosed with anxiety, so I was prescribed Citalopram. I also got married and switched my method of birth control to the Nexplanon arm rod implant (LOVE it, by the way).

However, I have gained nearly 25 pounds over the past year. I am usually a small, petite woman, and gaining any sort of weight is very noticeable. I don't always eat perfectly, but I consider my eating and exercising habits to be very consist and relatively normal.

I'm wondering if it's one or both of these medication changes that has caused/contributed to such significant weight gain. Has anyone else experienced weight gain with either one of these medications? Insight would be much appreciated. I am very frustrated, to say the least.

Replies

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    They both could cause an increase in appetite, causing calorie creep and then weight gain. You could be totally unaware of this as it would just be an extra mouthful here, an extra snack there and they all add up. It's only about 0.5lbs per week gain, which is an extra 250 calories over maintenance a day.

    So track your intake and the weight will come off.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Yep, calorie creep. You don't always eat perfectly, what does that mean? You stopped logging?
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    They both could cause an increase in appetite, causing calorie creep and then weight gain. You could be totally unaware of this as it would just be an extra mouthful here, an extra snack there and they all add up. It's only about 0.5lbs per week gain, which is an extra 250 calories over maintenance a day.

    So track your intake and the weight will come off.

    this. I am successfully losing weight on nexplanon having had a new implant fitted in July. Age is also a factor in slow creep in weight gain, ie. the older you get the more likely you are to slowly put on weight as your life changes.
  • ksenya03
    ksenya03 Posts: 51 Member
    Yes, it's possible. I gained 40lbs in aprox. 6 months while on escitalipram (closely related to citalopram). When I got off that medication I lost 20lbs in the first two months. That being said, the medication(s) is likely not the only factor. I have a feeling that in my case I was eating more from both the medication and the anxiety and high stress levels increase cortisol which makes it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it.

    Combination of working on stress reduction, increased exercise levels, and counting calories has worked for me to lose weight.
  • grayblackmfp
    grayblackmfp Posts: 140 Member
    I've been on citalopram for anxiety for the past three months. Still losing weight. I'd already lost my appetite from the anxiety though.
  • e_v_v
    e_v_v Posts: 131 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Yep, calorie creep. You don't always eat perfectly, what does that mean? You stopped logging?

    I have gone back and forth from logging. Mostly due to my busy schedule and sometimes just forgetting. I've been using MFP for so long that I know how many calories are in everything I eat and approximately how much I can eat in a day.
  • e_v_v
    e_v_v Posts: 131 Member
    girlinahat wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    They both could cause an increase in appetite, causing calorie creep and then weight gain. You could be totally unaware of this as it would just be an extra mouthful here, an extra snack there and they all add up. It's only about 0.5lbs per week gain, which is an extra 250 calories over maintenance a day.

    So track your intake and the weight will come off.

    this. I am successfully losing weight on nexplanon having had a new implant fitted in July. Age is also a factor in slow creep in weight gain, ie. the older you get the more likely you are to slowly put on weight as your life changes.

    I totally get that. With the age bit, though, I am only 23...
  • honeybee535
    honeybee535 Posts: 5 Member
    ksenya03 wrote: »
    Yes, it's possible. I gained 40lbs in aprox. 6 months while on escitalipram (closely related to citalopram). When I got off that medication I lost 20lbs in the first two months. That being said, the medication(s) is likely not the only factor. I have a feeling that in my case I was eating more from both the medication and the anxiety and high stress levels increase cortisol which makes it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it.

    Combination of working on stress reduction, increased exercise levels, and counting calories has worked for me to lose weight.

    I am using escitalopram from last September 2015 and i have PCOS (polycystic ovaries) both my medicine and pcos cause weight gain for me
  • honeybee535
    honeybee535 Posts: 5 Member
    grayblackmfp wrote: »
    I've been on citalopram for anxiety for the past three months. Still losing weight. I'd already lost my appetite from the anxiety though.

    Yes i got stomach issues and diarrhea last year and lost my appetite so prescribed escitalopram and gained back all weight, now trying to get in shape again

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    At the end of the day you can only gain fat from eating more calories than you burn. Medication can cause water retention but not fat gain.
  • honeybee535
    honeybee535 Posts: 5 Member
    ksenya03 wrote: »
    Yes, it's possible. I gained 40lbs in aprox. 6 months while on escitalipram (closely related to citalopram). When I got off that medication I lost 20lbs in the first two months. That being said, the medication(s) is likely not the only factor. I have a feeling that in my case I was eating more from both the medication and the anxiety and high stress levels increase cortisol which makes it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it.

    Combination of working on stress reduction, increased exercise levels, and counting calories has worked for me to lose weight.

    How long you were on escitalopram and how did you feel after quitting that, because i heard people say that it is difficult to quit regarding it's withdrawal? Please let me know because i want to quit
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited November 2016
    I gain weight on them too. SSRIs and benzos, both.

    Definitely there are better ways of dealing with stress, even though a doctor's first thought is pills. I mean, if you go to a medical doctor they prescribe medicine. I'm off all of that stuff now, and at a healthy weight again.

  • ksenya03
    ksenya03 Posts: 51 Member
    honeybee535 wrote: »
    ksenya03 wrote: »
    Yes, it's possible. I gained 40lbs in aprox. 6 months while on escitalipram (closely related to citalopram). When I got off that medication I lost 20lbs in the first two months. That being said, the medication(s) is likely not the only factor. I have a feeling that in my case I was eating more from both the medication and the anxiety and high stress levels increase cortisol which makes it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it.

    Combination of working on stress reduction, increased exercise levels, and counting calories has worked for me to lose weight.

    How long you were on escitalopram and how did you feel after quitting that, because i heard people say that it is difficult to quit regarding it's withdrawal? Please let me know because i want to quit

    I was on it for about 2 years. Coming off it was a very rough - probably rougher than it needed to be because I was on a very high dose and my PCP didn't titrate me down, she just stopped and started me on another medication that takes about 3 weeks to start being effective. I had about a month transition period that was pretty hellish - lots of mood swings, and anger like I'd never felt before. My blood pressure dropped dramatically and I kept having palpations, particularly at night. I talked to a psychiatrist about that experience later on, according to him I really should have been put on gradually reduced doses of the escitalipram and gradually increasing doses of the medication I was being switched to. Side effects and withdrawl symptoms are generally minimal if the switch is done in a slow and controlled fashion.

    If you can get a psychiatrist or psych NP to oversee your transition off rather than a general PCP it will probably go much better than it did for me. Or talk to your PCP about a slow transition off rather than cold-turkey stopping if you can't get to a psych provider.

    That being said, I am very happy I'm off of it. The medication I switched to works much more effectively for me, and I've been able to make enough life-style changes that I currently take a very low dose, and may be able to stop medications completely with in the next year.

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