Hi I was put on citalopram for a few months, within a month of stopping I started to gain weight within 6-8 weeks I was 2.5 dress sizes bigger and for 5yrs I exercised twice a day burned 2000 cals and ate under 1000 a day and couldn't shift the weight. The doctors did all sorts of tests and nothing came up. Thats when my normal happy life stopped i only went on them because i was ancious about a break up. I continued visiting the doctor with new research as to what it may be. Then 11 months ago something happened and I was prescribed citalopram again and within a few months I'd lost the weight I just assumed it was stress but I exercised less and ate more which was odd. Then 4months ago I came off the citalopram and got my energy back and started running again but started gaining weight and within 6/8 wks I was 2dress sizes bigger which is when I started researching citalopram I found American forums with many people in the same situation and someone called it paradoxical weight gain iv been in touch with lundbeck the makers of the drug but they so say have had no reports. This I find hard to believe there are so many people with the same reaction on the American sites. Also in the research iv done there are studies in animals that suggest the brain does not renormalise after coming off citalopram and they deny this could have anything to do with weight gain. How can it not? Your body needs serotonin and tryptophan receptors to burn fat, if this function does not renormalise surely it can affect weight?? Does anyone have anything to help me?? I'm thinking of taking them to court as I am now depressed on diazipam having panic attacks all because I was a little anxious about a break up 6 yrs ago. Please help if you know anything x
Hello tamsin. I discontinued Citalopram 1 year ago. I was on it for 6 years for anxiety attacks. I had a consistent body weight the whole entire time while on citalopram, in fact I lost weight, and if it ever raised a tad (typically because of lack of exercise and overeating) I could just go back to working out and eating healthy and drop it all very easily. Over the past year I actually have a timeline of photos of me gaining weight slowly but surely. I went so far into testing for parasites etc to see if there was some sort of issue or blocking factors that was causing me to gain weight and no matter how hard I would try (max efforts) I would actually continue gaining weight, even my "fat" pants are tight now. I had to get to the bottom of it because I can't understand it. I am a holistic nutritionist and personal trainer so I am pretty aware of what I need to do to lose weight in a healthy manner etc. and nothing seems to be working. I figured it out that all my weight gain started exactly when I discontinued citalopram, and I know this because of the photo timelines. Im actually thinking about going back on it as I am starting to get anxiety and depressed from the weight gain and the lack of control I have over it. It will be crazy if it helps, and they should really list that as a side effect if it is in fact the case.
Hi thank you for your reply I had to go back onto citalopram and it seemed to stop the weightgain but im still having panic attacks and am now depressed because of the weight. they seem to be doing nothing but making me miserable and un-motivated so i have been weaning myself off them and have been off 3 days so far so we will see if i gain more weight within the next 4 weeks. hopefully not. I am still in discussions with Karen Warrillows at lundbeck who still denies any reports or links to weightgain, though there are forums dating back to 2001 on this subject. She says the animal studies were not done by her company and even though she knows of them they have not been followed up by her company as they dd not originate from her company. After explaing my point very slowly to her she did say she could see where i was coming from and why i saw the link between the animal studies and the brain nt re normalizing after citalopram and weightgan but said she had no information on it. She has since after speaking with my doctor again said she may have 1 study which i may find relevant so i am waiting on that to arrive at my doctors and will know more next week so will let you know. I am filling in my adverse affects form with the doctor next week also as it is the doctor who has to report it to them so it would be great if you could do the same? I have a homeopathic doctors and have tried everything natural from them. I am now going to try msm and himalayan livercare which was suggested on another forum to get the residue of citalopram out of my organs and im also going on a liver and gallbladder flush as i want all of this vile drug out of my system now. I will post a load of links i think you should read that i found in my research later today. Im late for work. tamsin xx
Hello Tamsin. Thank you for your response. I will ask my doctor about the adverse effects form. Its interesting that you are going to take livercare supplements etc. During my process of flushing out a parasite they found in my system, a parasite that only the homeopathics think as an issue, I had to take a liver care supplement called L-K and it made me incredibly ill. However all this occurred after taking Citalopram. I used to do coffee enemas to flush out the parasite among other things but never got to the liver and gallbladder flush which maybe I should try out before going back onto the citalopram. Let me know how it goes with you. What is msm by the way? I am looking forward to the links. Thank you!
Hi these are a few links you may be interested in reading.
www.drkaslow.com/html/neurotransmitter_repletion.html
although these are not directly linked to weight gain in lundbecks eyes i personally see a link as if the neurotransmitters needed to burn fat are not re-normalizing surely weight gain can be a side affect.
this is the liver flush recommended to me
and this is the other forum i heard about the liver care and msm. msm seems to be a supplement.the post was made by
offofcelexa
www.topix.com/forum/drug/celexa/T828L27IGRMJB8R19/p3#lastPost
there is also a study which says 71.3% gained weight after discontinuing citalopram which they put down to the depression coming back. I have asked for a breakdown of how many were depressed before and how many just had anxiety and if they had any weight problems before the drug and if any changed eating habits or exercise regime. It will be interesting to see the full report.
Also i have just today been to see a herbalist for the tincture needed for the detox and he says its not the first time hes heard of this weight gain after citalopram and thinks its hormonal so when i have time i will speak more with him.hope to talk soon
Tamsin x
The Private Messaging system is the best way to pass along links etc 
Hi. I was just wondering if you have had any new developments with this? I, too, have experienced the same struggles with gaining weight when attempting to taper off of citalopram & as soon as I begin taking it again, I almost immediately upon resuming my regular dosage (20mg daily) I am able to lose weight again. I want to add that I have gone a year without taking the medication, working out for HOURS each day & eating only natural/whole foods & my weight would not budge one ounce. I even did a 3 day fast (doctor ordered) and wound up GAINING weight during & after the fast (before ever consuming any food. And it wasn't a fruit fast or anything like that. Just water. I have a BS in Dietetics and am well aware of healthy eating habits and adequate activity levels and I strive to be an all around healthy individual. I would just really like to be able to achieve/maintain my weight without being stuck taking this medication for the rest of my life... (I'm now 25 & have been taking this since I was 18). If anyone has any information they can share or has at least experienced a similar encounter with Citalopram, any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Hello. Unfortunately I tried everything in terms of losing weight while off of citalopram. I finally decided to go back on the smallest dosage, 10mg and almost within three days bloat went down and things were moving along. I now take 10 mg every other day sometimes every two as I no longer need the medication except to keep myself from gaining weight again. I'm afraid to come off as I don't want to go through that struggle again of gaining weight even with great efforts of eating healthy and exercising.
Wow, I can't believe I found this discussion. I went off Citlopram a few months ago and have gained 10 lbs. Just like the other participants in this discusion I have tried everything to lose the weight. It occurred to me today that there might be a correlation between the two. I don't want to go back on the drug, but I am going to start taking a small amount and see if it helps. I will report back and let everyone know the results. I really don't want to resume takng them because of some of the side affects, but I have maintained a manageable weight for years now and cannot tolerate the extra lbs.
Yes, I am so sad to say but after being on this family of medication citalopram over the last 15 years I decided to go off in March (so it's been 3 months now) 15 years ago at my top weight ever I was 156, then steadily gained more and more weight topping out at 193lbs for a very long time. Now 3 months later (after going off the meds) I have hit the 200 lb. I CRIED.I always thought it was the meds that caused me to "Gain" weight Along with menopause all thru my 40's ...so for about 1 month I switched to "Cymbalta" because I'd heard that one may cause decrease in appetite and less issues in the libido area which citalopram did a number on also, well then I decided to just go off everything and BAM! 200 lbs! I could not believe that going "Off" the meds I would Gain weight, I went Off the meds because I wanted to Lose weight. I do work at a desk all day, and do not exercise, and do have an appetite, but I swear the meds did this over the years (I was always Underweight at 5'6" 110lbs for most of my teen years, then never more than 136lbs after my second child. Realizing I'm not 18 anymore (I'm 54) but I look at other friends my age with flatter tummies and true it is depressing, but I don't really want to go back on the meds even tho the anxiety is more prevelant, I told my spouse there are some issues you just need to work on without a pill...Any other comments welcome or Solutions...I know exercise, water, and eating healthier,but I feel it's more than that, I feel it's the citalopram issue.
OMG! I am having the same problem. I have gained about 1 dress size since June and still gaining since I have stopped taking it. I have not been able to figure out what is causing the gain. I am reduced my calories, drinking lots of water but keep gaining. I just thought was has changed recently and I realized I stopped taking Celexa and I decided to do some research and I came accross this. I really don't need celexa I was only on it because I really hated my previous job and I need to get through the day but I am going to go back on it to stop this weight gain. I feel so miserable with my weight
Typed in could quitting citalopram cause weight gain since I've gained 6 pounds in a few days from not taking them. Felt great but not great enough to get fat. I appreciate the thumbs up,and popped one in my mouth before I go to sleep in a few. Plan on taking one in the morning to give my diet a kick start. I wanted my orgasms to come back with my husband...I will fake those and hope some of them don't need to be,,,Damn the luck!
Hey tsamin. Thanks for starting this thread, it actually made me aware why I have been gaining weight the way I have. I stopped taking citalopram after 13 years because for some reason it made me more depressed and in the end even suicidal. Now, I have never been super skinny but I have been able to keep my weight relatively constant with correct food choices and an ok diet, keeping my weight at around 75 kg. I stopped Citalopram 4 weeks ago after discussion with my neurologist, and I gained 3,5 kg within this time. Which is strange because my cravings have changed from sweets and carbs to salads and I am a lot more energetic, cycling everywhere, I almost jittery with all this energy. Reading all the replies I am on the one side glad I am not alone with my struggles, but on the other hand I really don't want to be dependant on a anti-depressant just because of my weight.
Obviously it does not help that my mother is borderline-anorexic and comments on my weightgain, gives me tips on how to loose it etc. Another, very embarrasing side-effect I have had from stopping the pills is flatulence that I can not control - something I have NEVER had before. And while I do eat more salads I know that raw food can cause gas but I have not had this problems before, EVER!
So all in allI just wanted to say that I am glad that I am not the only one struggling with this silly issue - I just think it is strange that, even though my doctor warned me about possible side-effects from going off the drug weight-gain was not something she mentioned. Sigh.
Also, being a strong-willed, independant, single woman this is not really one of those things I wanted to deal with. Battling with depression, anxiety-attacks and suicidal thoughts is already enough, body-conciousness out of nowhere is really not appreciated. Especially because I feel like my body is now alien to me after it took me so long to get to know it.
Anyway, thanks for the discussion and showing me that I am not alone!
So I was wondering. Has anyone gone back on Citalopram and lost the weight that they gained? I tried for about a week and didn't see any results so I quit taking it again. Thanks for any information you can provide.
Yes. Well, some of it. I am just shy of 5'10 and back when I was initially taking citalopram (which I take clonazepam along with it as a means of treatment for my eating disorder) I was a stable/steady 135-143 lbs (i have some pretty intense weight fluctuation just prior to starting my period, which I'm sure is not a new or unheard of concept). I quit taking the medication for literally just a couple of months and within the first 2 or 3 days of being off of it, I got on the scale to see 147 lbs staring back at me. I continued to gain up to about 155 and knew that something had to change (because I am prone to purging and partaking in eating disorder-related behaviors). So I went back to my psychiatrist and requested that I get back on citalopram. Literally OVERNIGHT after taking it again, the scale was down FOUR POUNDS. My whole family was in utter disbelief (initially they thought I was just being dramatic about the whole thing.) Now, after having been back on the medication for several months, I am not gaining any weight, but I've pretty well plateaued at around 148 lbs & nothing I have tried has seemed to help me get below that number. It is a great relief not to be incessantly gaining weight at this point, however, I do wish that I could control my appetite more easily and that my body would respond better to healthy eating and plenty of physical activity.
Toward the top of this discussion, I recall someone posting something about information regarding the correlation between citalopram use/discontinuation of citalopram and weight gain and the acknowledgment of such by someone at a university or large medical facility. Does anyone have access to this information or could anyone assist me in tracking this down?
If anyone else has any similar experiences, I would sincerely love to hear them. It's always good to know that you aren't alone when you're struggling with something.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have not gone back on citalopram, and am slowly losing the weight I gained, but I still have about 5 lbs to go and it has taken me at least 6 months. I may try taking it again, but I really don't need it anymore and don't like the side effects.
Glad to have this forum so I know I'm not the only one. So frustrating because I kept my weight under control through my 40's and half of my 50's. To know that a medication can cause weight gain when you stop using it is insane!
I thought I was the only one. I stopped taking it and I eat healthy run crossfit work a physical job, and found out today from my nurse. Me quitting the medicine was causing me weight gain bloat depressed behavior. I feel like a big swollen blimp I've even been juicing detoxing and still gaining. My baggy jeans are suckling the life our of me. I'm hating these side effects I'm going back on the med because I hate this fat feeling. First time ever have took a drug with this negative of a side effect :*(
Katherine,
I completely understand the struggle you're going through right now. It's one of the most helpless feelings in the world & there is very little that someone who hasn't experienced it can say to make it any easier (& unfortunately, there's not a ton that someone who has experienced can say to make it better, but at least there are people who are going through it right along with you!).
Just keep your head up. Keep eating well & remain active. I found that when I did detoxes and things of that nature that they actually had a negative effect & would cause additional weight gain when I would do them after discontinuing Citalopram. (Don't ask me how or why...but I did a 3 day fast of only water with lemon as per request of a naturopathic doctor I was seeing and I steadily gained weight each day of the detox and did not lose it back until getting back on the medication.)
I hate to encourage you to get back on it if you are happier with yourself not being on it... But I do absolutely understand the feeling of having to get back on it for fear of additional weight gain.
Please keep us posted on what you decide & how things are coming along.
I will keep you in my prayers!
Thank you so much I will keep you updated you keep me updated on yourself as, well. I will also pray for you. Thanks again
Hi sdcohen
I found your post very encouraging. I have gained a lot of weight since being on Citalopram. I have decided to come off the the 20mgs over the next couple of weeks. I wondered whether the weight would go off.