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Anyone taking Citalopram finding it hard to lose weight?

frankbegbie

frankbegbie

Well-Known Member
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I've been taking Citalopram for the past few years for anxiety.
Just wondering if this is preventing me from losing weight on the HFLC diet?

Only asking because before I found out I was Type2 I've tried to lose weight before , (the conventional way),
but never had any success.

I've been on the HFLC diet for over 2 weeks but nothing seems to be happening yet.

Am I wasting my time as long as I'm taking Citalopram?
 
Anti-depressants are notorius for causing weight gain, one of the most common one that's normally blamed is Celexa aka Citalopram. There are Anti-depressants that are weight neutral, see the list below

  • escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex), an SSRI
  • duloxetine (Cymbalta), another SSRI
  • buproprion (Wellbutrin, Forfivo, and Aplenzin), an atypical antidepressant
  • nefazodone (Serzone), a serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor
  • venlafaxine (Effexor) and venlafaxine ER (Effexor XR), which are both serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
  • desvenlafaxine (Pristiq), an SNRI
  • levomilnacipran (Fetzima), another SNRI
  • vilazodone (Viibryd), a serotonergic antidepressant
  • vortioxetine (Trintellix), an atypical antidepressant
  • selegiline (Emsam), a newer MAOI that you apply to your skin, which may lead to fewer side effects than MAOIs taken by mouth

I've had personal experience with Duloxetine and I can confirm that it's certainly not caused any weight gain for me.
 
frankbegbie said:
I've been on the HFLC diet for over 2 weeks but nothing seems to be happening yet.
Click to expand...
It can take 3-4 weeks before LCHF kicks in and you start losing weight. That was how it happened with me, but after 4 weeks I was losing 1 - 1.5 lbs a week. I was on Fluoxetine (Prozac).
 
I started taking citralopram in May - it had no effect at all on my weight loss. I low carb, but I do also watch the amount of fat I and eating - so perhaps that makes a difference?

Sent from my HTC 10 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
The vast majority of weight gain is caused by the anti-depressants in ways such as affecting your eating habits, suppressing the feeling of "being full" and of course direct intake of the drugs for example. Also it takes a good amount of time to find the SSRI/SNRI that works for you as an individual and I recommend you speak to your GP before making any decisions on medication
 
I have taken citalopram for 3 years. I was ravenously hungry for the first few weeks but after that things settled down. I have struggled to lose weight for years but I don't think citalopram has made any difference to the problem.
 
I was on citalopram for a year a few years ago. It didn't cause weight gain but I did have problems with my sight.
 
What are you eating? It may be helpful for us to see what your diet has been like.
 
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