Celexa question

[21 percent]

Not sure if this is the right section to post this, but I did a search on Celexa and couldn't really find anyone answering some of the questions I was looking for or at least were answered within the last 2 or 3 years.

First I'll tell you my situation. I started taking Celexa about 7 months ago because I was going through a tramatic experience in my life. My doc started me at 20mg and then about a month later I went to 40mg. During these 6-7 months my weight jumped from 162 to about 190ish. I was still working as hard or harder at the gym that I was before taking the medication but I could not stop gaining weight. At first I blamed myself saying I was lazy and that I needed to eat better (which I do) and work harder. I also noticed that my heart rate would not get past 60-70% when I would do cardio even though I was working at levels higher than I ever have.

I told my doc that I was concerned about these two things and also that I felt that I was over the tramatic situation and felt I could do better drug free than on the medication. So here is what I noticed over the last 2-3 weeks since tapering off of celexa. I thought the weight gain and low heart rate were all in my head until I stepped on the scale after about a week of being off of it. My weight dropped about 5 lbs and while doing cardio a couple of days ago, I was able to get my heart rate to 75 -80% of my max. While I need more time to say that celexa was really causing my metabolism to slow, I do feel like I have much more energy and I can put a bit more into my workouts without feeling tired immediately after I start. As far as my mood goes, I actually feel more alert and maybe slightly more jittery.

I don't have much experience taking anti-depressants so I thought I would run it by the forum and see if others noticed these same issues while being on something like celexa or celexa itself. I'm really looking forward to getting myself back in shape now since I have seen some progress since being off of it. Oh, also since I started taking it my bodyfat % went from 10-11% to about 17-18%. That was most depressing of all.

[cowboyathlete]

I have been taking a generic version of Celexa myself for about four years, and it has been a lifesaver. I have not had my body fat measured in ages, though, but I have not noticed any side effects. As with any medication, check for options. I would stay away from Zoloft, though, since it gives almost everyone (cough, cough) "digestive problems" (cough, cough).