QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
I was placed on Paxil for a grief-related depression and experienced rapid weight gain which I am still having difficulty removing. My physician now suggests Celexa. As I seem to be prone to weight gain with Paxil, is it reasonable to assume a similar outcome with Celexa?
ANSWER:
Weight gain from SSRI's usually is due to an anxiety disorder worsened by a
medication in this class. This is particularly true of the generalized anxiety disorder
(treated with BuSpar) and/or post traumatic stress disorder (often successfully treated
with Remeron).
If you have neither of those disorders, you may not have the weight gain with another
SSRI, but only time will tell.
