# SSRIs and carb craving: Your experiences?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssris-and-carb-craving-your-experiences/636897
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 6, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssris-and-carb-craving-your-experiences/636897 "2012-10-06T13:14:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssris-and-carb-craving-your-experiences/636897/1 "2012-10-06T13:14:48Z")
If this is TL/DR territory, skip to the last paragraph.
Some history: In 2010, I quit drinking, went on a low-carb diet, and started a different anti-depressant regimen at about the same time. All-in-all, after a few months, I felt freakin’ awesome.
In 2011, I decided I felt SO freakin’ awesome, I didn’t need the anti-depressants. (I know, I know. But in my lame defense, my prior history with anti-depressants had also been accompanied with alcohol consumption – never a good mix – and I wondered what life would be like without either.)
I had been off the ADs a couple of months when I started in with massive carb/sugar cravings, to which I caved. Unsurprisingly, I gained back about half the weight I lost, and I just couldn’t quit with the cookies and ice cream. (And my sweets-seeking behavior was very like my alcohol-seeking behavior: “OMG! There are no cookies in the house. Must come up with an excuse to go to the store so I can buy cookies!”)
In March, finally acknowledging that my depression had returned, I went back on Wellbutrin, but not the SSRI. I felt better, but was still consuming carbs in a completely out-of-control fashion. After a few months, the light finally came on, and I realized I perhaps should have given the ADs bigger credit for my freakin’ awesomeness of 2010.
I started back on the SSRI (in addition to the Wellbutrin) a couple of weeks ago, and I swear to God, it’s like the carb-craving switch has been turned off. I certainly understand the concept of the placebo effect. OTH, I have also read some of the research about carbs and serotonin.
Anyhoo, has anyone similarly noticed that an SSRI has reduced carb-cravings?
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### Author:  [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssris-and-carb-craving-your-experiences/636897/2 "2012-10-06T13:24:58Z")
Which SSRI were you on? They differ in their side effect profiles, with some of them more likely to cause weight gain/loss than others. Some people find Prozac suppresses their appetite and they lose a little weight.
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### Author:  [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssris-and-carb-craving-your-experiences/636897/3 "2012-10-06T13:44:31Z")
I’m on 300 mg of Wellbutrin and 20 mg of Celexa. Well, generics of both, actually.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssris-and-carb-craving-your-experiences/636897/4 "2012-10-06T15:00:40Z")
I’ve had the opposite experience. I’d been on antidepressants for a quarter of a century, and when I got off of them, my appetite decreased dramatically, and I lost a lot of weight. In particular, my carb craving and consumption went way, way down. However, I was and am almost a teetotaler. It’s rare for me to have more than one alcoholic drink in a month.