Depression and Weight IssuesHave you been diagnosed with depression, are possibly on depression medication, and find it affects your weight loss efforts? Post here for support!
So i have been diagnosed with Bipolar 2 and moderate depression..
I'm 28 years and we all thought all of these years i was just a spoiled brat, but recently i had been really acting out and feeling crappy, i decided something needed to be done, so here i'am.
My big thing is that i'm freaked out to take pills, let alone the rest of my life I have been reading so many scary things about being on meds i'm starting to chicken out for my appointment next week with a psychiatrist, i know i need to go and probably be put on something.
I have a bunch of questions..
My biggest question is, do there anti depressents give you some pep in your step? I'm 300 pounds, i have packed on the majority of that in the past few years nothing really motivates me. My only 2 wishes is that this stuff will make me feel better and then help me get motivated. I would love to be back in shape and be able to run and fit into all kinds of Old Navy clothes, but I fear that these pills will make me even fatter and i don't want that..
Wow i guess this turned into more of a venting rant, sorry...i'm terrified and getting cold feet..
I don't know about bi-polar medication but I have been on antidepresents and they helped me a lot. It takes a little while to notice a change or the effect that they are having on you but one day you will wake up and just feel different. I also talked to a counsilor, and that helped a lot as well. It was nice to have someone to talk to that didn't know the people I would vent about or have issues with and didn't have a bias already.
If taking medication and speaking to someone helps you, you should do it. I don't think that for fear of getting "fatter" is a good excuse to not get mentally healthy. The pills side effects might be weigh gain (I don't know) but that can be your motivation for sticking to plan and exercising. What you eat and how much you exercise will be a bigger factor than the pills.
See how it goes for awhile, there always different things you can try if it doesn't work out. Just stay positive.
I was diagnosed with bipolar a year ago. I know it's scary to think about going to a psychiatrist, but I hope you'll keep your appointment and see how it goes. It's good you're taking steps to help yourself before anything major happens. I had always wondered if I was bipolar but never did anything about it until things got too bad (lots of stressful events within a short period of time last year, prompting a major depressive episode) - and then I ended up in a psych hospital for a week after cutting my wrist (which is when I was diagnosed).
Don't let the stuff you read about side effects keep you from giving the meds a try. Remember you always have the option to take them or not, and to ask the doc for a different one if something isn't working out for you. I was on lithium initially and experienced the muscle weakness, so I asked for something else and was given Lexapro and then we added Abilify and that combo worked great for me. No side effects and it kept my mood stabilized so I could manage to deal w/ all the things going on in my life at that time.
I hope your appointment goes well! Come back and let us know.
Hey Rai,
Welcome to the club LOL. I am also bipolar and was recently diagnosed. All these years, everybody thought it was just depression (this includes docs). First of all, let me tell you that typical antidepressents, especially SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, etc) do NOT help bipolar. They make it worse. That is actually how my new pdoc diagnosed my bipolar. I am now on Lamictal and I feel WORLDS better.
Do not cancel your appointment. The psychiatrist can help. Many meds for bipolar are weight neutral. Make sure you ask the doc. While this won't "help" you lose weight, once you feel better mentally, it gets easier to work on the physical things. Since I got on this med, I have started going to a gym (something I never would have been able to do before), doing my cardio at home and eating better. I feel better than I have in years. Read up on bipolar meds. The best website out there is crazymeds.us. It has helped me tremendously over the years. Its easy to understand and loaded with great information.
I know this has been a long reply but I hope it helps some. Let us know how you are doing.
I'm just freaked out about all of this, i for sure don't want to have the cure worse then the disease.
I' am just doing so much research and the bad of course seems to out weigh the good, so i just wanted to hear some positives.
My main goal is that it will kinda motivate me to feel better, right now i don't want to do anything but sit, life is just passing me by, then bang i'm 28 and miserable, un happy un motivated and just plain yukky, then the days i do feel good it's short lived.
In the past few weeks i can recognize when i feel moody and blue, so i try to save others and stay clear. I haven't told any of my friends they just think i can be a B!tch at times, and now it turns out it's kinda medical issue...
I hope that my only regret is that I didn't get help sooner.
Thanks for listening!
Rai,
I am glad you are doing research. I think that a well-informed patient makes a better patient. I have found that while some doctors don't like it when you know a lot about your condition and the meds, the good ones appreciate you knowing whats going on. Now, one thing you have to remember that someone once told me, is that when something is wrong or bad people are much more likely to talk about it than when things go well or are good. So whatever you read that is, take it with a grain of salt. With Lamictal, I found a great medication with no side effects. I feel better than I have in years! You might want to check out this med since it is supposed to be THE medication for bipolar 2. Best of luck!! You can always IM me if you want to talk.
Today was my big day, went to the psychiatrist!
I'am an emotional wreck, started to cry in the session and cried when i got home, I guess it's been a big reality check for me.
I feel better knowing so many people have the same condition i do, but I wish it was more talked about and it wasn't so hush hush..I'm trying to consider it as a disease..
Well he prescribed me lamictal, i'm freaked out to take it today..
I figure i'll start it Saturday, my girls are taking me out tomorrow night for a celebration party, because they knew how hard this past few weeks has been for me...Then the Doc hit me with the bad news that i can only have a glass of wine when on this, please tell me that isn't true! I don't drink much, but when i see a fruity drink with an umbrella i can't resist it...
I hope that i don't break out with this rash that everyone talks about...My only wish is that this will be a smooth transition and my life will be much more fun and even...
Anyway, i so took a me day from work, this has been very emotional...
Thanks for listening!!
Rai
Good for you for going through with the appt! Don't feel bad about crying, I did too when I was seeing a doc. It's an emotional experience.
I never had lamictal, so I'd check out any specific warnings for it first, but I personally still did drink while I was on meds. I was told not to as well and the way it was explained to me was the alcohol is a depressant and basically has the opposite effect of what the meds are supposed to do (make you feel better/more of a stable mood). But for me, going out for happy hours etc here and there with friends was a regular part of my life and I was determined to not have to give up anything to deal with this. One thing to think about is how does drinking affect your mood normally? If I had too many I was prone to horrible bad mood swings, any slight thing might set me off. So I just had to watch quantities and be very aware of how I was feeling.
Good luck with the meds! How often are you going to be seeing the doc?
I was dx bipolar close to 20 years ago and I have been in treatment and meds since that time. Please be gentle with yourself, do things for you that you really like doing, seek out good positive support and keep those doctor appointments. At the beginning of dealing with and handling my illness I kept a simple mood chart tracking mood on a scale of 1 to 10, meds taken, and a short sentence about the day's events, and the sleep I was getting......this really helped me to identify if a certain med was working for me and helped me to see patterns in my mood cycles.
It is scary to think about taking meds the rest of your life for any type of illness. For me, even though some meds have given my bad side effects, I would be a lot worse off if I was not on medication. In my opinion, meds can help you but don't solve everything. For me, talk therapy is helpful, group therapy has been a godsend (both NAMI and DBSA have group support in most cities) and treating yourself with care have worked for me and I have been relatively stable for the past two decades with just a few hospital stays when things got unmanageble.
I wish you the best of luck and please remember to do nice things for yourself because we all deserve to feel good about ourselves.
I started taking Lamictal almost five months ago. I asked my PNP if it's ok to drink while on it (since I'm 23 and it would make me more depressed if I couldn't go out to the bars with my friends). She said not to worry about it, since I don't drink that much anyway.
I've had no side effects on it, though it did take a good two months on the full dosage of 200 mg to see any difference. I'm now on 150 mg of Wellbutrin as well, and the combination has been pretty good for me. Of course, the meds aren't a magic fix. I still have depression, and I always will. The pills just give me a little leg up so that I have a fighting chance.
Rai,
Congrats on your trip to the pdoc. I think that crying during your appt, actually helps because I think it shows the doc that you are having a serious problem, not "just a bad day". I feel very hopeful for you on the Lamctal. Since I started taking it I haven't noticed any adverse effects. Just remember that you may not start seeing any improvement until you reach at least 100 mg. per day. Hopefully, your doc started you at 25 a day, then up to 50, 75, and so on. Lamictal is one of the drugs where you have to titrate up slowly. It works much better that way. Big jumps are usually not good.
Anyway, as far as the drinking is concerned, I used to love my wine when I went out, but since I have been the Lamicatl, I usually don' really want to drink. I did find out one evening that my tolerance is WAY less than it used to be but that's okay. When I was really bad, I used drinking as an escape and I find that I don't need to do that anymore, so that is major step forward for me. Give the Lamictal a try and PLEASE let me know how you are doing and if I can help in any way. I am here for you.
If you are concerned about your weight, alcohol is nothing but empty calories so why drink? If you can't have fun without alcohol, you may be headed for a big problem.
Wow Quilter thanks for such a lovely comment, I hope that made you feel better!
Thanks to the rest of you for understanding where i was coming from in terms of drinking, i went out with the girls this weekend and had water..
I started my pills Friday night 25 mils and an hour into it i could feel something different, but that could have very well been nerves, when i took it Saturday night, it was honestly the best nights sleep i had in weeks!!!
So i hope that this just keeps getting better and better!
My girls are doing a biggest looser contest starting tomorrow and it couldnt be a better time. I think this will be a big test on how well these pills are going to work, one of my biggest problems is starting something or getting a great idea and an hour later forgetting about it, very typical cycleing thoughts....lets hope this works!
Posting on here has made me feel so much better! You ladies are awsome!
Rai,
I'm so glad you started your pills. It can only go up from here!! I also take Seroquel at night for sleep and I sleep better now than I have in years. The only thing is that I have to make sure I'm getting at least 7 hours or the next day it takes a long time to get going. If I get 7 or 8 hours, it takes me about half an hour to wake up and then I'm fine. And I don't drink coffee.
I think the biggest loser contest is a great idea, especially at the holidays. I got in with some friends who did one that ended just before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I didn't get motivated soon enough to win (the winner lost 40 pounds, lucky guy) but it did eventually give me the motivation to start to exercise, eat better, and I even joined a gym, which is something I would never have done before Lamictal. The gym has been great. I really enjoy going and I can see results after 6 weeks. I've only lost about 10 pounds, but I am liking the way my clothes are getting baggy. GO FOR IT and keep me updated on that Lamictal. Best of luck!!
Newly diagnosed
