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!
I was diagnosed as Bipolar at age 14. I've been on loads of various anti-psychotic medications and never gained weight till I went away to college and stopped swimming in competition. I then lost weight and gained weight for the past 4 years. I've been as heavy as 250 and as low as 130. I'm currently at 208 and have been counting calories for the past 10 days. I'm not sure how much I weighed when I started since we didn't own a scale, but I do know 6 months ago I weighed 220 so I'm happy with the 208 and hoping it will continue to drop.
My question is this, I know that a lot of my weight gain is my own fault because during the years I exercised while on the meds I lost weight fine, but how much do y'all feel the meds have interfered with weight loss? I'm currently on Lamictal and Seroquel. I believe I gained the most weight while on Lexapro and Lithium so I've refused to take them (plus they stopped working, a feeling I'm sure we are all familiar with) and Wellbutrin which was supposed to have helped with the weight gain made my heart do crazy things. So far the new combination has me feeling pretty good (a little groggy in the am, but nothing some black coffee can't fix) but I want to be healthy weight wise too! What have y'all done to help outside of cutting how much you are eating? What are some exercises I can do at home? I teach and coach so the most exercise I have been getting is taking my dog on their 1/2hr to 1hr walks daily (which I love). How do you combat the feelings of hunger? I know most of it's in my head, but a lot of days I'm under my calorie count because I'm never sure if I'm hungry or if it's my head. Any ideas for low cal quick snacks to help me get to that 1200. I'm usually at about 1100.
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Britanniejo I too have bipolar but mine wasn't diagnosed until last year when I was 45!
Eggs for me are a relatively low cal but very satisfying snack. They keep you full for a long time. Careful not to eat too many as they do rather constipate one!
It takes time to recognise heart/head hunger from actual stomach hunger. The trick I was taught was to have a glass of water then if you are still hungry 30 mins later it is true hunger.But you may find it helpful to keep a food log to make sure you are really getting ENOUGH calories as the very low calories you are on mean you may not be giving your body what it needs to be healthy.
Good Luck and take care
I was originally diagnosed with Depression before Bipolar and I gained a lot of weight from the meds that I was put on. I am still fighting to lose it even though I have lost some.
Do you have a good doctor you can talk with about the meds you are on if you are on any? Some meds are more weight gaining than others and varies from person to person. I would urge you to be careful with your meds as far as adjusting your dosage other than what your doc advises without consulting them first, just my input here.
As far as exercises, you said you swam, are you near a pool? Maybe look to a library to check out different workout videos if you don't have access to a gym.
Hunger is a tough one, it's often more of a mind thing I find, and I am trying to ask myself 'am I really hungry or thirsty'? Or what else can I do other than eat?
You need to take healthy food to gain your weight like fresh fruits ,vegetables and use digestive enzyme supplement which is responsible for food protein and better digestion of your health.
I was on Zoloft for maybe 6 years and gained about 80 lbs. Was it the medication or my habits that did it? Probably a little of both. I've read many cases where people claim medicines cause weight gain or difficulty losing weight. I've also read similar stories that say the opposite. I think for me it definitely contributed.
I took myself off of it maybe 3 years ago due to some other side affects that were occurring and now I'm losing weight. I'm seriously dieting now though as well, so is that correlation there? Who knows?
I gained a lot of weight on my bipolar meds too, though for me Seroquel has just made it harder to lose rather than adding any.
I have found that I do need to feed that sugar demon that Seroquel gives you and no sugar (diabetic) boiled sweets are great and really get that monkey off my back.
Other than that I find rice cracker are ok, if they are flavoured, the plain ones just make good coasters!
I'm bipolar as well, and I'm also using Lamictal and Seroquel, as well as Zoloft and truxal. I gained A LOT of weight while mixing Fontex and seroquel. Well, I've been working to lose weight for a while, but yeah. I'm vegetarian, and I became that before I started losing weight, but it has really helped me to get more energy. Great, now I can't remember what else you wrote, I'm sorry if I forgot something!
Bipolar Disorder and Weight
