I have just come out of a psychiatric hospital a week ago I am still struggling with hearing voices and seeing hallucinations I have BPD, Depression, anxiety and Psychosis.

I also have BED and ME/CFS

I have been hospitalised 6 times in the last 4 years now

I used to weigh 10 stone, got depressed and put on 5 stone in 3 years after i had my baby in feb 2012 I got psychosis and was put on anti psychotic drugs and I gained 10 stone in almost 18 months I have lost and gained the last 4 stone twice over the last yr.

I am on loads of meds...all have side effect make me gain weight

I HATE how i look i am so embarrassed of myself it isnt helping my depression.

I was up to 350 lbs

Since MON I am trying to take control with food. I am cal counting 2000 cals a day.

Any advice would be most welcome. I really need help.

I am going to make an appointment to see my Dr about my weight tomorrow. I am scared I wont live to see ,y 4 year old grow up

xxxxx

Hi Topsy,

Check out Dr. Fung. He is helping a lot of folks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuj-oMN-Fk He has a lot more youtubes and a new book out called The Obesity Code. I just love him!!! Welcome onboard!

Hey I know what your going through!! I have schizoaffective disorder bipolar type and have been in the hospital a couple of times and am on a bunch of meds too! I gained at least 50 pounds when i was hospitalized and put on an antipsychotic injection, I felt the same way you did.

I am in a much more stable situation, I think that making sure you take the medication in combination with therapy will help you to become more stable and much more ready and able to tackle your weight. If you just focus on small changes for right now, like eating better or not as much or walking more, then you might be able to fight off the added effects of the meds.

I too struggle with binge eating and food addiction, it is hard and I still struggle to this day, but I noticed when the weight started dropping or even being at the same weight for a whole year I was much more motivated to lose weight and the cravings have mostly stopped(unless I get emotional)

so in short, take care of your mental health first and the rest will follow.

Bipolar here. I've been stable for years, but I've been where you're at. Also recovered from Anorexia/Bulimia, recoverING from BED. Just wanted to reach out and say hello.

I also have schizoaffective BPD...I have put on 15kg (30pounds) in 7months since being on Prexolan and Lexamil (escitalopram)...it sucks but I refuse to give up! keep trying -its all you can do...

Lots of sympathy from me as well. A friend of mine, also in Scotland, had a spell in hospital for schizophrenia the other year, and the food was not exactly stellar. I was sending her Graze boxes twice a week and her friends who were more local were going in with meals they'd made. That side of things can't have been easy for you. Well done for getting through it, and I hope it helped and that you're doing better now.

I'm guessing you're trying to eat at maintenance calories to stabilise first, which is a good move and I'm glad to see it.

I've got ME/CFS too. Do you have dysautonomia/POTS? Few of us get diagnosed with it, but it's when your blood pressure and heart rate are all over the place, and you get things like dizziness, especially on standing up, blackouts, shakiness, nausea and so forth. There's a good forum at DINET if you want to find out more, and it seems to be sensible, unlike the ME forums I've come across. Anyway, if you do, do you know about keeping your electrolytes up? Lots of fluids (my cardiologist put me on 3 litres a day, think I was about 8st or so at the time, not sure how it scales up but the DINET folks will do), lots of salt, things like electrolyte drinks if you can. I just wrote a thread about electrolytes here, funnily enough, so there are details on that. It's one of the most important things I've learned about having ME. Prof Julia Newton, the leading ME specialist in Newcastle, reckons a lot (most?) of us have dysautonomia.

Don't feel guilty about not exercising if you're not able to, by the way. The ME comes first, and running around after a four year old will be keeping you plenty busy! I also started a thread in the Chicks up for a Challenge forum for discussing keeping up with things like relaxation and creative stuff, for those of us for whom cardio and weight lifting aren't exactly a possibility, and you're welcome to join that.

I've just noticed that it's a few months since you posted this. How's it going, was the doctor any use?

I gained about 120 on psych drugs (Bi-polar). I also (years ago) was put in a "ward" against my wishes (for talking about something I thought about years earlier). I lost all faith in Psychiatry, and do not know what was in my head to go back to them. I don't know. It was a short cut. I do not consider it a valid profession any more, just a licence to push dangerous drugs. If I was a neutropath, MD, scientist, or etc, I would say go HF/LC because it has been shown to relieve most to all symptoms of depression, psychosis, and possibly more things.

One thing I do know, when I was put in the ward for "psychosis" I had no symptoms, and was not really psychotic. I refused to agree that I was sick, and after 9 days was released. I never took any pills at all for years, and felt totally fine, graduated from college and was thin and healthy. I feel that if I had been put on Lithium or something (I was on Lithium this time), I would have been sick all that time, and incapeable of doing anything.

This time around, I felt drugged, was on Prozac and Lithium and had more "hallucinations" than I ever did in real pre-drugged life. The pills made me feel 10 times sicker than I ever was when I was just depressed and Bi-polar without the pills. So I figured, "cry" when you need to cry. Feel blue when you need to, too.