What should i take??!
Question: ok so i have been diagnosed with major depression && i self mutilate ....and i am getting help with that....but then just today when i was talking to my psyciatrist, i told her about how i hadnt slept for 5 days and i had a ton of energy and some other stuff....and she says i probably have bipolar disorder..also, we have been trying to find a medicine that works for me...and we've tried prozac and celexa but prozac made me way too anxious and didnt work, and celexa did absolutly nothing...i am very afraid to gain weight...so i dont want to take ANYTHING that will make me gain weight..what kinds of medicines are there for bipolar disorder that would not make me gain weight....it would be very helpful to loose weight too...is there and that decrease appetite or make u loose weight? thank you!! :)
Answers: ok so i have been diagnosed with major depression && i self mutilate ....and i am getting help with that....but then just today when i was talking to my psyciatrist, i told her about how i hadnt slept for 5 days and i had a ton of energy and some other stuff....and she says i probably have bipolar disorder..also, we have been trying to find a medicine that works for me...and we've tried prozac and celexa but prozac made me way too anxious and didnt work, and celexa did absolutly nothing...i am very afraid to gain weight...so i dont want to take ANYTHING that will make me gain weight..what kinds of medicines are there for bipolar disorder that would not make me gain weight....it would be very helpful to loose weight too...is there and that decrease appetite or make u loose weight? thank you!! :)
Topamax might help you...it KILLS you appetite.
My personal experience with meds? I tried Zoloft and Pamelor alone, this was before I was dx'd with Bipolar and I switched into manic/mixed episodes. So I cannot tolerate an antidepressant alone. I've tried Topamax, it worked by killing my appetite, but sent me into overdrive regarding my moods. I started experiencing extreme mania followed by severe depression. Not fun. I have tried Trileptal. Controlled my mania but made me very impulsive with regards to eating. Horrible binges(mind you, I'm anorexic). I was dealing with the binging and impulsiveness but I was experiencing seizures-that didn't work. (I am predisposed to having seizures and this sent me over the edge). Now, I'm on Lamictal and Seroquel. Lamictal as a mood stabilizer and Seroquel as an antidepressant and antipsychotic. While Seroquel increases appetite, Lamictal decreases appetite, so it balances everything out. I'm currently on 400mg of Lamictal and 100mg of Seroquel.
Although apparently...at the moment there is a problem with my meds...but don't take that into consideration. Good luck with finding the right medication.
You have your priorities in the wrong place if you are concerned about gaining weight. You need to concentrate on getting the right medication for your bipolar. Staying awake for 5 days is very serious, much more so than gaining weight.
Your psychiatrist needs to find someone who is capable of providing you with the right meds. They need to know how you reacted to the other two meds so they can take that into consideration.
Has your psychiatrist talked to you about meds specifically for bipolar disorder? There are mood stabilizers that could help with the manic side of it. Unfortunately one of the common side effects of a mood stabilizer is weight gain, but on the up side, if your moods are more balanced, it might be easier to focus on eating healthier foods and exercising.
I have been diagnosed with hypomania, which is a tamed down version of bipolar disorder, and so far I've been able to avoid mood stabilizers by eliminating sugar from my diet and exercising for at least an hour almost every day. I've also found meditation to be extremely helpful. I am also on Celexa for depression. Did you know that almost all anti-depressants can trigger a manic episode? It might be worthwhile talking to your psychiatrist about that, especially if the manic episodes only began after you tried various anti-depressants.
It's pretty rough working through all of that. Hang in there, and best of luck to you.
Most of the best drugs for bipolar disorder can cause weight gain as a side effect.
Are you overweight or obese now? And please answer that objectively, by calculating your BMI at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
If your BMI is under 30, please talk with your doctor about getting your symptoms under control FIRST, and worrying about weight SECOND.
If your BMI is over 30, please talk with your doctor about getting your symptoms under control FIRST, and worrying about your weight SECOND. But you might want to ask him if he's amenable to using Zyprexa, Geodon, or a third generation anticonvulsant like Lamictal as a treatment for you.
You need to treat the emotional conditions first. Once that is under control, you will find it much easier to manager your diet and weight.
Good luck,
Adam S