I need some advice. I have Bipolar 2 and have dealt with depression all my life. Through out my life I have also struggled with and eating disorder.We all know that most of the drugs cause weight gain. That is one of my biggest fears. I have stopped taking my meds at times in my life so i wouldn't gain weight.
My doc just put me on Abliify and she said it is extremely rare to gain weight on it but I have already started doing things to prevent weight gain. Can anyone help????
I can sympathize; I've struggled with an ED, too, most of my life. I am trying to get better still, even after many years of it.
Do you have help for the ED? I've told psychiatrists that I cannot tolerate meds that will put weight on me.
Yoiu can ask your pharamacist is weight gain is a side effect of Abilify. I'm on Lamictal, no gain at all.
On the other hand, it's not worth it to continue suffering from BP. BUt I know that with an ED, that doesn't make much difference.
I need some advice. I have Bipolar 2 and have dealt with depression all my life. Through out my life I have also struggled with and eating disorder.We all know that most of the drugs cause weight gain. That is one of my biggest fears. I have stopped taking my meds at times in my life so i wouldn't gain weight.
My doc just put me on Abliify and she said it is extremely rare to gain weight on it but I have already started doing things to prevent weight gain. Can anyone help????
Hi melly,
I understand your position. I am BP and 'recovering' anorexic - though I don't think we ever recover (it's always in my head - I just fight it better these days). Luckily I was under the care of the same psych for both conditions, and hospitalised for both under the psych too. So, he understands how much the idea of weight gain frightens me - enough to make me sto taking my meds if I see any weight going on when I switch meds!!!
From this, my psych closly monitors my weight when meds are changed... we are of the same understanding that if weight goes on, the meds are chanegd again. It is the one side effect that I can't tolerate - he understands this.
I think it is important to stress exactly how important this is to your psych. After all, if weight gain will make you stop taking the meds - then your psych needs to know. If both of you are looking out for any weight change, and you both have a plan 'B' ready - then that should give yu the comfort that you need to 'try' the Abilifly. Remember that it is worth trying this med, if the weight comes, then (after discussing it with your psych) you COULD stop the med, and the weight would come off again (mine did!). So, the weight isn't permanent - if it comes at all.
I do hope this helps, I so understand your dilemma.
Nut.
ps- I'm on Mirtazapine and Tegretol. The tegretol (mood stabiliser didn't affect my appetite at all, the mirtaz (anti-dep) did make me a gain a little weight at the very start, although I did need it as this was when I was hopitalised for ana - after couple of months my appetite was steady again).
Last edited by NutshellNutter; 08-06-2007 at 05:00 AM.
I am on Zyprexa, and I watch what I eat carefully. as many have gained weight on his medicine.
ps this helps according some nutritionists... if you eat a sweet treat , then eat fiber within an hour... like a celery stick or raw carrot.. apple, etc..
A curious question--are you worried about weight GAIN or LOSS?? My daughter has gained so much weight it's shocking--and I cannot attribute it all to the meds as she has been on so many in the last year alone I can't remember them all-Right now on Lithium and Prozac. But she makes no effort whatsoever to control her eating....says she's starving all the time and eats probably 4 times what she needs to. BUT she's eating candy, chips, soda, big coffees, not healthy foods at all. She's almost 21 and certainly knows better...so I never say anything at all, unless she asks me if something she's wearing is too tight, then I will say yes, it is. Neither her Pdoc nor her therapist have monitored her weight....should one of them be doing so?? I'm sure she's at about 240 lbs when she was dxed as BP she was about 170. She's 5'8" and very curvy so she can carry the 170, but at 240, she's uncomfortable. (Also outweighs her 6'5" dad by 25 lbs)......I stock the house with very healthy choices for food, but she eats out, mostly, and as I said, at her age she does what she wants.
sigh-----Liz
Liz,
i am worried about gaining weight. Listening to your story about your daughter reminded me of when i was in recovery for my eating disorder and the docs put me on Paxil without telling me it would cause me to gain weight. When I started to gain weight, more than my recovery weight I asked the doctor and she said they put me on it to make me gain since I was under weight. I got so freaked out I stopped my meds.
It sounds like your more concerned about your daughters health than weight gain, so maybe you could talk to her doctor about it. They could put her on something that won't make her so hungry and crave junk.
I fought with an ED for many years as well. About a year after I thought I had it completely licked, my doctor placed me on rispedone and abilify. I went from 120lbs to 180 in a month in a half, had pitting edema and my blood pressure shot through the roof. I was so flushed and sweaty all the time, my family thought I was going to stroke out. After quitting the Abilify and rispedol, I researched the weight gain issue and read on a pharmaceutical site that avoiding foods high in carbs such as pastas and breads who keep the weight gain down to a minimum. You don't have to cut them out completely but less than usual, like one piece of bread folded in half for a sandwich. If you eat foods to keep your energy up through proteins rather than carbs, you should be o.k. I don't know if this applies for all meds like this or just the abilify. I hope this helps you. I always thought it was stupid to give people with history of ED and depression a med that makes them shoot up in weight, especially without warning or a counter plan.
