Bipolar, Psychotropic medications and hunger/full signals

JDBLY11
JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I was diagnosed as bipolar 1 several years ago after I was hospitalized for having a very bad manic episode. For the first year or so on the meds I was on a weight loss program and lost about 59 lbs. The problem was, I felt hungry all of the time, so I gave up and went back to my normal eating patterns. I ended up gaining about 40 or 50 lbs in a couple months and have continually gone up over the past 12 months. So far I have gained over 100 lbs. I believe my medications are messing with my hunger/full signals and making it difficult ot lose weight and even not to gain. ( I had a few times where I was not able to get my meds right when I needed them and I did not feel so hungry.) So what should I do? Gaining this kind of weight is just as bad if not worse than actually having a bipolar break. I know I need to work with the doctor but do any of you have similar experiences? What did you do in this situation?

Thanks for your input.

Jessica

Replies

  • bunnyhutch
    bunnyhutch Posts: 5
    I also know how meds mess with your body while trying to fix your head. Definately go back to your doctor, I did and now I am slowly slowly losing the 40lbs I gained. long standing spinal problems have limited the types of exercise I can do but I am determined to succeed this time. Good luck and I hope you get sorted.
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
    Honestly, I used to think it was an excuse, and now I humblely apologize:flowerforyou: . I am on an anti seizure medication that takes away my hunger trigger. Meaning I could possibly go all day without eating food at all. :ohwell:

    The ironic part is the meds are for migraines and one of my key triggers is not eating:huh:

    Now I can totally understand how a medication can take over the way your body controls your eating neurologically:ohwell:

    I would say to speak with your doctor to see if any other meds can be used to counter act it.

    What I did to actually MAKE myself eat, was to set an alarm every 3 hours. It could work the opposite for you. Sorta like the meds we must take, you wouldn't take them early, right? Well look at the food that way. I must eat x amount of calories every 3 hours. Include protien, carbs, fats. This will keep you full and may prevent that 'must.eat.all.food.' you get when you have not eaten in a few hours.

    I am not a medical professional, only another member who has experienced what meds can do to eating> so sorry for your health issued. I hope you can get this under control:flowerforyou:

    Thanks, It is just so strange because while I have had weight issues in the past. I have never just kept gaining and gaining for no reason. I am happy and stable. I have not had any episodes for years, so I don't get why this is happening. I just feel so hungry after I take the meds. I have had times where I was not able to take them for a few days and the intense hunger subsides and don't think about eating most of the day. One the meds it seems like eating is all I can think about.
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
    I also know how meds mess with your body while trying to fix your head. Definately go back to your doctor, I did and now I am slowly slowly losing the 40lbs I gained. long standing spinal problems have limited the types of exercise I can do but I am determined to succeed this time. Good luck and I hope you get sorted.

    Thank you. I hope so too. My body cannot handle this much weight on it.
  • Sarah_LM
    Sarah_LM Posts: 96
    I also have this problem. One tablet I take is quetiapine which makes me seriously hungry and it has so far caused over a 100lbs weight gain. I was a size 12-14 before starting it but now a size 22. I stopped taking it for a while and I lost weight so easily without even being on a 'diet' but I got ill again. I don't have any advice, I am trying to lose the weight but its difficult, but I at least empathise with how you feel. Maybe ask to change your tablets? I tried that, but unfortunately every other antipsychotic I tried (about 5 or 6 others) caused akathisia so I'm stuck with quetiapine. Hope you can find a solution.
  • FluffyMcNutter
    FluffyMcNutter Posts: 68
    I'm like a magnet for people with bipolar disorder. I don't know if it's because I want to be close to them of if it's because they want to be close to me, but we love each other. So, I already like you. :)

    First of all, the doctor who is prescribing you the medicine should have noticed and talked with you about your weight gain by now. If not, or if you've switched doctors, you need to bring this up. Immediately, especially if you're on Lithium. There may be dosage issues, there may be side effects that you can avoid by doing something differently, or maybe you need to be on different medication. The only way to figure that out is to talk to your doctor. If you don't trust your doctor enough to have that conversation, then you need to start shopping for a new doctor. If your doctor acts like it has nothing to do with the medicine, then maybe you should look for a second opinion.

    Beyond that, you're going to have to do what everyone else does. Start eating at a deficit. If your body is telling you that you are hungry, then eat, but eat something that is going either not give you a lot of calories or is going to fill you up to the point you don't want to eat anymore. Try both. Try switching them up so your body doesn't know what's coming. Figure out what works for you. Personally, there's not a meal in the world that fills me up as much as a snack of a half an apple with a Tbsp of natural peanut butter. That makes me so full that you could put everything I love to eat in front of me for 3 hours and I wouldn't even be tempted to touch it. That's ~200 calories that makes me actually want to avoid food for hours. A low calorie option would be to cut a cucumber in half length-wise and add a little salt a/o red wine vinegar. Figure out some different snacks that will confuse your body - go for high fiber, high healthy fat (anything other than trans fat), or high protein. Those are a lot more filling than foods that lack in all three of those.

    I sincerely hope you get some help from your doctor.

    ETA: make sure you're getting enough water. A lot of medicines can mess with your hydration and you might be confusing thirst with hunger sometimes.

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