Schizophrenia and mental health problems Successful Story!

Hi. I'm don't have schizophrenia but I am bipolar and have anxiety. I'm a work in progress just like you are. I'm stable over all (a few manic episodes once in a while) but still trying. I'm on geodon and clonazepam. (have been on seroquel - yuck - lithium, risperdal, bupropion, lamictal, zoloft, lexapro, and something else but I don't recall. I wasn't on it long.) and they seem to be working for me at the moment although I might be changing meds as my primary and p=doc don't like the long term effects of geodon and want me on something more weight neutral. In my opinion, I'd focus on mental health over weighing. You can come back to that. I'm bad about weighing but I hyper focus on logging and my calories that I eat. I'm down 48 pounds. I usually under eat but every once in a while I binge and if I can't check it, that usually tells me I'm possibly heading towards a small episode. (reckless behavior - there's other things I look for too but that's me not you.) I'm not sure how you feel now but I hope you are better. I'm also not sure how an episode feels to you (I like manic when I'm in them. I'm embarrassed of my behavior afterward though.) Sorry, this reply is a little all over the place. But I'm glad you are working on stable again and wish you the best of success. If you want to add me, feel free.

I have moderate bipolar I with psychotic features. I'm on Geodon, Lamictal, and the highest dose allowed of Cymbalta. I'm also on Topamax to help suppress my appetite from the psych drugs. It's the only cocktail that works for me, and I've lost 47 pounds so far on it.

I also have PTSD from childhood abuse and spent several months in EMDR therapy for that. And a couple years of CBT therapy, which was useless for me, but the PTSD means I had different needs than most. CBT is good therapy.

There is no way that I could have been successful at this without getting my metal health in order first. I lost 70 pounds before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but gained it all back and more as soon as a depressive cycle hit. I spent five years finding the right meds for me to control my mood swings, and a lot of time in therapy.

Unless you have a medical condition that requires you to lose weight quickly and immediately I recommend you get your mental illness under control first. It's better to be mentally healthy and fat than skinny and out of control mentally. If you can even stick to a deficit with your mental illness. I couldn't, it lied to me.

In not saying eat as much as you want and gain more weight on purpose (ooh it doesn't matter, I might as well eat a whole cake every day sort of attitude), just don't try to lose weight and juggle new meds, doctor's appointments, your brain, etc at the same time. Be kind to yourself right now, even if you do gain weight while you figure out your meds. When you're ready you'll know it and you'll be successful.