med talk,

kirst123 wrote:Im on Depakote and Abilify and ive gained quite a lot of weight, but im not sure which of the two is making me (probably both).I was also on Seroquel for months and I gained so much weight on that that I had to come off it.I just always seem to have an appetite! Does anyone else on these meds get this and how do you control ur appetite?

I feel your pain (due to lamictal and seroquel). Wish I could help! Unfortunately, my appetite is only reined in by mania, under-stocking my pantry, coffee and cigarettes. Also, though most diet food is unnecessarily expensive, you'd be surprised at the low-cal options they come up with nowadays. I for one am willing to break the bank to remain trim while eating mac n' cheese. :p Though I never learned whether the weight gain it due to increased appetite or metabolic changes... even when I'm eating well, I feel like I have more trouble keeping weight off.

Im not on either of those meds, but a nice 1200 mg of lithium now, and I have gained about 10 more pounds than I would prefer. My appetite isn't up, and luckily my weight isn't going up anymore, but it is horribly frustrating to eat normal or less than usual and your weight not really budge. Even with staying active. It's like I can't loose weight. I am sure lithium acts differently than those others, but still, definitely obnoxious.

i cant take lithium, it caused a thyroid problem for me although it was stablising my moods... im currently on 1000mg depakote in the morning, 1000mg at night and 450mg quetiapine (seroquel) at night. from time to time i also take temazepam to help sleep and have been on lorazepam when hypomanic. i dont know what id do without meds, i tried going without and ended up in hosp after nearly killing myself

Hey I'm taking 200mg lamitrogen and 800mg seroqual xr. I'm with you guys on the hunger fetish. I just want to eat everything. My solution is to buy Special K cereal and eat 2 bowls a day and a regular meal. This has been very beneficial for me. Another GOOD remedy is to drink a cup of milk and your hunger vanishes a little.

Speaking about my meds, I don't know if this is how I'm suppose to feel. I'm all zombie-ish. When I'm suppose to show an emotion like laughter or to smile or practically anything I have to try each time to attempt them. It's like a game and i have to push the buttons. I also have like no empathy. Is this good? Should i switch?

Ive hear it is common. One reason I am okay with lithium is that i seem to have no effects related to my mental processes- my emotions are still there and my thinking isnt cloudy. Its also a reason why i have stayed off of antidepressents and am trying omega 3s. I have a medicine aversion, so the doc seems to be ok with just the lithium for now and saying I need to learn some techniques to cope with it all instead of meds. Which i sort of agree with, as hard as it is.

After a decade on disability with bipolar I I've decided to get serious & compliant with my meds. I'd grown apathetic as so many of them did little for me. I've just been switched from depakote+lithium to Topomax (read that I might lose some weight), and from celexa to Effexor- which seems to shoot me instantly into mania. Next up is Wellbutrin, which I've heard can help nicotine addiction. And I've been on a lrage dose of seroquel for sleep for a long time. prns for anxiety.

I was on Zyprexa for two months and gained 20 lbs. When I went off I lost about half of it. Which is ok, since when I am depressed and manic I don't eat. I hated buying bigger fat pants, but I'll take it over having a screwed up life. I'm on lithium now and hope that doesn't add any extra pounds.

I've about had it with all medication other than the anti-depressants. I've had one manic episode and I got thrown on Lamictal (did nothing other than zombify me), Lithium (screwed up my digestive system), and now Abilify (zombified me again). Before my first and only mania, I was only taking Effexor at a good dosage 300mg, but I've been on it at 450mg. I was under a lot of stress at work and at home and I just finally cracked and couldn't sleep for three days straight. I don't know how often one cycles when you have Bipolar I or Bipolar II, but they have me currently categorized as NOS. Which to me means, we don't know what to do with you so we'll just zombify you.

Anyone else living in a zombie state and sick of living in that state. I think living in that state for too long actually has made me more suicidal than less suicidal because I can't function the way I'm so used to functioning. No, I'm not currently suicidal. Yes, I've dealt with depression too, but, again there were extreme circumstances. Freshman year in college, loneliness from not being a partier like the rest of my floor started everything. Then, I recovered, then every semester I would struggle with the depression. It was a lack of socialization on my part which in turn led to the depressive states.

I think I have an innate want to compare myself to other people and I do it to such an extreme that I drag my self-esteem down when I do it. However, when I'm doing well, I don't do this at all and I'm a completely different person who just seems to be finally coming out of their shell more than a person going through a manic episode. I don't really know what mania really is other than knowing the extreme side of mania. I did some of the things that describe as a manic person doing; having more energy, creativeness, etc. however, I don't think it was extreme in any way to the point that I was doing things that would harm myself or others.