I was diagnosed with bipolar just 4 weeks ago, I'm 26 and have been experiencing symptoms since I was 19, I tried to tell my parents about this for a long time but they just dismissed it and insisted that I was anti-social and was anorexic; when I was manic I would exercise a lot and when I was depressed I would eat very little.

This past December I got extremely depressed but instead of eating very little I started binge eating because my parents had harassed me so much in the past about eating so little. I stopped exercising completely because I was so depressed.

I checked my self into an eating disorder unit where they diagnosed me with bipolar type 2 and binge eating disorder. The eating disorder unit was horrible (90% severely underweight ladies who just gossiped about each other and made me feel extremely depresses and suicidal) but I did finally get a decent diagnosis and some meds which hopefully will help. I am now on Lamictal 100mg eventually move up to 200 mg. and Topomax 50 mg in am and 100 mg in pm for the urge to binge.

Does anyone have any experience being on these meds?

I am also extremely depressed because I gained 35 pounds during my 3 months of binging, I've lost 15, but I'm still extremely depressed about the way I look, of course my parents just think that's stupid and don't offer any support for my "distorted" body image".

I feel so hopeless and lost and that the people who say they love me really despise me