@TishaBuv:

Thanks for your support! Excess weight can come from many causes. I'm pretty sure mine is Binge Eating Disorder (BED), but it might just be the meds. I'm waiting for a professional opinion from a specialist.

I'm pretty overwhelmed with my benzo taper at the moment tho. My sleep is chaos. Plus my dog has needed extra attention due to some minor surgery during her routine dental cleaning so i'm just doing the best i can with my eating for the moment.

Thanks for offering to discuss the excess weight issue with me, i may take you up on that!

@Skeezyks:

Yes, Skeezyks, i feel your pain. It's hard to know whether the meds are worth the weight-gain. I'm sure unhappy in my 5'3" 250-pound body and it's hard to know what i am more depressed about: my original emotional pain or that i am an unpretty Large Marge now.

I'm tapering off my benzo at great personal cost to me in terms of insomnia and then i will discuss with my doctor whether i could get off the rest of my two more meds and just use them on an emergency basis like one member who is at a healthy weight does.

I'm trying to get on the bandwagon with the Health At Every Size movement (HAES) and try not to care so much about being fat, but it impact the quality of my life in that i can't be more active with my dog, attend outdoor concerts where i would have to stand, have to pace myself thru housework, can't dress the lower half of my body without stress and shortness-of-breath, etc.

So it's hard to see that Seroquel and Risperdal year-round are worth it when i've only been psychotic on a very infrequent basis, like once every three years and i can usually manage the episodes on my own and/or with the help of my medical doctor.

What do you think, Skeezyks?