[middlepath]

I have hit the "deal breaker" number on the scale. I noticed Lithium putting weight on me gently but steadily over the past 8 months since i started it. This is just bumming me out. Is it not enough that I am fighting tooth and nail to get my mood swings minimized, now I feel like the weight is just adding insult to injury. I have done every (healthy) technique possible to stop the scale from rising. I walk or do yoga 5 times a week (formerly 0-2 times per week pre lithium), I eat zero refined sugar, no sodas. my diet is an clean and limited as a diet can be. I do have a glass of wine on Friday and Saturday...but that is WAY down from my pre-lithium intake, too.

Here is my dilemma: I actually feel good on lithium, mentally. But my body is so out of whack (i am always hungry, too) and I am becoming unhappy with who i see in the mirror weight wise. I am on a veryyyy low dose of lithium and am surprised it has done this much damage in under a year. I am fighting the urge to stop the medication. I really don't think all of this weight can be healthy! I don't want to help one condition just to create another.

In summary, I have exhausted my "fitness" strategies to minimize weight gain and the scale is not stopping. Before I decide to quit meds do you have any suggestions?

[Coffee Girl]

Hello there. I don't have any great suggestions unfortunately, but wanted to offer support. I went through the same thing on my meds. I put on about 100 + pounds. I did not eat as clean as you are though. Have you talked to your doctor? It's such a fine line to find that happy balance.

[kaliope]

it sounds like you are taking a healthy approach and doing everything you can not to gain weight. there are other non weight gain drugs you can take to manage bipolar. perhaps you should talk to your doctor about switching.

[~Christina]

Talk to your Pdoc .. There are other medications out there that are weight neutral.

I am NOT a person that believes in the " but... I'm stable and fat" additional weight is only going to cause you health problems down the road , increase chance of diabetes, joint pain from weight gain, the list goes on.

Be your own best advocate and research medications so you will be more informed when you see your Pdoc .

Hang in there .. Good for you for making so many healthy choices

[Skittles56]

You've got the exercise part of it down, but I bet you can still improve on your diet. Check out Joel Fuhrman's "Eat to Live." I went on it because I had some heart troubles, but it has also kept me from gaining weight. I'm on Seroquel which is definitely not weight neutral. I have actually lost 13 pounds since I started the diet. It takes a lot of self-control, but it's worth it.

[bipolarLady7]

I am struggling with this too. I used to be skinny - even after having at least one child - and now I look like I'm pregnant. (Nothing against pregnant mothers or unborn children, but that's just not me right now.)

Something that the doctor said might help me, which may not apply to you, is increasing my hypothyroidism medication to give me a high metabolism again. He just did that last week and I'm hoping the numbers on the scale will start to go down soon (at least they're not going up anymore!). Have you had your thyroid checked?

I know you said you eat healthy, and I do too, but I heard that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables will help with weight loss.

I will definitely be checking back to see more helpful advice on this thread! Thanks for starting it middlepath!

[middlepath]

Thanks for the feedback. I am in such a tissy about this, I am not thinking logically. You have brought up a great possible solution of telling my Pdoc and discussing weight neutral options...thanks for that suggestion. Skittles I will look at that book on Amazon, but I just feel like I am so limited with my diet already that I may implode if i have one more restriction to follow.

[Confusedinomicon]

Check the thyroid if you haven't already.

Generally you are supposed to be on some kind of synthyroid with lithium.

[Phoenix_1]

Two years ago I gained 30 pounds on lithium, which seems to stay put no matter what I do. Last year I went on a very strict diet of 1200 calories a day, but it didn't seem to help. I used a web program for weight loss and counted everything I ate. I can't exercise, because I'm having knee replacement surgery (on my right knee) on the 12th and can't even go for walks like I used to. I'm looking forward to getting both knees done so I can go for walks and bike rides again.

My daughter successfully lost 40 pounds last year. She spends 30 minutes on her treadmill every morning. She just told me that I should have eaten at least 1500 calories a day to lose weight. She's studied nutrition and she claims that at 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode and holds on to every calorie. I wish she had told me this last year. She has OCD and she is very into fitness and good diet, and she has done meticulous research on it. She uses an app called My Fitness Pal, which is available for smart phones and also on the internet. I've never used it but my daughter really likes it.

[99 FAIRIES]

If you don't mind me asking...are you taking any other meds? I'm on an AP and it has made me gain 20 pounds.

[sweepy62]

I stopped lithium due to extreme heart palpitations I was on I a year gained alot of weight I stopped three weeks ago pdoc put me on topamax I'm on that and Zoloft and abilify I have now lost ten pounds but topamax does have side effects but weight gain is not one of them

[BlackPup]

I also gained weight on lithium. I found I was eating more before I felt full. Also my thyroid was low. I am now on abilify and have lost 17 kg of the 25 that I put on. I use myfitnesspal to count calories.

[Phoenix_1]

I've been following my daughter's plan since August 3. I weighed myself yesterday and I lost 3 pounds this month.

And that's without exercise, because my knees are shot and I'm having two total knee replacement surgeries, one in September and one in the spring.

[bumble2u]

I sympathize i really do. I'm at the point now where I won't look in the mirror. My doctor very tactfully suggested that I need to lose weight. I'm on lithium and seroquel. I guess it's not all the meds. I am not being as diligent as you. In my case energy drinks and beer has a lot to do with it. I used to be slim even when I was pregnant. Olanzapine was the worst offender and I ended up with an ed after that one.I tried running but I can't seem to stick with anything. I keep telling myself I'll start over my next date is sept 1st. Apparently my thyroid is out of whack too. I go from not caring to not eating anything. I really hope you find a solution. I admire your dedication and am sure it will pay off in the long run.

[middlepath]

Originally Posted by 99 FAIRIES

If you don't mind me asking...are you taking any other meds? I'm on an AP and it has made me gain 20 pounds.

No...no other meds except atvian PRN and I try not to use it often. the only variable is the lithium.

[middlepath]

Well...thank you all for your suggestions. I am still thinking through what to do. A question I asked myself yesterday is "if it wear not for the weight would i take this indefinitely" and the answer is absolutely YES! I feel so much better. I think i will talk to Pdoc (like many of you suggested) and see if there is a weight neutral option. I think i need something that works on norepinephrine and seratonin the way lithium does...I just don't know what meds do that yet.

[lostincornflakes]

I was already overweight when I first started taking meds. I had lithium toxicity which affected my thyroid and resulted in a hospital stay for psychosis. They stopped the lithium but kept me on seroquel, prozac, and klonopin. Thyroid testing is done 4 times a year. My weight went up, up, up. This was over a few years. Then it stopped. And over the next 18 months I lost 70 pounds. The only Med changes were the seroquel fluctuating between 600-800 mg. Then in February I had another psychotic episode brought on from high doses of steroids and being on prozac for over ten years. I spent 3 weeks in the hospital while they stopped the steriods and prozac and started me on depaoke. I think the depaoke works but the weight gain is back. 35 pounds already. I was so happy to have lost the 70 pounds and now I'm disgusted with myself. My pdoc said she could lower my seroquel but I refuse. I need it to sleep. Part of me just wants to stop the depaoke but I'm afraid. My next appointment is next week and I'm gonna see if she thinks another Med may be a better fit.

[jamox01]

I was put on meds for bipolar in late May but before that I had lost about thirty pounds since the beginning of the year. I was started out on Lithium and haven't had any problems with weight gain. I always drink close to a gallon of water a day and when I went on Lithium I had no problems. The problem drug for me is Seroquel. I have been taking it for two months and in those two months I've gained ten pounds, became diabetic, now have high blood pressure and I'm always in a fog ready to sleep. Ive been on 150mg, 300mg, 600mg, and presently on 400mg. Every time my dosage gets messed with I have aches and pains. I'm going to talk with my psychiatric nurse practitioner about getting off of it ASAP. I'm at a point where I don't think I'll have too much trouble coming off of it. There has to be another drug that can work good with Lithium that has less side effects. I also track all my food At SparkPeople which is FREE. I was using weight watcher's but all you do is track points there. At Spark you actually track the nutrients your putting in your body. http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/loginpage.asp

[middlepath]

I have been off of Lithium for 1 week now and feel ok. I ended up going cold turkey because I just got angry and did. I do feel hypoish, but I am keeping it in check by forcing myself to sleep a stiff routine and meditating 2 times a day, as well as, breathing exercises. I feel pretty good overall and am not having mood swings...just consistently mildly hypo. The strangest reaction has occurred though...I never expected or read about this: slowed digestion. Food usually processes at a decent rate for me, but now, things have slowed down big time. Weird, huh? Maybe in time things will normalize i hope because I don't like feeling so bloated and like a cherub : ).

[Secretum]

Middlepath, I gained nearly 40 lbs on Zyprexa last year. Like you, I hit my breaking point, and demanded to go off of it. I then tried Geodon, which made me so nauseous that I was vomiting 3-4 times per week, and Latuda, which made my anxiety go through the roof. Neither drug worked as well as Zyprexa. I am now back on Zyprexa, because to me, weight gain is the least of the side effect evils.

The way I see it: I can either be off of Zyprexa, be depressed, and hate everything about myself except for my weight (I'm naturally thin), or I can be on Zyprexa and love everything about myself except for my weight. I'd rather think I was fat than think I was stupid, talentless, worthless, and unlovable. The number on the scale and the reflection in the mirror have never caused me to contemplate sui; you can be fat and a wonderful person! A beautiful personality >> a hot body, any day.

Feel free to try other options, including going med free (I hope to do that once I've graduated in December) but if it doesn't work out, and you have to go back on Lithium, rest assured that there are much worse things to be than fat.

[Ladyzero]

I must empathise, my new med hasn't kicked in yet, but like the original poster said curing one problem, to create another is not fair ! I gained weight through, simply doing nothing, and a sloppy diet. Now, on 'Sertrline', and if I gain anymore , since starting the medication, I won't be happy. This won't help my depression, needing to buy bigger clothes, will not aid my recovery. We need our meds, but we need to just find the right ones. Starvation mode, as mentioned previously, is a fact. The body knows to prepare for the 'famine', so holds on, to every 'feed'. I actually lose weight, if I eat , more calories. Not junk, but varied food groups, daily. Think, wholemeal bread/rice/pasta/eggs/s.s milk/soups/fish/cheese/red meat/white meat/tuna/veg and fruit.

Obviously, you may have dietary restrictions, regarding any of the above.

Like a car, without petrol in, it won't work, and hangs on to every last drop.
Keep us updated. Regards.