[MuddyBoots]

A lot of times we need to sacrifice one for the other, no doubt about it. This is a space where we can discuss the "choice."

I think I favor my physical health more in the long run. I've gained 7 pounds since starting zyprexa a few weeks back and I'm already planning to switch to Invega (which I've been on before and I still have residual symptoms on it but nothing IP level where I'd be without it, but it doesn't give me any side effects).

Temporarily for now I am favoring mental health as seen by me staying on zyprexa for at least a couple weeks. I also chose to take the Vicodin for my hip pain but in a foolproof way that prevents me from abusing it so I don't go insane from the pain and feeling like staying in bed all day.

I hated when I was in the hospital how they talked like if you improve your physical health you improve your mental health and vice versa, but with antipsychotics and mood stabilizers like depakote it's more of an either/or thing.

[*Beth*]

Good thread. Much needed.

I'll tell you one thing. I am up to my ears with some doctors who harp on me to lose weight so I can improve my health. I have even gone so far as to show them photos of myself prior to Seroquel. I'm 5'6". I weighed 110lbs. and spent my life trying to put on some weight. Went on Seroquel and gained 100lbs. over about 5 years. Now my glucose is somewhat high, my cholesterol is high, my liver has a minor problem, my blood pressure is high. Since going off Seroquel I immediately began to lose weight. But I've lost only around 30 lbs.

I would not have minded at all to gain say, 35lbs. from a medication. Or even 40 would have been fine, since I was really thin. But no pdoc told me what could happen with Seroquel. I am very angry about that.

I would like to see my obnoxious GP take Seroquel for a year and see how it is for her to gain so much weight.

[Mountaindewed]

I had a therapist tell me that sometimes we need to sacrifice our physical health for our mental health. The thing is my physical health is my mental health. If I am not at a decent size weight or eating a low calorie diet my mental health is taking a big toll. Luckily my pdoc understands this so he knows not to put me on any meds that cause weight gain. My current therapist also gets that my physical health is a big part of my mental well being so we try to focus on healthy eating and healthy ways to lose weight. Its been tough recently with the health issues I've had but its still worked out. Before I moved I was told I had an ED and was threatened all the time with termination and IP and other stuff and was told that any type of weight loss was bad no matter how it was done.

[MuddyBoots]

Originally Posted by BethRags

Good thread. Much needed.

I'll tell you one thing. I am up to my ears with some doctors who harp on me to lose weight so I can improve my health. I have even gone so far as to show them photos of myself prior to Seroquel. I'm 5'6". I weighed 110lbs. and spent my life trying to put on some weight. Went on Seroquel and gained 100lbs. over about 5 years. Now my glucose is somewhat high, my cholesterol is high, my liver has a minor problem, my blood pressure is high. Since going off Seroquel I immediately began to lose weight. But I've lost only around 30 lbs.

I would not have minded at all to gain say, 35lbs. from a medication. Or even 40 would have been fine, since I was really thin. But no pdoc told me what could happen with Seroquel. I am very angry about that.

I would like to see my obnoxious GP take Seroquel for a year and see how it is for her to gain so much weight.

I've always said that psychiatrists should have to trial the meds before they're allowed to prescribe them. Maybe then they would be a little bit more sympathetic when everything goes to **** because of side effects.

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

I had a therapist tell me that sometimes we need to sacrifice our physical health for our mental health. The thing is my physical health is my mental health. If I am not at a decent size weight or eating a low calorie diet my mental health is taking a big toll. Luckily my pdoc understands this so he knows not to put me on any meds that cause weight gain. My current therapist also gets that my physical health is a big part of my mental well being so we try to focus on healthy eating and healthy ways to lose weight. Its been tough recently with the health issues I've had but its still worked out. Before I moved I was told I had an ED and was threatened all the time with termination and IP and other stuff and was told that any type of weight loss was bad no matter how it was done.

I've heard the same thing from another doctor. But I will refuse to put up with potentially getting diabetes or ruining my liver/kidneys for what? Not thinking I'm a fourth dimensional being and keeping my pants on? I can put up with Zyprexa for a bit, but at my next appointment I'm definitely asking to be switched to Invega which is good because it comes in injection form and doesn't have nearly as bad side effects.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Reading Thomas insels book….he talks about how people with mental health issues pass away like 15 years sooner and it’s not from sui…..well I’m convinced it’s metabolic syndrome from the APs. If I wasn’t worried about doing something horrible while psychotic I’d be off these things so fast. Oh and I’m on Abilify which is supposedly eight neutral ha!

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[MuddyBoots]

Originally Posted by Sometimes psychotic

Reading Thomas insels book….he talks about how people with mental health issues pass away like 15 years sooner and it’s not from sui…..well I’m convinced it’s metabolic syndrome from the APs. If I wasn’t worried about doing something horrible while psychotic I’d be off these things so fast. Oh and I’m on Abilify which is supposedly eight neutral ha!

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Hmm, makes me wonder how the age of death of those who sought treatment compares with those who were mentally ill but didn't.

[Soupe du jour]

I've also been dealing with high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels. I can't say that they've all been caused exclusively by bipolar medications, but the latter certainly hasn't helped. I've been taking medications for some of these (statin, bp med, beta blocker) and must again be much more careful about my sugar and carb consumption. I've got the advantage of loving to cook, loving healthful foods, and knowing what I really should be eating, even if I don't totally do so. I write "totally" because I do eat a lot of healthful things, but just also not so healthful stuff.

During the past 12 years I've had periods when I lost a lot of weight and normalized blood test results. Even at a relatively good weight, I also had times when the results weren't so great anymore. Then mostly normalized again. The weight just wasn't always a factor for me. My diet (especially), exercise level (to a lesser degree), and stress levels were. Also, probably genetics. I know this could be just my experience and not others', though.

I've been pretty stable for most of a couple years now. That makes me very happy! In my particular case, my current med mix (see below) is probably the very best of the lot. I'm not sure if it would have been as good at other times of my life, though. Perhaps 14 years ago it wouldn't have even touched my mania. Things do change. What I can say is that the side effects I have now are no biggies at all compared to ones I had on other combos in the past. Some were just awful! The worst was an evil case of akathisia from a certain med. I'd be happy to gain 30 lbs rather than have that akathisia, especially if I was guaranteed not to keel over with a heart attack. The leaky breasts? Lousy, but tolerable. I suppose the pituitary microadenema was a close second to the akathisia, especially if it came to needing it removed surgically.

I guess I was lucky when it came to weight gain compared to others. However, I may have had much worse problems if I had stayed on certain meds. I'll never know. But while Seroquel was a nightmare for some, Seroquel XR is not so much for me. I didn't gain 100 lbs. Over the last 10 or 11 years, I've only gained as much as 30 lbs max on doses between 400 and 700 mg. Right now I'm about 10 lbs more than I was at age 30 years old (I'm now over 50) when I had never taken a single bipolar medication. I was overweight then, but I blame my mental health issues for that. Yet, back then my blood test results were perfect.

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by Sapien

Hmm, makes me wonder how the age of death of those who sought treatment compares with those who were mentally ill but didn't.

A very, very good question.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I’ve gained 100 lbs since high s hook when I started psych meds.

[FluffyDinosaur]

I have been thinking about this lately as well. Currently I am only taking lamotrigine and PRN lorazepam for sleep, and the main reason for that is exactly what's mentioned above, that I don't want to give up my physical health. I find I have to be really assertive about what meds I do/don't want to take because if I just go along with what psychiatrists say I'll be on five different meds in no time. They really don't think much of prescribing them.

I'm currently physically healthy, I have a good weight, I do a lot of sports, I work full time, and so on. I am not willing to give that up and risk diabetes or kidney damage or other nasty side effects. I've taken lithium and Seroquel in the past when my depression was extremely severe, and I might consider doing it again, but only for a set amount of time, not longer than a few months. Seroquel turned me into a zombie. Yes, maybe the depression was less severe, but at the same time I was too sedated to think and work properly, or to do sports, or even drive my kids to school in the morning. If I can't do that, I don't consider that a successful treatment.

I don't mind keeping up with the lamotrigine because it has no side effects for me (that I know of---I'm still hoping I might at some point be able to come off that as well). The thing that helped me break out of the worst of my depression was ECT, and I would do that again, too. It has no physical side effects and I haven't noticed any other adverse effects, either, except some short term memory loss that went away after a few months. People tend to see ECT as an invasive "last-resort" option, but for me it actually feels a lot less invasive in a sense than stuff like Seroquel, not to mention it's way more effective. I would prefer maintenance ECT over Seroquel any day. Right now I try to prevent relapse with lamotrigine, exercise, therapy, my work (which luckily I like a lot), and other non-medicinal stuff. It hasn't been perfect but my depression is a lot less severe since the ECT and I hope I can keep it that way with my current approach.

I'm going on a year since I finished ECT, and while the depression still lingers and gets worse from time to time, it's pretty much stayed at the level where it was when I finished ECT (which is way better than before), and most of the time the depression is just "average" now. Not fun, but tolerable. And I haven't had a full-blown relapse yet.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by Sapien

A lot of times we need to sacrifice one for the other, no doubt about it. This is a space where we can discuss the "choice."

I think I favor my physical health more in the long run. I've gained 7 pounds since starting zyprexa a few weeks back and I'm already planning to switch to Invega (which I've been on before and I still have residual symptoms on it but nothing IP level where I'd be without it, but it doesn't give me any side effects).

Temporarily for now I am favoring mental health as seen by me staying on zyprexa for at least a couple weeks. I also chose to take the Vicodin for my hip pain but in a foolproof way that prevents me from abusing it so I don't go insane from the pain and feeling like staying in bed all day.

I hated when I was in the hospital how they talked like if you improve your physical health you improve your mental health and vice versa, but with antipsychotics and mood stabilizers like depakote it's more of an either/or thing.

Wasn’t there a lawsuit with Seroquel or something like that?

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[Aviza]

I was 30 lbs overweight when I got put on meds that caused a 70 lb weight gain. risperidal. I wasn't eating anything and still gained weight. now I'm 100 lbs overweight and can generally lose about 30 to 40 lbs with major effort. I looked into weight loss surgery I hate being fat. but honestly I hate crazy more. I'm not sure if I'll ever get this weight off. it's a huge challenge.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by Sapien

Hmm, makes me wonder how the age of death of those who sought treatment compares with those who were mentally ill but didn't.

Problem is those people aren’t in the system so I’m not sure how we’d track them down to find out.

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[MuddyBoots]

Originally Posted by Sometimes psychotic

Problem is those people aren’t in the system so I’m not sure how we’d track them down to find out.

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We can start with my dad's family lol. No one's on meds and there's about 5 of them with some form of bipolar

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by Sapien

We can start with my dad's family lol. No one's on meds and there's about 5 of them with some form of bipolar

Sounds like a case study in the making…..

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[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by Sapien

We can start with my dad's family lol. No one's on meds and there's about 5 of them with some form of bipolar

My family, too. Plenty of undiagnosed mental illness. And sadly, the ones I know had MI did die too young.

[Pinny]

This is such a good thread!
Thanks for this @Sapien

I always try to look after my physical health but it hasn’t stopped me from having episodes.

I’d like to lose the weight I put on while on pregabalin and I already am losing it having stopped that 4 months ago. I’m 6ft tall so I can put on weight and it’s not as noticeable therefore I don’t think my pdoc understands how negative that can be for me.
If I overdo it with exercise though, that upsets my mental health as much as if I “underdo” it! I don’t know if anyone else gets that?

I take vit d, vit c, collagen, chondroitin and my meds,
I have a balanced diet (I think).