Doctors and therapists don’t care about weight gain?

I’ve never once been warned that my meds will cause weight gain and given a choice of more weight neutral meds until complaining that I could no longer resist even a stale cupcake . I was never warned of metabolic syndrome which could kill me and thus be even more severe than my mental health complaints. My primary care physician had no idea that these meds could do this so why shouldn’t the one prescribing the meds tell you?

1. Have any of you read Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon? I highly recommend it. It broke my,mind open and I found it an empowering read.

2. BethRags, it sounds like you feel like you don't have a choice in what you take. You are the captain of your own ship. I'm glad you're going to talk to Dr. W.

3. MountainD, I'd be frustrated and angry too if my t talked to my pdoc against my consent. Your worries make sense to me given the world we live in. Also, this is just me, and you don't have to agree or take my advice, but without guessing and assuming an ulterior motive, maybe your practitioners are concerned, simple as that.

4. I think WishfulThinker has a point. To add to what they said, we live in a weight obsessed society. It is in and of itself, disordered. You can be thin and unhealthy physically. You can be fat and healthy. I'd rather be thin and healthy, bc of the world I live in, my next best choice is overweight and healthy. I believe its possible.

5. I'm sorry to hear that people aren't always informed by their pdocs about the side effects and risks of meds, and also feel their pdocs don't care. I've experienced this as well. I've personally gotten more communicative with mine. Not saying that's the golden answer, but it helped Me.

6. It may BE harder to be on meds and be healthy for some. But overweight does not equate unhealthy. But some psych meds do make you more hungry and your stomach not know when it's full. I'm still learning. But I think its important to educate oneself. If you're on meds, its important to exercise and eat well. It may be that you need a different med if you're getting metabolic syndrome and high bp, etc. Its not a perfect system for ppl w mental illness unfortunately. Mh issues are a pain in the ***. Meds are a pain in the ***. Dealing w doctors, clearly a pain. I think meds are just one facet in the tool box of skills to get better. And it should be your choice whether you want to take them.

My T actually said to me today “maybe you just have binge eating disorder?” Um, then why did it start as soon as I started this new med and why was I was totally fine before? What a ****ing load of crap.

I gained 80+lbs when i was on seroquel+paroxetine.... I was so sedated and emotionally flat that didnt realize about the weigth gain until I stopped the meds... My then Psychiatrist didnt care at all....

Another psychiatrist I had by then didnt want to believe I once was Slim and able to attend high school.

Some years ago, I explained all of these to a psychiatrist I had while IP. He thougth it wasnt that.bad until he saw on my medical records that two years before I was obese, almost diabetic, had high cholesterol and TG (getting metabolic syndrome at 16yo is not a joke).

Rigth now my GP doesnt believe I have ever been that overweigth (I asked for a blood test because my cortisol has been crazy since the massive weigth gain during my teenhood).

Oh, and I got POS .

(Most of symptoms but a bit of hirsutism dissapeared when I lost 60lbs)

Crazy, inside and aside

"Outwardly: dumbly, I shamble about, a thing that could never have been known as human, a
thing whose shape is so alien a travesty that humanity becomes more obscene for the vague resemblance."
I have no mouth and I must scream -Harlan Ellison-

I just weighed myself and Supposedly I gained 8 pounds in just a week. I have an appointment with my gynecologist, and primary next week. This is insane. I’m also in a massive amount of pain that I’ve been in all day. Being on my feet for 8 hours never did this before. I’m suspecting all the pain is as a result of the weight gain.

If that was the case, why would they need an MD? Why not just a certificate in prescribing medications and referring to therapists? Most do nothing else.

There are holistic psychiatrists who focus on nutrition and other strategies. Depression has complex etiology that is not addressed by simply medication management or checking thyroid function. While some have mental health needs that outweigh risks, most people fall below that threshold as the medications are just not effective or as effective as placebo or even time alone. These pills often have little benefit and higher risk. Many drugs commonly prescribed for mental health have a very strong link with dementia as discovered from one of the strongest studies I've seen in a long time.

At the top of doctors paid most often by drug companies are psychiatrists:
Dollars for Docs - ProPublica
This is not in the benefit of people with mental health struggles.

Psychiatry needs an overhaul. The only innovation in effective treatments in decades--yes decades-is ketamine, which is out of reach for most people. Nothing accounts for hormones, allergies, different types of thinking, sleep quality, existing health problems, etc.

I understand what you are saying as it is the status quo ingrained in our culture, and perhaps that represents your individual needs, but the argument you present is extremely narrow and lacking important context about the practices and impact on a larger; in fact, a huge number in the population.

Most importantly, what is missed is brain health. If your brain isn't functioning, your mental health is below par. Brain health is completely unaddressed by psychiatry, the medications prescribed do not treat brain health.

People might be interested in this line of thinking:
The Brain Book by Dr. Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS

That seems to be a popular trend, but I totally disagree with the concept that you can be (considerably) overweight and healthy, though decline in health is often slow. Aside from physical stress on your joints, which impacts posture, which impacts soft tissues, then impacts breathing, weight gain messes up your hormones and nearly always leads to bodily dysfunction in time.

Read about leptin. Leptin sensitivity dysfunction is highly associated with breathing drive. With impaired breathing drive, people don't get deep sleep. Without deep sleep, the body-especially the brain- breaks down slowly. It's a vicous cycle.

Only one example of many.

Vifemina, agree to disagree. Thin does not equal healthy. Thin doesn't mean no heart attack, cancer, diabetes, etc. You call it a popular trend. I call it an education. I have read about leptin. Have you read any of the literature and journals on the side you disagree with? if you want to be healthy, eat healthy, exercise, etc. The focus does not have to be on losing weight.

I’m pretty sure my anxiety was just situational because I threw that med away 3 days ago and have had no desire to take it. When I was prescribed it I was waiting for a very anxiety provoking letter from social security telling me if I’d still be getting my benefits. I was waiting for the letter for months. Well the letter came last week. Everything is fine with my benefits. My anxiety has been fine without the visteral. So I think it’s worked itself out. And my hunger is way way down.