Roll Call 63...

Tapatalk unfortunately.

I think you are underestimating the effect mental illness like ours can have on a person, if you have schizophrenia, then negative symptoms can really hinder you & even if you don't, it's not uncommon to have depression alongside psychosis. Then there is medication, there is no doubt in my mind that medication can have a huge impact on motivation, either sapping it away or making you too tired to do things.

I honestly don't think laziness is a big part of it for anyone here, unless of course that was your way of saying you are lazy...

I use the internet on my laptop.

You'd be surprised... people with that many friends on FB literally just add every single vague acquaintance or perhaps even random people. It's quite possible they might be in the situation where they have moved away somewhere they have no friends or all their friends have moved away. So of course they have friends, but they might mean they have none they can meet up with.

Keep having dreams where I'm really unwell and acting really strange and I can tell that I'm not well in the dream. Then hospital comes into it and I'm torn between wanting to go and not wanting to. Think my subconscious is trying to tell me something but I'm not sure what. Maybe it's trying to deal with nearly being sectioned and them telling me I'm ill. Maybe trying to accept what they're saying.

I have trouble believing that meds can make you put on a lot of weight. I've been on lots of supposed weight gaining meds but haven't put on weight because i eat right and walk a lot. I think a lot of it is diet and eating habits. Obviously I might be wrong but that's just my experience

I'm a bit concerned about my thinking atm. Yesterday I tried to put some papers in numerical order but put them numbered backwards. Then today I've tried to re order and read them and I've read them all in the wrong order though I could have sworn it was the right order. And none of it is going in my brain is like a sieve.

Good morning! Going to group later, got the wooden pumpkin painting supplies for everyone

Haha I am very lazy. I accept responsibility for it and I know of a million ways to help myself and get out of it but I just don't do it. Laziness. I find people don't accept any responsibility, blame the illness completely and do absolutely nothing to help themselves, even putting down every bit of advice they get. It's very frustrating to watch. Basically, I don't moan about how dull my life is because I know it's my fault. I should get up off my fat arse and do something about it.

I think it depends on the person and the med. For example I lost a good bit of weight on Chlorpromazine when a lot of people pile on the weight because of it.

Personally I gained a lot of weight on Zyprexa because I was in hospital for months with no exercise available to me and nothing to do but sit there and eat the really unhealthy and horrible food they give you, and if you can't eat that there's a shop full of sweets downstairs which is usually the better option.

I do agree with you though that if you exercise and eat healthy you won't put on the weight from meds, that's a fact. But when you're lethargic and cannot feel full at all it's very easy to slip into a really unhealthy routine and pile on the weight ridiculously fast, meds will do that to you.

I guess I am very strict with myself about what I eat so maybe if you were more relaxed you would go with what your body was saying and if it says it's hungry you would eat more.
I'm actually trying to be less strict with myself and relax about food and weight and I've managed to stop weighing myself twice a day and only do it once a week for 3 weeks now. I'm also eating nicer foods and having treats. This is the most normal I've felt with food in a long time, I just hope I don't pile on weight. So far I haven't but we will see.

I was unhealthy before I went on meds but maintained a decent weight for years living that lifestyle. Meds fecked me up.

You're living a healthy lifestyle by the sounds of it so you shouldn't have a problem. Just keep an eye on it.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree completely with you & justme on this one...

Over the course of 3 months on Risperidone I put on 20lbs despite eating EXACTLY the same amount & exercising regularly.

Sure the inactivity & unhealthy eating habits play a role in weight gain on APs but there are other mechanisms at work that make you more prone to putting on weight in the first place.

Thank you....there are at least two mechanisms that make you gain weight, one works through your brain making you more hungry. One works through microbiota making you gain more weight regardless of what you eat. Now if you had the bad microbiota in the first place you wouldn't notice that one but it's going to affect most thin people. Either way this is science....it's already been shown to happen on average.

Morning!

Exactly 1 week until my birthday... it'll largely be uneventful since my parents are on holiday & I've no-one to do anything with but I'm already formulating a plan for the day so that I have something different to do. Got to shake up the routine a bit so it's not just another non-descript day!

I'm just going by what my psychiatrist told me about Zyprexa. He said it just effects your ability to feel full, hence you eat more.

He probably didn't want to inadvertently accept any responsibility for the fact I gained something like 50lbs in three months.

There's a difference though between being lazy and schizophrenic avolition. Be glad you don't have schizophrenia.

As I said I dont understand how it works so I'm only going by what's happened to me. I'm scared of putting on weight through meds so I refuse to use the real weight gainers but I've been on ones that are supposed to make you gain some. Maybe I'm just lucky that I haven't had massive weight gain

I think your right, ive been diagnosed with schizophrenia and I can tell the difference between me just being lazy and me having no motivation or drive to do anything

Well I suffer on and off with MDD, be glad you don't have that. I could still take responsibility for my actions instead of blaming my illness for being an unmotivated lazy shite.

I understand not wanting to believe you are not in control of something. That's a scary thought, especially when you are young.

No I don't think it's like that. I see plenty of people on here and in real life do really well with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Go to college, hold down a job, start a family. I agree that they have to work extra hard for those things, and it can be a constant struggle, but they do it. They don't let their illness take over and they don't behave a certain way and then think they can get away with it because of their diagnosis. I think it's a choice but that's just my opinion.

Edit: When I say "behave a certain way" I'm not talking about unusual behaviour when in psychosis, I'm talking about being lazy and doing nothing to better themselves. I should have phrased that better.

It gets worse with age.

Translational Psychiatry - Antipsychotics and the gut microbiome: olanzapine-induced metabolic dysfunction is attenuated by antibiotic administration in the rat

Here is the work that shows that microbiota are involved in making you fat while on olanzapine and induce metabolic syndrome----initially there is an increase in eating during the first couple of weeks but then it levels off. Adding antibiotics to wipe out gut bacteria reduces the weight gain even though the rats are eating at equivalent levels. Problem is wiping out gut microbiota with antibiotics also increases weight relative to controls so it's not a good treatment strategy.

It's also already known that you can give two mice with different microbiota the same caloric intake and one will get fat and the other will remain thin just based on microbiota each is colonized with, you can also transfer the microbiota of a fat mouse to a thin and make them get fat.

Thank you

I agree. I don't have Schizophrenia specifically, just Schizoaffective Bipolar and I still have to really push myself to be motivated but I do it. I tend to be a lazy person, I'll admit that but I don't let my illness rule me. I have college credits and will be taking classes again and there's a guy in my group with Schizophrenia who has held down a good job for the past few years. That's part of the reason I go to group, to make myself do something. It's easy to sit around and do nothing. I I still get depressed, I still get anxious, but with the meds it's not the extreme lows and extreme manic anymore, it's manageable normal moods people experience and yeah sometimes it sucks but you have to push yourself and sometimes put yourself out of your comfort zone.

Morning

had coffee.

i dont think anyone on this forum means to be lazy. i believe its a combination of the meds and the illness. i WANT to do a lot of things but i find im scared to leave the house lately but mostly because of lack of motivation. i am very willing to do things but then i become scared or am fighting my lack of ENERGY to do it. in my mind i just want to conquer everything i can but its so hard. im struggling to do that with school but im still trudging on to complete it and yes i have to work extra hard to find this energy inside me. but with my faith and not so much (disheartening high levels of) medication i believe i can go on with life.