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Meds and weight gain

Lucrezaborgia

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Lucrezaborgia    6

Lucrezaborgia
Posted

My body has never been thin and I've been OK with that. I'm 5'3 and the last time I weighed what I am supposed to was in the 5th grade. Size 10-12 is perfect to me. Towards the end of high school though I started to slowly gain.

I didn't know it at the time but bipolar disorder was settling into my bones and I wouldn't be properly diagnosed or treated for 10 years. So I did what any insane person needs to do to slow things down: drink myself into oblivion or Ambien. Two problems with these choices. With drinking you can drink too much and the next think you know your cooking a 5 course meal in the kitchen or you've decided to order takeout. With Ambien you do all of the above as well as eat ALL.THE.SNACKS but you won't remember any of it.

Manic? Sure you eat less but again if drinking is involved so is food. Other people go on expensive shopping sprees when manic. I would go to expensive eating establishments, especially sushi and bring 3 friends.

Finally get diagnosed. Get put on a med that caused me to gain 20+ lbs in a month. Dr's response to my complaint? "Learn to close your mouth" Drug almost kills me. Find my miracle drug but at a cost. A slow process over time. I would never feel full. I was always feel hungry. The few times I lost access to this drug this sensation goes away. Unfortunately another drug will not do.

For a long time I though I had two choices: fat or crazy. Insurance doesn't pay for wls if it's drug induced. Finally in the 250s I developed sleep apnea and qualified. In the time from my sleep study to my referral for wls I developed psudotumor cerebri and gained to my highest weight of 277.

During my search for treatment of the psudotumor I was put on topamax and currently it completely counters my psych meds hunger effects. I don't want to be on topamax forever tho and it's not enough to get me to a healthy weight. Years of antipsychotics and dieting have proved that.

Currently I weigh 245 and am hoping the sleeve will bring me down another 100 lbs!

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careya123    260

careya123
Posted

Oh, how frustrating! And I hope you found a new dr after the one said, "Learn to close your mouth." I want to smack him for you.

Have you talked to your bariatric surgeon about the meds and the associated weight gain? Some drugs cause weight gain by making you hungry, but others cause weight gain via other means. I've been on two different drugs that didn't make me hungry, but they did cause very fast weight gain. Not sure the sleeve would have helped me in those cases. Might want to confirm with your surgeon.

Good luck!

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Lucrezaborgia    6

Lucrezaborgia
Posted

My surgeon said that with a reduced stomach that there would be fewer hunger chemicals released. A lower weight could also mean a lower dose of psych med. I also plan on staying on the maintenance med that counteracts the hunger affect.

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Pescador    1,374

Pescador
Posted

My body has never been thin and I've been OK with that. I'm 5'3 and the last time I weighed what I am supposed to was in the 5th grade. Size 10-12 is perfect to me. Towards the end of high school though I started to slowly gain.

I didn't know it at the time but bipolar disorder was settling into my bones and I wouldn't be properly diagnosed or treated for 10 years. So I did what any insane person needs to do to slow things down: drink myself into oblivion or Ambien. Two problems with these choices. With drinking you can drink too much and the next think you know your cooking a 5 course meal in the kitchen or you've decided to order takeout. With Ambien you do all of the above as well as eat ALL.THE.SNACKS but you won't remember any of it.

Manic? Sure you eat less but again if drinking is involved so is food. Other people go on expensive shopping sprees when manic. I would go to expensive eating establishments, especially sushi and bring 3 friends.

Finally get diagnosed. Get put on a med that caused me to gain 20+ lbs in a month. Dr's response to my complaint? "Learn to close your mouth" Drug almost kills me. Find my miracle drug but at a cost. A slow process over time. I would never feel full. I was always feel hungry. The few times I lost access to this drug this sensation goes away. Unfortunately another drug will not do.

For a long time I though I had two choices: fat or crazy. Insurance doesn't pay for wls if it's drug induced. Finally in the 250s I developed sleep apnea and qualified. In the time from my sleep study to my referral for wls I developed psudotumor cerebri and gained to my highest weight of 277.

During my search for treatment of the psudotumor I was put on topamax and currently it completely counters my psych meds hunger effects. I don't want to be on topamax forever tho and it's not enough to get me to a healthy weight. Years of antipsychotics and dieting have proved that.

Currently I weigh 245 and am hoping the sleeve will bring me down another 100 lbs!

So sorry for all you have gone through but at least you understand and fight all this. Depression and three months of Prozac mouth me to my highest weight ever. I was more depressed from the weight gain. I am free of meds now, still have lots of days of depression, especially the holidays when my son passed away, but I het through it. The psychiatric Nurse Practitioner was so gentle with me, and I am horrified some said shut your mouth to you. From our experience, my surgeon didn't want to hear about problems except the sleeve. I hope you find the right combination of doctors who can help you. Keep up the good work!!!

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Miss Mac    6,261

Miss Mac
Posted

i know exactly what you are talking about. I used to take Lyrica for various neuropathies, but suspected something was up. My weight gain and loss seemed to coincide with my off and on use of the drug. So, I toughed it out and did not take it for Novemeber and December. In January, I went back on it and in spite of 800 calories a day, I gained 1back 10 pounds in 12 days. So, I stopped it again.

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Lucrezaborgia    6

Lucrezaborgia
Posted

From our experience, my surgeon didn't want to hear about problems except the sleeve. I hope you find the right combination of doctors who can help you. Keep up the good work!!!

The whole reason for choosing the sleeve is because of the need to be able to stay on my psych meds. I've also talked extensively with my nut about other needs for other conditions. I need fat for my psych meds to be absorbed and she's saying that there will be enough in my post op diet but I'm not so sure.

There is definitely a disconnect in nutrition school about the dietary needs of people on psych meds and how these meds have affected our bodies. I've met with a nutritionist in the past and I showed my pcp and pdoc the recommended diet and was told absolutely not when it came to low fat everything.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using BariatricPal

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Pescador    1,374

Pescador
Posted

I think you understand way more than the professionals!!!

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ACV    34

ACV
Posted

That concerns me about my psych meds now. I didn't know anything about that being an issue. I hope you get this figured out and please keep us up on the latest news. I'm going to see what I can find out. Thank you for bringing this up.

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