Tag: psyche meds

What Is a Healthy Weight for Me?

I tend to compare myself to my former self (before a bipolar illness diagnosis in my twenties) or to my sister in terms of what is a reasonable weight goal for me. This post details why that is not a good idea.

As my prior post reveals, I have been one to tinker with lower doses of my meds in order to escape the weight-gaining aspect of these meds. This has been done with my psyche doctor. But still, this post is to say that is not the best health decision for me.

I feel 100% better (not perfect but better) when I am on a higher dose of my meds namely clozapine and oxcarbazepine. This means accepting the fact that weight-gain or difficulty in weight loss is a real part of the puzzle.

In the last few months I have lost between 6 and 10 pounds. That feels great but I have to keep reminding myself that returning to a weight that I was in my thirties or forties is unlikely given my psyche meds and my age. This weight loss has been occurring during the time when I was increasing my exercise. My husband and I have been walking the dog between 2 and 3.5 miles a day several days a week.

Here is to a reasonable weight goal and continued weight loss while keeping to a therapeutic dosage (perhaps higher) for my psyche meds. I would like to lose 20 more pounds but that may not be realistic. I will take it slowly one day at a time as to whether this goal is reasonable for me. Perhaps increasing my walking goals is key. Perhaps reducing serving size is key. Perhaps cutting out stress eating and snacking is key. Perhaps I need to focus on these behaviors rather than putting store in a specific weight goal, any weight goal. If I can focus on behavior change and healthy eating, perhaps the weight loss (at whatever level) will follow.

I invite you to comment on how you feel about weight gain associated with psyche meds. Do you find it to be a large concern, a medium concern or not at all a concern? What options or what behaviors for weight management and/or weight loss do you consider other than lowering med levels?

Here is cheers to the days when available psyche meds do not have weight-gain as a side effect.

This Is a Shout-Out to Mental Health Listeners!

Hi friends,

I just want to share a thought that has been brewing for the last several weeks.

It has always been my tendancy to try to find the lowest possible dose of my meds that is therapeutic or working. I have tried to reduce the dosage of my psyche meds in large part due to the weight-gaining impact of these meds.

In the last month or so, I have reversed this pattern and increased/resumed the dosage of one of my key meds (clozapine) and switched from one adjunct med (gabapentin) back to another (oxcarbazepine). The result for my peace of mind is incredible. I feel like for the last 6 to 8 months I have been scraping by – not really having an episode but not really feeling pleasure either. Also during this period my anxiety has been quite high.

So now that I am back on a higher dose of clozapine/clauzerile and taking oxcarbazepine as an adjunct, I am feeling better than I have in a long, long time. Months maybe years.

So here is an unsolicited observation. Perhaps lowering meds is a sign of managing mental health symptoms. Perhaps not. What matters is how you feel in your own mental health with the meds you are taking. If you are still not feeling well with taking a lesser dosage of your meds or taking a different med, please consider going back up in your dosage or trying/retrying an alternative med as I have done. It feels like a huge weight is lifted from my shoulders. I wish the same to all of you!