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A woman I know was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She takes lithium to manage it, but she's worried it'll make it impossible for her to lose weight. She was already trying to lose weight before going on the drug and she thinks it's cancelling out all her hard work at the gym and on her diet. I feel bad for her cause I can see how hard she's working at it. The success rate for losing weight is bad enough for the general population. I was curious if anyone here has had or knows someone who's been on lithium and can share their experience.
So your question isnt "Can someone with bipolar disorder lose weight?", its really "Can someone taking lithium lose weight?". Lets get it right dude. That disorder has NOTHING to do with gaining or losing weight. NOTHING AT ALL!!!!
How about you getting mods to fix your post?
Last edited by Kings Gambit; 03-21-2017 at 08:23 PM..
Someone who's been diagnosed with bipolar is most likely on some type of medication, if not lithium then something else. And chances are that all of those drugs list weight gain as a side effect. So even though my question may have only listed lithium, people on other drugs were free to chime in. As for claiming that bipolar has nothing to do with weight, that's not true. People who are depressed will often gain weight from eating to cope with their depression or they may lose weight because they're too depressed to eat. But again, I'm referring to people who are on medication to treat bipolar.
My family member with bd had an insatiable appetite while on Depakote and gained quite a bit of weight. On the other hand, when he went on Lamictal, he lost all the weight he had gained and then some. He was never on lithium.
HI DennyCrane,
Yes she can still lose weight. Often the problem with psyc drugs is they make the intolerable tolerable and decrease motivation. If psyc drugs alone kept people from losing weight then we would simply send starving nations psyc drugs to keep them alive.
That being said most psychiatric illnesses are grossly over diagnosed and it comes in trends. For a while everyone was depressed, then anxiety, now it is bipolar. It's not that these conditions dont' exist, but often they are diagnosed because doctors can't cure social issues, so they pass a pill. She'll want to talk to the pharmacist to ensure she doesn't eat, drink, or take any other drugs over the counter or otherwise that will interact with lithium. Many doctors skip that part and for lithium it is important.
Psyc drugs rarely have to be a lifetime sentence. Sadly they often are, with people lingering on for years and years although there is no evidence of their effectiveness beyond 6 months in most cases and few studies if any done on multiple drug use (many on lithium are also on other psyc drugs as well) and the long term effects. She'll need to be sure she checks with how she is feeling with her psychiatrist (the only type of doctor that should be prescribing this) to see if she can cut down and or get off it all together. Again- this is a "real condition" but often people are diagnosed wrongly.
If she eats right, exercises she will get fit. Hopefully she will stay on top of it with her doctor so there is a chance of her being drug free in the future.
NG
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennyCrane
A woman I know was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She takes lithium to manage it, but she's worried it'll make it impossible for her to lose weight. She was already trying to lose weight before going on the drug and she thinks it's cancelling out all her hard work at the gym and on her diet. I feel bad for her cause I can see how hard she's working at it. The success rate for losing weight is bad enough for the general population. I was curious if anyone here has had or knows someone who's been on lithium and can share their experience.
So your question isnt "Can someone with bipolar disorder lose weight?", its really "Can someone taking lithium lose weight?". Lets get it right dude. That disorder has NOTHING to do with gaining or losing weight. NOTHING AT ALL!!!!
That being said most psychiatric illnesses are grossly over diagnosed and it comes in trends. For a while everyone was depressed, then anxiety, now it is bipolar. It's not that these conditions dont' exist, but often they are diagnosed because doctors can't cure social issues, so they pass a pill. She'll want to talk to the pharmacist to ensure she doesn't eat, drink, or take any other drugs over the counter or otherwise that will interact with lithium. Many doctors skip that part and for lithium it is important.
That part is important--the pharmacists are usually much more knowledgeable about the drugs than the docs.
I thought maybe he was trying to demonstrate bi-polar for us.
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I wasnt being rude. DC knows this. I was just pointing out the fact that the thread title was a bit misleading from what her question actually was. Its the MEDS that are the problem, not the affliction itself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikala43
I thought maybe he was trying to demonstrate bi-polar for us.
The side effects of medications vary from person to person. Some medications can increase your appetite or cause changes in metabolism leading to weight gain. If weight gain is an issue, then it's better to ask your psychiatric care provider for advice on strategies to manage it.
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