Hunger & Getting Fat

Nobody likes getting fat. Our society says that fat is bad. So what happens when the vast majority of drugs for bipolar seem to make you gain weight?

Its a terrible choice we have to make. When I first went on a drug for bipolar, I was told that I likely would gain weight. I remember holding the bottle of pills at the doctor's office building and looking at my svelt body and back again at the bottle. I took the pills. Depakote. Known for causing weight gain. I gained 50 pounds.

Eventually, I switched to a more-weight-neutral drug, Lithium. I didn't gain as much. Then came the antipsychotics.

I was off and on so many of them because of side effects. I was in an "off" period, when I started hallucinating about six months ago as of this writing. For other reasons, I ended up the psych ER and was put on Zyprexa. I'm still on it. It works very very well. But it also makes you want to eat. Its not a normal hunger. Its an internal "I'm-missing-something" feeling. Its like you're a newborn baby again and need to eat every two hours. Its that Zyprexa goes in and not only makes you more hungry, but it is obsessed with storing every bit of fat it can, AND it makes you more tired so you want to sleep about 14 hours a day, when you get your dose upped.

So how is this a good thing? I've asked my therapist and my primary doctor about switching meds, but I just get side-stepped. There are meds that you can add to hellp with the weight gain, but usually you get told you need to exercise more. The plain truth is that I can FEEL how my body has changed in the way it works- even though exercise is still good for me in every other way. I just had a rhythm going with food and exercise before the drugs. And after the drugs, even with exercise it has been different. As things change, I will update this topic.

UPDATE: I saw my psychiatrist yesterday. She prescribed Metformin, a diabetes drug. I don't have diabetes, but there's some thought that it helps you not gain weight on antipsychotics. Supposedly, I should've started them at the same time, but we're giving it a try anyway.