Bipolar weight gain, bipolar weight loss

I just read this article: Accepting Weight Gain in Bipolar Disorder

All the drugs used for bipolar are sedatives. In general: Sedatives are far more likely to cause weight gain than most other drugs. Some sedative drugs such as Olanzapine/Zyprexa are exceptionally good for putting on weight and can be used to help people who are anorexic.

I found that small decreases in dose allowed me to lose weight, with the weight coming off about 2 months after reducing the dose. However….

When I had to give up all the psychiatric drugs to protect my physical health, about 2 months later my weight started to go down rapidly. I was eating as much as I possibly could but I just got thinner and thinner.

Being bipolar and thin is at least as much of a problem as being bipolar and fat. Family tends to associate thinness with mania. I was happiest (most often in the moods I wanted and needed to be in) when I was on a very low dose of sedative.

If you feel you are too heavy then find ways of needing a little less of the sedative drugs (sedative ‘antidepressants’, sedative ‘anti-psychotics, sedative ‘mood stabilizers’) – it is well worth doing this even if you have no plans at all for ever getting off the drugs. Less is better… none at all is a difficult path.