Don't count on the topamax, doesn't work for everyone, didn't drop a pound on me. And... at the larger doses it really had a bad cognative effect. Can we say Loopy?

Well I know not all meds work for everyone. But I am going to try and ask her if she will put me on it. I can only hope it works out. I dunno though Zyprexa made me put on about 50 pounds and Seroquel made me put on about 25. I haven't really noticed anything on Geodon though. But Geodon does mess up my metabolism and change how my body processes food though. And it sucks!

I cant stand any of those drugs. I read all the interaction and side affect warnings. Just about everyone can kill you.

I'm 5' 3" and weigh 180 xxl....I think 165 would be xl???

thanks jeansmind. I am 5 5 and weigh in at 193. I put on some of the weight because I was depressed and the meds stopped working as well. Which means I need to loose 28 pounds and keep it off. I think if I eat healthier also 28 pounds may be doable.

Oh my bad wrong measurement I thought this was going to be shoe size (lol)

Yea, BP, I have such big issues with my weight gain since I started Lithuim, and found out my thyriod needed tweaking too.....I gained 50 pounds so far, and this is getting rediculous!!!! I've talked to my reg. doc and he uped my thryriod meds, and it has helped curb my appitite, I have been working out, so I'm hoping to lose the 50 by the end of the year. I wish you luck too!!!!! ( i used to be a size 8/10, 130.....oh those were the good ol days, just 2 years ago!!!!!!!

I am 5'3" and weigh about 175,xxl. I think 160-165 would be xl. Damn to think that four years ago before so many meds I was 135.

I was 135 as well. I would die to be 165. I'm in the 190's and I washed folded and put away all the laundry and didn't even break a sweat. i have one load in the wash and one in the dryer and the rest is all done. I can't even clean and sweat. I was freezing cold and now I am normal temperature didn't even break a sweat! Damn.

Try not to worry about the "no sweating". Any physical activity is going to be good for you whether you sweat or not. I just got finished reading an article about little things you can do to help loose weight and none of them were really something to bring on the sweat, just increase the metabolism for short spurts........ It all adds up.

I had that same issue with Lithium, Abilify, and especially Resperdal (even thought I was only taking 0.5 mg). Gained 40 pounds. Sigh. It's true, all medications have side effects. Exercising every day and cutting out sugar really helps.

oh honey, no Topomax. It causes serious memory issues for me and a lot of other people I've talked to that have been on it. Plus, you may get tingling sensations in various parts of your body, I got them in my lips and toes.

Stay away from Topamax. I was on it for Migraines, which it did help, and lost about 25 lbs initially, but then regained it with all the anti-psychotics. I took it 5 years 200mg, and I have basically no memories of those years, although I remember clearly before and after.

Zyprexa is supposed to be the worst, which when I think about it, is probably why I haven't lost a lb this week, despite eating and exercising the same as last week. I just took one stupid pill to sleep at night, because I was awake till 5am 3 nights in a row, which I think was because I went off Gravol, which I had been taking to counteract the side effects of Famvir, an anti-viral I need for shingles. I guess I will have to work out a different plan for sleep, and throw the Zyprexa in the garbage. I just need to lose 20 lbs, to make my liver specialist happy, and blood pressure hopefully go down. I remember a few years back there was a class action suit against the makers of Zyprexa, because there was no warning about weight gain. One man gained over 100 lbs, got diabetes and died.

I guess the best thing is not to be sick, but that just never happens to me.

I wore xls when I weighed 200. It all depends on your body and how you carry the weight. im 5 4 and big boned and xls at 200 were comfortable on me. at 190 large is a little tight for my jammies

I'm glad you raised this topic, I think weight problems are very common to psych patients. When I started taking psych meds 8 years ago, I was 60kg, an ideal weight for me. But due to various psych meds I am now over 100kg - and topped out a couple of years sgo at 114kg - about double my healthy weight. Epilim and others shot my weight right up. Then came Seroquel, which I am on huge doses - it makes me hungry 24 hours a day. Now I am on Lithium which has destroyed my thyroid. Lithiunm is an excellent drug for Bipolar, but the Thyroid thing is just awful, and now I am on another drug to try to get my thyroid restarted, which isn't working. A slow of defunct thyroid puts weight on too.

God this stuff is so depressing, terrible self esteem, imminent health problems at 43 years of age. Ironic Eh?