Question:

>>:Hi, I’m Joanna…… >:I have Bipolar II – Rapid Cycling, and am currently taking Prozac and >:Depakote.  I am also diabetic, and taking insulin, precose, and >:glucophage, plus vasotec for protein in my urine.   >:I know that the medications I have been taking have been helping me, >:because I have been feeling much better since I restarted them about a >:month ago……

I am really glad of that. A small introduction: I am a 39 yo female with PTSD, Major Depression, Bipolar, Multiple personality disorder, obese with edema after a spider bite >:However, I can’t shake the feeling that the reason I get depressed is >:because I am obese…..

I know the feeling, I am 5′ 3.5"  340 lb woman myself. >:My Psych. says that I would feel the same way even if I was thin, but I >:don’t know, I never have been……

When I was "slim ans svelte" ( 160 lbs) I was just as depressed… I just attached it to something else… When we are intrinsicly (that means from the inside) depressed, we want to find the cause, and so we label it onto whatever bothers us… in our case the weight… if we were not fat, it would be our hair, our income, our job our teeth or some other thing we didn’t like… and if we changed that thing… it would become something else. < This actually sucks alot> Because for us, there is no rapid fix and we are stuck with the damn depresion. >:Maybe I don’t really have BP but it just seems I do because I get >:depressed from being fat…….

Yeah I do too… to the point of suicide… I take that as a sign to titrate up on my antidepressants and go talk to my counselor…. >:I’ve been in the hospital twice, and i can’t help feeling that maybe >:the doctors there were just humoring me because they knew that I was >:depressed because I was a lonely, 400 lb. 22 year old….

Well, I doubt they are humoring you, they have no benifit for it. >:Does anyone know …. >:If my depression does stem from my weight and not from actually being >:BP, can I be tricking myself into thinking that the meds are >:helping….. >:Please help….. >: >Hi Joanna,

I think that the meds are helping… stick with it! Sirona

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >:Hi, I’m Joanna…… >:I have Bipolar II – Rapid Cycling, and am currently taking Prozac and >:Depakote.  I am also diabetic, and taking insulin, precose, and >:glucophage, plus vasotec for protein in my urine.   >:I know that the medications I have been taking have been helping me, >:because I have been feeling much better since I restarted them about a >:month ago…… >:However, I can’t shake the feeling that the reason I get depressed is >:because I am obese….. >:My Psych. says that I would feel the same way even if I was thin, but I >:don’t know, I never have been…… >:Maybe I don’t really have BP but it just seems I do because I get >:depressed from being fat……. >:I’ve been in the hospital twice, and i can’t help feeling that maybe >:the doctors there were just humoring me because they knew that I was >:depressed because I was a lonely, 400 lb. 22 year old…. >:Does anyone know …. >:If my depression does stem from my weight and not from actually being >:BP, can I be tricking myself into thinking that the meds are >:helping….. >:Please help….. >:

Hi Joanna, I’m Barrie (female) and was diagnosed as Rapid-Cycling Bipolar II just a couple of months ago. Prior to then I had been treated for depression a couple of times, and was in therapy on and off my entire life.  Regarding medication……I’m on several (Depakote for mood stabilization, Zoloft for depression, Lorazepam to help me sleep, Trazadone (sedative and antidepressant, and Inderal to control tremors that developed from the Zoloft. couple of years ago (no one even mentioned bipolar) I felt weird about taking meds because I felt that if the problem was purely psychological/emotional, that I shouldn’t be on meds, but spend even more years in therapy trying to figure out what the problem was. My feeling about it now, after being diagnosed as bipolar is that regardless of the "truth" of the Being a natural skeptic myself, I insisted that my doctor present me with the professional resource DSM IV which set guidelines for a diagnosis of the various bipolar disorders.  I couldn’t deny after reading that I was indeed bipolar. The time I’ve spent here on the groups has reinforced that to me as well as providing comfort, and knowledge that there a heck of a lot people out there who face the same day to day issues I do.  The only thing I find curious is that your doctor has you on Prozac.  Although Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac are in the same family (SSRIs…..Serum Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) my research and my doctor who is primarily a psychopharmacologist says that Prozac runs much more of a risk of bringing on a manic episode (or hypomanic, in my case).  Also that Prozac stays in the bloodstream for a long time…..making it difficult to get off should there be a problem.  One thing I’ve definitely learned is that there is no textbook combo of meds for everyone. It’s been 3 months for me now, and I am so sensitive to medications and their side-effects, that we have yet to establish a "stick with it" program. If I were to comment on your weight at all, it would be in the context of your health and it’s depression which occurs in bipolar disorders, but I likewise believe that pure situational depression manifests itself somewhat differently than that caused by a bipolar disorder. grroups……we’re all here to be of whatever comfort and support we can…….

Response:

Hi, I’m Joanna…… I have Bipolar II – Rapid Cycling, and am currently taking Prozac and Depakote.  I am also diabetic, and taking insulin, precose, and glucophage, plus vasotec for protein in my urine.   I know that the medications I have been taking have been helping me, because I have been feeling much better since I restarted them about a month ago…… However, I can’t shake the feeling that the reason I get depressed is because I am obese….. My Psych. says that I would feel the same way even if I was thin, but I don’t know, I never have been…… Maybe I don’t really have BP but it just seems I do because I get depressed from being fat……. I’ve been in the hospital twice, and i can’t help feeling that maybe the doctors there were just humoring me because they knew that I was depressed because I was a lonely, 400 lb. 22 year old…. Does anyone know …. If my depression does stem from my weight and not from actually being BP, can I be tricking myself into thinking that the meds are helping….. Please help….. Joanna

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