Suffering Through Bipolar Medication Side Effects

Hi Margaret,
I'm sorry you're experiencing such weight gain. I know how hard that is. I've been there.
It sounds like you're trying really hard to control your diet -- but keep in mind that antipsychotics can physically change the way you metabolize food, not to mention how hungry you feel, so it's understandable that losing weight is challenging.
My best advice is to be open with your doctor about your concerns and see what they say. Weight gain is a medical issue and needs to be treated as such. You may find seeing a dietician helpful. A weight loss medication may be right for you, or it may be a matter of changing medications (if that's an option for you). There are many antipsychotics available, and if you haven't tried them, they may be worth a look.
And please be gentle with yourself. Remember, this is not your failing. This is a medical issue complicated by other health issues. It's hard.
Good luck.
-- Natasha Tracy

By the way, I liked your article on self soothing. You're definitely on the right track
http://natashatracy.com/mental-illness-issues/self-soothing-bipolar-disorder-pain/
Creating your own healthy self soothing kit by focusing on the 5 senses (taste, sight, touch, smell, hearing). Learning how to engage each one in a healthy way is another coping tool for the toolbox. I found the Internet full of ideas. It sounds a bit gimmicky and it won't solve all your problems but it's a start. It certainly can't hurt

Unstoppable, I find your answer to the above blog highly insulting, "well my illness is worse than yours and you don't see me whining"!! Mental illness is mental illness, period! There are degrees of it certainly, but to tell someone you are worse off than them is just downright wrong. I suffer with Bipolar 2 - I'm a rapid cycler - and I could say that my illness is worse than yours, but then I'd be down in the dirt where you are so I'm not going there. Any information on mental illness is welcomed by most of the community of those who struggle. If you don't like this blog and others like it (those who complain - your words not mine...), then don't read it/them. Do yourself a favour, just stop subscribing to them - do the rest of us a favour and take your negativity towards those sharing THEIR valid opinions somewhere else. I do agree with Natasha, bipolar illness is about suffering - knuckling down and riding out the highs and climbing out of the lows. To a large degree, we DO suffer in silence. We can lose friends, we alienate the people we work with, we can even alienate family. Its debilitating enough without having members of this same community tell us to shut up and just get on with it. That's the type of reply some of us get from those who don't have to walk in our shoes and don't understand the debilitating nature of mental illness. You say you do, but still you comment like you do. My grandmother used to say, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.' If your goal was to share the like to the article you want others to read, you could have done that without tearing this article and this author to pieces. Shame on You!!

Hey Edel
My opinion is as valid as any other's sweetie! I speak my truth and you speak yours. I feel no need to apologize, nor will I.
The highs and lows of bipolar 1 ARE indeed more severe than those of bipolar 2. Ask any mental health professional. Equally true, is that there will always be people worse off than me, you or whoever in this world. You can sit there acting pitiful and feel sorry for yourself if that's your thing. Become a magnet for all the other co-depends out there. Personally that's not my style
If you want to take medication with intolerable side effects that's your business. It's no wonder you're miserable. I guess misery loves company. If you want to give all your personal power away to some doctor and feel like a guinea pig for the rest of your life that's also your business. It's all a crap shoot anyway. An educated guess at best. One thing I know for sure is that you are never gonna find the answers to ALL your problems in a little pill. It takes a number of different things, and a concerted effort on your part to change and NO it's not gonna be easy. Nothing ever worthwhile in life is. That much is true.
And since YOU brought it up... Why do you think you lose friends, alienate people you work with and sometimes even family, hmmm? And don't tell me it's because you have an illness. That's a load of crap. Give your head a shake.
Do you truly want to get well or do you like the way you are living right now? If you simply keep doing the same thing over and over again, you are gonna get the same results...
Of course you can always marinate in negativity (a hallmark of depression) and sink deeper and deep into it like quicksand. That is your choice, but it's certainly not mine. I'm more pragmatic than that

Addicted to pain much... self harm, nasty medication side effects, etc. Why anyone would allow a doctor to take them off a medication that was preventing them from wanting to kill themselves is beyond my comprehension, that is if your goal is to truly feel better. Or even allow a doctor to dictate how much medication you are gonna take, especially when taking more of the same makes you feel worse, not better. That truly is the definition of crazy. Ever wonder if maybe you are just addicted to feeling shitty? Or perhaps you are intimidated by authority figures.
You are the author of you life. You are the consumer. You have free will (unless you are involuntarily committed) so why not use it more wisely.
All those medications are designed to change you brain chemistry. The more you and your doctor keep experimenting with the different types the more messed up your brain is gonna be and the longer you keep it up the greater the potential for brain damage. But hey, it's your life

Seems to me Edel you're the type of person who tells people where to go when they say or do something you don't like, whatever happened to sugar and spice, sugar and spice, my dear. Isn't that what your grandma says little girls are made of?
Reality bites, doesn't it?
If I tell you I have a brain tumour and you tell me you have a headache. (One is obviously sick enough to be in hospital, the other is not). Of course these 2 people are both suffering, I'm not saying that they aren't and yes their suffering is valid. But realistically who do you think is suffering more. That's a no brainer to most people in the world, including doctors. How tolerant or compassionate do you think the one with the brain tumour is going to be of the one with the headache. Not very! Do they both understand what it feels like for their head to hurt, of course they do is all I'm saying
Do yourself a favour while you're sitting in the crowded emergency room of life waiting for someone to help you, try to be pro active. Pick up a good book to read, if it's too difficult to read then try listening to a recorded version of it, listen to uplifting music or even a meditation tape. Do something, anything that keeps you less focused on the pain.
Sure complaining about whatever is bothering you can be cathartic. I'm not saying that it's not. But a steady stream of that is not going to help you in the long run