Medicine side effects

In the last week, there has been the question on the bipolar forum about weight gain and psychiatric medicine.

As a bipolar, I also have that issue. I’m taking Mirtazapine and Lithium. The Mirtazapine (Remeron) has the listed side-effect of weight gain, and it has made me gain weight.

The net says Mirtazapine is an SSRI, with another one being Prozac. Do I want to change to Prozac, which does not list weight gain as a side-effect? I don’t know. Mirtazapine helps me sleep. I can ask my psychiatrist about this issue next visit. She probably knows why she put me on Mirtazapine. I’ve been functioning very well for many years. I’m not manic or depressed.

Doctors say overall good of a med may outweigh a side effect if it’s not one that is too serious. Again, do I want to change meds? I don’t know.

In a post in the last week or two from this one (2-6-2022), Hibee said he was gaining weight on Olanzapine anti-psychotic for anxiety and wants to change to Aripiprazole anti-psychotic for anxiety.

To that, Happy Turtle (HT) said, “Yes, Aripiprazole is good, used it prior, no weight gain.
Good to see ya around mate. HT.” And Karen said, “I have been taking it for a few years. It really helps with the moods. I haven't gained weight on it. Karen.”

maggiem said a few years ago in a post just recently added to by Nick Graves on 2-6-2022, “I am getting sick of these antipsychotics causing weight gain! I am on vraylar and have gained so much weight and the psychiatrist keeps telling me it is not a wt. gainer, has anyone else experienced wt. gain with this medication?”

Happy Turtle (HT) responded, “Most anti psychotics are prone for weight gain. Other factors must be considered....ie med combos...and things like diabetes cholesterol and our BMI.

And added, “Yes sometimes rhe gain in weight can be problematic...however as tt (Tim Tam) has stated if the med is helping then the side effect if not overly disproportionate then go with it. If it is overly disproportionate then orher meds may be more suited to you.
Keep talking wirh ya doc. HT”

Nick Graves posted 2-6-2022, “Yes I’ve become fat on it (vraylarn anti-psychotic) and I can’t lose it I’m trying to wean off it now I’m worried I’m gonna die from the it affecting my physical health.”

As I mentioned earlier, “I don't know what to do about the side effects, either, except to keep taking the medicine so I won't be manic or depressed.”

The side-effects are difficult but complaining about them is a luxury my grandmother didn’t have when there was basically no medicine for bipolar, etc., and she was confined to a mental institution.

But we do have to be vigilante and positive that we can find the best solution for this and other issues.

Great topic TimTam,

I take so many medications that it has become hard to tell what is causing what side effect. I tried Mirtazapine years ago (over 20) and it made me sleepy during the day so I discontinued it. In fact I do better on SNRIs than on SRRIs. I tried prozac, paxil, zoloft and serzone. There may be more but I can't remember. All of them had side effects for me. And I don't get them in the beginning, I get them two to three months in and they don't go away. So it was a long process and disappointing. I finally found effexor. I did so good on it that I thought I was cured and went off. That was a huge mistake. So I went back on for about 15 years and then switched to pristiq which I have been on ever since.

I agree, we have to be vigilante and most of all positive.

Bipolar is so tricky. Highs and lows. I don't have a dx of it. But I think I am mild and that the abilify helps me as it is a mood stabilizer for me. My mother was bipolar and my sister is. I have been treated for clinical depression so far.

Hi Jamie. Hi TimTam.

Have a good day.

Hugs, Karen...

Happy Turtle (HT) said he was on Mirtazapine anti-depressant at 15mg as I am at 7.5mg and it helped him go to sleep, as it does me. Net says Mirtazapine is an SSRI as is Prozac anti-depressant.

Karen said, "I tried Mirtazapine years ago (over 20) and it made me sleepy during the day so I discontinued it. In fact I do better on SNRIs than on SRRIs. I tried prozac, paxil, zoloft and serzone. There may be more but I can't remember. All of them had side effects for me. And I don't get them in the beginning, I get them two to three months in and they don't go away. So it was a long process and disappointing. I finally found effexor. I did so good on it that I thought I was cured and went off. That was a huge mistake. So I went back on for about 15 years and then switched to pristiq which I have been on ever since."

A bunch.

From what was written above in the first post for myself and 3 others about weight gain and Mirtazapine, etc., my chief concern now is chest pain. about 1 1/2 or 2 years ago I wrote about getting a new general practitioner who made efforts to get me off of blood pressure pills. I've had chest problems since then.

about a week ago, that situation got worse, and in looking up Mirtazapine for others, probably, I've noted that Mirtazapine is horrible for chest problems. So, I've got an appointment Monday with my psychiatrist to see if I can get on another medicine.

So it's interesting to read of a number of the other medicines that might work for depression, for the Lithium for the mania will probably stay the same.

But it is better than what my grandmother faced: no medicine.

Thanks HT. All good advice. about an hour after I wrote my above post, things seemed to improve in that area. Can't explain that one. The power of text therapy.

But there is still difficulty. So I still don't want to be on Mirtazapine anti-depressant with all the chest problems it has for possible side effects.

Will try to keep everybody up to date.

Good. HT

Homeboy said in most recent post,

"I do remember what carrie fisher used to say about bipolar. She was happier taking medications but they made her gain weight which again made her unhappy."

The L.A. Times said June 19, 2017, about Carrie Fisher, who was in movie "Star Wars,"

"Los Angeles County coroner’s report released on Monday revealed a mixture of drugs that were in actress Carrie Fisher’s system when she went into cardiac arrest on an L.A.-bound flight and later died.

"Fisher’s toxicology review found evidence of cocaine, methadone, MDMA (better known as ecstasy), alcohol and opiates when she was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Hospital on Dec. 23, a toxicology report showed."

I think that can represent what's going on with a lot of bipolar people. To be on bipolar medicine, and most other meds, you cannot be on alcohol or drugs. Maybe that's what's also going on with Homeboy's girlfriend.

She may not want to give up alcohol, for instance. I'm wondering what her age group is. If she is through the going-to-parties stage, it would be easier for her to go on bipolar med.

Also, if she has a generally positive attitude that she can solve her problem, and others, she would probably be better off than if she had a negative attitude. Can you tell if her approach to problems is generally positive or negative? Are you positive about this?

Also, I asked my psychiatrist if going on Lithium would totally flatten my emotions, and he said no, and it hasn't. It's just allowed me to function every day.

Also, before I was put on Lithium, it was a wonder I survived, including this psychiatrist I just mentioned. I really wondered how I got through all of that with the number of people who were coming after me, because I had come after them.

You mentioned getting away from your girlfriend. That's what people were doing with me. And some of them were coming after me. Like your girlfriend, I thought it was what other people were doing, not me causing any problems.

Again, I wondered how I got through that. Your girlfriend is going to wind up alone and in really big trouble if she doesn't get on medicine. She's getting her share of chances. If she keeps pushing them away, soon there may be nobody to help her.

I didn't mind getting on an antidepressant. I sought that because I was so depressed.

Then the psy. didn't dx me as not just depressed but manic depressed, and didn't give me a stabilizer like Lithium to cap the anti-depressant from throwing me into mania, and I ended up having panic attacks.

So somehow some doctor figured out the mania part, and I thought, heck yeah, put me on anything to stop these panic attacks. And I gladly went on Lithium.

Without meds, she's going to go into depression which will help hopefully get her to go onto that, and then onto a stabilizer like Lithium.

Can you line up the name of a psy. from the net (your hometown) so if she does need help you'll have somebody to turn to? If she does into a deep depression, she won't be able to think and make decisions, so you would be a big help by having the name of a psy. and setting up an appt.

When she gets depressed, it's not painful?

My depression felt like, it was a 1,000 weight and I was going to be crushed by it. I think somebody had to talk me into it, going to a psychiatrist, come to think of it.

But in way it could have been, I was so depressed I couldn't think, or make decisions. She won't go to a psy., even if she's really depressed? What reason does she give for that?

I think somebody may have had to give me the name of a psy., and I was able to call and get an appt. Can you get the name of a psy. for her?

Can you tell her, just let the doctor see what he or she thinks? She doesn't have to take any medicine.

Glad to hear you got out of your illness and are now doing much better.

Happy Turtle:

Interesting, a discussion of why people with depression won't get an appt. with a psychiatrist or a mental health clinic which often are reduced cost all the way to free.

You say, "because at that point we believe we are worthless and see no point in help. Right when it's needed the most, people won't go. Sad. They don't get treated for depression because they're depressed.

One time, the reason I didn't call a psychiatrist is because I couldn't decide which one to call, there were about 5 in the phonebook. As I look back on it, it was my unseen negative unconscious, that I was taught in childhood, that was coming up with excuses every time I came up with a solution.

I couldn't see me conquering this situation. What's good about depression? Well, there's probably not much good about depression but there is something good about trying to get it treated. about getting over that next obstacle, in this case, depression.

You say intervention by others might be needed, but to take the other side of the discussion, sometimes nobody parachuted in to save me. In such cases, it would have been nice if I had tried to help myself, as in "Looking for a helping hand? What about the one on the end of your arm?"

I mean, how much trouble is it to look up psychiatrists in my home town, or mental health clinics, and dial the number or email from their website? They'll take it from there.

Very interesting discussion of what it takes to get somebody help who is suffering from depression, or manic depression or anxiety. Do they do this on their own? Does somebody have to knock on the door?

It would be interesting to hear from those who got help or are currently in one of those situations and not sure where to turn.