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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by clarinette on December 28, 2004, at 19:34:30
I have been losing weight at an alarming rate over the last two months, more than 7kg (that's 16 pounds for you )and it's not intentionel. I wasn't overweight and now I'm underweight.
The two psychiatrists that I see ( one is specialist in bipolar disorder, the other I've been seeing regularly for four years )tell me that this anorexia, like the insomnia (it's 2h20 here and I took my pills to sleep at midnight ...) will pass when I get out of this depressive phase. The specialist has put me on a low dose of effexor (venlafaxine chlorohydrate, in case it doesn't have the same name over there) to try to get me 'up' a bit whilst waiting to up the dose of lamictal, I'm on 100mg a day after 2 months treatment.
I don't know what to do to stop this downward spiral. My psychiatrist mentioned a hospitalisation for the time it takes to get the meds up to the right dose, (apparently it could be done quicker in hospital) but I don't like the idea, I'd me too scared that it would become what we call over her un HDT, 'hospitalisation on the demande of a third party' which means basicly that you get locked into the psychiatric ward, I don't feel I could cope with that.
My gp has prescribed me energy drinks to replace the meals that I just can't eat. I ate too much a couple of nights ago, felt nauseus, and was sick in the middle of the night (I didn't make myself sick, it just happened) .
I'm very worried by this downward spiral, I wonder where and when it's going to end.
Help!
Clara
Posted by antigua on December 30, 2004, at 11:20:11
In reply to anorexia and depression - help, posted by clarinette on December 28, 2004, at 19:34:30
Are you deliberately not eating or are you just not hungry? Have you had a physical lately? Have you been in this situation before?
antigua
Posted by yoshimi on December 31, 2004, at 21:40:14
In reply to anorexia and depression - help, posted by clarinette on December 28, 2004, at 19:34:30
hi clarinette,
i lost over 30 lb in 2 months early this year
and then gained back a few of it (around 6 lb).
i also was depressed and had gained some of it
before so it can even out at least it did for me.sorry i dont have advice, i dont really know
what happend in my case. i just quit eating
then started eat again.i hope you are feeling better soon.
Posted by clarinette on January 2, 2005, at 19:04:29
In reply to Re: anorexia and depression - help, posted by antigua on December 30, 2004, at 11:20:11
Bonsoir Antigua,
I think it all started several months ago when I started taking Depamide which gave me the runs more or less every day. Believe me, that's enough to cut your appetite.
But even after changing to Depakine ( no more runs ! ) and taking Lamictal as well, I have very little appetite. Food just doesn't turn me on. When I have to go food shoping it's a nightmare, I don't want to buy anything.
I've seen my GP about this who prescribed me blood tests to rule out hepatitus B and a thyroid probleme. The hepatitus is negative, I'll have to go back to the doc for him to explain the result of the thyroid tests.
I seem to have reached a plateau at around 56kg ( 123 lbs, that's a stagering 18.5 BMI ).
It's not that I deliberately don't want to eat, it p****es me off to see myself in this state. But sometimes I just can't force myself to eat what is on my plate.
I have been through this in the past to some extent, 10kg in 8 weeks once ( 22lbs ). In fact when I moved to France 11 years ago I weighed 74kg ( 162 lbs ) now i'm down to 56kg. Every time I lose weight like this I put on a bit when it's over, but never all of what I've lost. That makes a net loss of 18kg or nearly 40 lbs in 11 years. I wonder where and when it will end ; slowly but surely I feel I'm wasting away. Not so long ago on a French forum I said that anorexia is just a slow suicide, very slow.
So I try to make it up with energising milkshakes and energy bars for sportifs.
The depression is easing a little, but not the anorexia, yet. If anyone has been through this and has got out of it, I'd be interested, and reassured to know.
Bonne nuit,
Clara
Posted by chaaya on January 30, 2005, at 1:37:52
In reply to Re: anorexia and depression - no better, posted by clarinette on January 2, 2005, at 19:04:29
Clara,
I'm going through something simalar. I am in the depressed side of bipolar. I've been slowly losing weight for a few years. I'am now anorexic.
I'm now 100 lbs with a BMI of 16.1. I take lamictal and lithium for the bipolar. My pdoc added zyprexa partly because it can help get rid of conpulsive behavior. My primary care doc and I are working out agreements on things like how much I can exercise and I agreed to do one scoop of protien powder a day - I make a fruit smoothe because I really like them. I know that the next time I'm in, she will want me to take another step or two. I currently will only eat 400 calories a day and I'm sure that the next step she will want me to take is to increase the
number of calories I will eat.You should think about whether, approaching this in steps, might work for you. Rather than trying to eat alot all at once, start out with a smaller amount for a while and slowly add more.
Posted by woundedcougar on February 23, 2005, at 15:58:48
In reply to Re: anorexia and depression - no better, posted by clarinette on January 2, 2005, at 19:04:29
It's good to know that I'm not alone. My anorexia is also complicated by severe clinical depression. I haven't been able to eat for almost 3 weeks, dizzy, weak and wobbly. MY GP sent me to my Psych. and neither seem to know what to do since my previous Psych. died. I can't even get his records. I went into multiple organ failure in 93 with a heart rate of 29 beats per minute. I have no appetite and the nausea is constant. I do well to drink but it's getting harder to swallow. Smells of food make me sick. Mine is kind of seasonal around the time my Dad died and in the heat of the summer I lose my appetite. And you're right, it's a downward spiral that you can't escape and a slow suicide. Wish the doctors could get together on these types of things. Wish someone could help me.
Wishing all of us better health in the future.
Deb
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