The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[jskm]

I ordered my first shipment of Medifast back in May, but after several failed attempts I am trying again. I've been alternately overweight and not throughout my life. I've always been able to lose my weight, however last year I was diagnosed with a mental health condition and put on mood stabilizers which are well documented for causing weight gain and I was no exception. I can't budge the 50 or so lbs I've put on since then even using healthy methods which have worked well for me in the past. I'm hoping Medifast will make the difference--provided I have the willpower to stick to it this time.

[Serendipity]

Nice to meet you. Good luck!

[rodeomom]

Best thing I can suggest is to take it one meal at a time. Don't get up and tell yourself you can't have this or that all day long. Tell yourself, I am going to enjoy my oatmeal (or capp, or shake or whatever) right now. Like they always say, we can do anything for 2-3 hours. Look forward to that next MF meal, think about how you will prepare it and such. It works for me to keep my mind off of what I am not allowing myself to have.

Good luck and best wishes for success this time.

[DonnaS]

Welcome and good luck!

[Out*With*The*Old]

Welcome!! Best of luck making it work for you this time!! I think you'll find a ton of support here to help you stick to it!

[iammissruth]

Is this the same jskm from babycenter? If it is, thank you for emailing the link to this website.
Has your doctor put you on Seroquel? If so, I know all about the "can't budge" the weight. but aren't gaining at the same time.

[jskm]

Yep, this is me. Actually, the weight I gained all came from Zyprexa and Depakote, neither of which I am on anymore, because of the weight gain. As long as I was on them (yes I was on both of them at the same time at one point, boy was that HELL, I was gaining 1-2 lbs a WEEK) I was gaining continuously despite the fact that I was on a strict diet and exercising. The doctor finally took me off them and even put me on Topamax to try to help--it finally stopped the gaining, but unfortunately didn't result in any loss (in some people it has a loss side effect).

I am on Seroquel, but at such a low dose (just for sleeping) that it's not causing any gain (thank goodness). At least not yet anyway. I don't know if this low dose is contributing to me not being able to lose though; I've been trying to lose for 13 months now and I've only been taking the Seroquel for six weeks so even if it is a factor, it's not the only factor.

However, like a lot of people who took Zyprexa, even after coming off it, the weight will NOT come off. So I'm stuck, and this is where I'm at trying Medifast again.

BTW I tried the hot cocoa this morning and it was yummy.

[iammissruth]

Thats good to know about the hot cocoa. I ordered a sample pack since I am such a picky eater. I don't want to buy a months worth and have it go to waste.
I have been on Seroquel (mood stabilizer for BP2) for almost 5 months now. Prior to that I was on Prozac and Zoloft and those made me crazy. 3 weeks of prozac and I lost 14 pounds, I was so dehyrated. On Zoloft I had an overdose on my 3rd day, so I stopped that med and changed to a new doctor. Seroquel has been magical for me and my marriage. But It's only been in the last month that I have been taking 100 mg. So it's still a low dose, but the weight isn't coming off.
I can't wait until I get my sample. I am hoping that this is the diet for me. I seem to "cheat" way too much on WW. Which is probably another reason that I am not losing, but Seroquel makes it hard too. I would rather have my sanity and my man, but if I can do both (lose weight and keep my sanity) then I am all over it. You kwim?
I have your post on bc bookmarked that way i can refer back to it.
We can so do this.

[Mickeyz]

Welcome and Good Luck!

This program works! Stick with it, read your Quickstart guide and don't be afraid to come here for questions and support.

[jskm]

I can't believe you were on prozac and zoloft and you're bp; no wonder you had problems. Sounds like a doctor change was in order. I'm bp2 also. Topamax is my new mood stabilizer; it's an atypical one but it seems to be working for me so far. I've been at it for a year and I've been through three of them, so I'm hoping I hit the jackpot this time.

Don't give up if you don't like the sample pack. You can order things by the box, so you can just order one box of something to see if you like it.

I think I am ready to do it this time.

And thanks so much everyone else for all the encouragement. It really helps to have people out there behind you to cheer you on, even if it is only in the cyber world.

So day two here we go.

[iammissruth]

We can so do this together.
I'm curious as to why your doctor has you on 2 mood stabilizers. I keep getting caught upon this....

[jskm]

The seroquel for me is not needed for mood stabilizing; I only take 25 mg. It's for sleeping. Seroquel is not approved by the FDA as a sleep aid but it's commonly prescribed at a low dose as one by pdocs. They figure it works as a sleep aid and if it happens to have the side effect of having a mild boost in helping out your bipolar disorder then that's a bonus. I have my primary mood stabilizer to do its job, the purpose of the seroquel is to help me sleep.

Also a lot of the approved prescription sleep aids are addictive and seroquel is not.

[iammissruth]

Yes, but Seroquel is an antipsychotic medication. It is recommended that it be taken at night to counteract the stomach and abdomin pain that is associated with it. Thats why I am having trouble getting my mind around it solely being used AS a sleeping aid.
And Topamax is an anticonvulsant. and where anticonvulsant have been found to help in BP there are now better medications that are meant to target a specific part of your brain. where the anticonvulsant help with seizures and migranes. Depakote is also an anticonvulsant. But it is a lithium drug that has to be monitored regularly.
When I first started taking Seroquel, 25 mg was enough to knock me out for a solid 8 hours, and increased my moods. and gradual as life's stresses and ppd/a came more into play I was increased to 100 mg.
I hope that I didn't offend you. I did a lot of research on BP after I was diagnosed. I was trying to understand what this permanent disorder was.
Talk to you soon.

[jskm]

I'm definitely not offended; I have done loads of research myself. I lost a career in the military over this illness, I wasn't about to just dance along singing happy tunes, not knowing anything about it.

I know that seroquel is an AAP. That's why my pdoc would rather use it as a sleep aid first than a regular sleep aid, as I said, any side effects of mild mood boosting would be a bonus on top of it being a sleep aid. According to Astra Zenica, the manufacturer of seroquel, the therapeutic dose of seroquel for bipolar disorder for most patients is between 400-800mg per day, though a few may respond as low as 100mg day. 25mg per day is nowhere a therapeutic dose as an AAP, so it's unlikely that I'm getting this benefit from it. It definitely doesn't knock me out either, it just puts me in a relaxed state. The only thing that ever knocked me out was Zyprexa.

There are six anticonvulsants that are used as mood stabilizers; three are FDA approved to do so, the other three are trileptal--closely related to tegretol (one of the FDA approved ones) this was going to be my next choice after topa, my sister did well on this one; topamax (discussed below); and neurontin--this one actually doesn't do so well.

Depakote is one of the ACs that are FDA approved for treating bipolar disorder--it is the most commonly used mood stabilizing drug today along with lithium acc. to the NIMH. I had my levels checked monthly on this drug and I stayed at 86 the entire time I was on it.

Topamax is hit or miss. It works on the temporal lobe, so you will either love it or hate it. If your problems are in the temporal lobe, then you'll love it, if they're not, it won't do squat for you and you'll hate it. That's why you'll find such hot and cold reviews for it with no gray area. It's the same with pdocs prescribing it. Some won't touch it because of its spotty performance, some will. Luckily for me mine was one who's not afraid of trying it, because for me it's working very very well. I needed something to stop my weight gain and possibly help with weight loss, and this drug is well known for exactly that as well as potentially stabilizing mood. It was an excellent choice to try. (BTW I also have migraines, which is another reason my pdoc chose this med for me.)

There are a lot of AAPs out there, and Zyprexa was one that worked well for me as far as controlling my illness, but it was terrible for me physical healthwise. I just wasn't about to try another AAP with weight gain side effects. I had tried an AC (depakote) for mood stabilization and done well on it mood wise, so we felt safe trying another AC. If the topa stops working for me, I might consider one of the AAPs because the Z did work SO WELL for me mood wise, but it would have to be one WITHOUT weight side effects. So that rules out Zyprexa, Seroquel at the therapeutic dose for me, and Risperdal. There's Abilify, but I don't like this stuff--this one isn't serotonergic but instead messes with your dopamine activity and for some reason this just bothers me. This leaves possibly Geodon, but that also messes somewhat w/ dopamine, so I'm a little leery. I"m still reading about these last two; I find them confusing and I'm still trying to figure them out.

[LAwoman]

WELCOME!!!