New here.Thought I'd introduce myself.

[mikef39]

Hello my name is mike, I live in california. I've been suffering from bi polar disorder for many years. Im 33 now and got diagnosed for it when i was like 19-20. I got admitted to a mental hospital when i was around 20 and the county prescribed me depakote and zoloft. really bad idea back then, it made my anxiety worse, and I gained like 80 pounds. Made me even more depressed.

well i ignored treatment for like 10 years after that because of the weight gain mainly. I used to be in such great shape.
well as of late a lot of things are falling down in on me, im going through a backed into a corner way of life right now. i'm unemployed , want a job but no one's hiring. i've lost most of my possessions, excpt for my car, and i ve been in bed a majority of the past 6 months with a no care, whatever happens attitude. My anxiety has gotten to the extreme point where i feel like im having a heart attack, my face gets all numb, my hands clentch up and i am breathing very heavy, it comes out of no where and i feel like im gunna die.

recently ive been seeing a psychyatrist and he was quick to prescribe seroquell. well it put me down for like 2 days, completly out of it. now he's got me on zyprexa and lithium. well i hear both are horrible for weight gain. so i have been hesitant to start taking them. why do all these drugs have wieght gain associated with them. im also on ativan
which helps me stabalize and feel normal again. i guess what i'm wondering is..........is there a trick for not gaining weight while on these drugs. do the drugs by themselves add wieght, or is it how much food intake that u consume do that?

anyhow any input would be nice. I care about people who go through what im going through, cause it's just plain andsimple a horror show when u are bi polar.. if any1 understand boy its me.

[coachchris]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the forums. Do you have the program and if so have you been using the relaxation cd? It sounds like when the adrenalin comes in your breathing changes and brings in even more body symptoms. Learning the 2-4 belly breathing can really help here. Are you able to exercise and how is your diet right now? I have seen a lot of people over the years with your same diagnosis do really well with the program! Looking forward to hearing back from you.