Veterans with Bipolar

[ShoppGirl 5,010]

For those who are comfortable talking about it, my dr said statistically because of my bipolar I will not lose as much weight as those who have the same surgery and do not have bipolar. I honestly thought he was wrong but my weight loss seems to be slowing to a crawl and I am still 16 pounds from the top of normal BMI range. I know that some people never reach a normal BMI but I had hoped to get there plus a little cushion for the bounce back weight. I was always thin until I was 25 so I hoped I’d be one of the lucky ones. I am just curious to hear others stories firsthand.

[ImsexyandIknowit 48]

Hum this is very interesting topic, I would be interested in hear more about this. I did not know

[catwoman7 11,220]

I've never heard that about bipolar disorder's effect on weight loss. There are a lot of WLS patients who are bipolar, though - I've seen MANY people post about being bipolar in the seven or so years I've been hanging out on bariatric forums.

my weight loss finally stopped at 20 months out. Those last six months or so my loss slowed to a crawl, though - we're talking like two pounds a month some months. So don't give up yet! You may still have some loss and get down to where you want to be. But it's true that the closer people are to a normal BMI, the tougher (and slower) weight loss becomes...

[kristieshannon 1,668]

My guess is that it may be related to medications, as many of the mental health meds have weight gain or increased appetite as a side effect. There are some that are considered metabolically neutral-check in with your psychiatrist about that.

On the other hand, 16 lbs above “normal” BMI is really not bad! Many, many bariatric patients never reach a “normal” BMI and their surgeon will tell them that going from obese to just over weight is a success. Congrats on all you’ve done so far!

[Sunshine0331 30]

Hi! I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It’s difficult to balance for sure. As a diagnosed BP I can relate. My surgeon and psychiatrist have given me positive reviews on the gastric sleeve. I’m 8 months post op and have been doing well. I can honestly attribute much of the initial weight gain from BP depression and BP meds. I was at an athletic weight until 27 years old. Then diagnosed. Not sure if you’ve experienced this - but it took years to find the right mix of meds that worked. Now that I have found the right mix, I am stable and my weight has been stable. I would definitely discuss medications with psych and ask for an honest opinion if the meds affect weight. AND CONGRATS 🎉 ON YOUR POSITIVE GAINS!!!! You’ve come so far!

[ShoppGirl 5,010]

7 minutes ago, Sunshine0331 said:

Hi! I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It’s difficult to balance for sure. As a diagnosed BP I can relate. My surgeon and psychiatrist have given me positive reviews on the gastric sleeve. I’m 8 months post op and have been doing well. I can honestly attribute much of the initial weight gain from BP depression and BP meds. I was at an athletic weight until 27 years old. Then diagnosed. Not sure if you’ve experienced this - but it took years to find the right mix of meds that worked. Now that I have found the right mix, I am stable and my weight has been stable. I would definitely discuss medications with psych and ask for an honest opinion if the meds affect weight. AND CONGRATS 🎉 ON YOUR POSITIVE GAINS!!!! You’ve come so far!

Thank you for your response. Yes, I too was super thin my whole life until somewhere around 25ish I started to gain. Same time as the BP symptoms began. I don’t know if mine was entirely the medications though. I think some is the BP itself. I don’t remember my eating habits during mania because I haven’t had that in quite some time but during depression, which I still struggle with, I eat a lot more and exercise tremendously less. It took me almost a decade to find a suitable med and it’s still not 100% perfect. It is weight neutral though at least. I am just curious how weight loss is

going for others with BP. Especially for

those who are a year or two out.

[TracieSassano 6]

On 8/18/2021 at 8:45 AM, ShoppGirl said:

For those who are comfortable talking about it, my dr said statistically because of my bipolar I will not lose as much weight as those who have the same surgery and do not have bipolar. I honestly thought he was wrong but my weight loss seems to be slowing to a crawl and I am still 16 pounds from the top of normal BMI range. I know that some people never reach a normal BMI but I had hoped to get there plus a little cushion for the bounce back weight. I was always thin until I was 25 so I hoped I’d be one of the lucky ones. I am just curious to hear others stories firsthand.

I heard the wt loss was less because of the medications. I weened off my meds for surgery coming up on the 15th. I take them for PTSD but side effects were slow wt loss so I am stopping.

[ShoppGirl 5,010]

2 minutes ago, TracieSassano said:

I heard the wt loss was less because of the medications. I weened off my meds for surgery coming up on the 15th. I take them for PTSD but side effects were slow wt loss so I am stopping.

Does your doctor agree this is the best course for you to just stop your meds? There are weight neutral ones. Not all have such side effects.

[TracieSassano 6]

I didn’t even ask. I’m going outside of the va for my surgery so I am not including them in it. Not the best course Of action, I just want the best wt loss I can get for the procedure.

[ShoppGirl 5,010]

19 minutes ago, TracieSassano said:

I didn’t even ask. I’m going outside of the va for my surgery so I am not including them in it. Not the best course Of action, I just want the best wt loss I can get for the procedure.

You don’t have to disclose anything about your WLS just to ask about weight neutral meds though. I asked my dr for these long before I even considered WLS. It can’t hurt to ask at least.