Posted by Ted on October 18, 2002, at 13:57:38
In reply to Re: depakote weight gain, boredom, etc--Ted, posted by ROO on October 18, 2002, at 13:06:44
Roo,
<sorry -- long>
> So you just eat a ton out of boredom? (just purely
> curious...)Yeah, that's pretty much it.
>I can relate...I've had eating disorders
> before.How do you get over them? I even mentioned it to my therapist and she didn't seem to consider it a problem.
>Have you always ate a lot and the weight just didn't
> come on until the zoloft (or the depakote, whichever the case may
> be).The answer to that question is multipart.
Until I had my last *major* depressive episode, in early 1985, I ate normally. For a week at the start of that 1985 episode, I ate nothing and lost 10 pounds. Ever since the end of that first week, I have had difficulties with eating, specifically overeating.
I have bipolar, and until I went loopy in May 1999, I got a reasonably large amount of exercise and I was active and though not particularly "thin", I wasn't particularly overweight either.
After my hospitalization and medication in 1999, I have had continual lethargy (not medical -- I get tested regularly), lack of interest in most everything, and ever more difficulty with overeating. Boredom became a major issue. I wonder if it is related to my bipolar mania being gone through meds....
>How much zoloft do you take? Does the zoloft zap your crotch?
I was taking 200mg/day (as 100 mg bid). I went off to try lexapro last summer. Lexapro failed, so I returned to zoloft because it works well for my OCD. I am currently taking only 50 mg but I plan to raise that to 75-100 mg. Yes, at doses over 50 mg, it does zap (rather numbs) my crotch. BUT: zoloft has a very short half-life and I can stop taking it for just 1 day and do OK crotch-wise. At 200 mg, I have to stop for 2 days.
> The camping trip sounds fun.
It was.
> Do you think the boredom is part of how your depression manifests
> itself?I think so. I mentioned exactly that to both my pdoc and my therapist and neither had a comment.
> Food is part of the search through satisfaction through the
> senses syndrome...?Maybe, but it really doesn't do much for the senses for me. It's more just something to do that is less boring than anything else. I also have the problem that my wife has chronic major depression (runs in her family) and her continually poor mood hurts mine by osmosis alone. She is taking meds and it helps her (ok, us) lots, but maybe I need more from her.
*However* last night I looked in the junk food cupboard and decided to clean out my truck from the camping trip instead. SO, I managed something productive while managing not to do any extra eating. If only I could do that more often.....
Ted
poster:Ted
thread:31253
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021010/msgs/31340.html