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Bipolar Disorder/Weight gain on lithium
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Question
I am a seventy-year-old female who gained 45 pounds in 3 months on lithium 30 years ago. Everything that was good immediately went bad - weight, cholesterol, bp. I blame all on a new weight set point(no luck with calorie control or tri-weekly workouts) but have heard rumors that glucophage might counteract. Thoughts?
Hi . . .
Unfortunately, many medications used to treat people with psychiatric disorders induce weigh gain. This weight gain is often impossible to control by exercise and dieting.
Glucophage, topiramate, and zonegran all have been used to help people taking lithium and other psychiatric drugs lose some of the weight they have gained. These drugs are generally moderately effective and are usually tolerated fairly well. researching them on the Web will help you understand their side-effects.
Best regards . . .
Ivan
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| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thank you. Your response tells me, at least, that what I have read is not necessarily just a fad, although most of my info comes from "chat" sites. A search of Medline was not helpful, but I will continue to look. Perhaps an insulin resistance test would be helpful. | ||
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Answers by Expert:
Ivan Goldberg, M.D.
Expertise
I am a psychiatrist/psychopharmacologist with many years of expereince in treating individuals with depressions, manic-depression (Bipolar Disorder), other mood disorders,. I am especially interested in the psychopharmacologic treatment of individuals with so called "treatment-resistant" syndromes.
Experience
I have been on the staff of the National Institute of Mental Health, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. I am currently in full-time private practice in New York City.
A.B. Johns Hopkins University
M.D. N.Y.U. College of Medicine
I am the creator of Depression Central:http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html
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