Hi folks,

This is really a great forum - I am glad it is here because I have a concern. Is it normal to feel absolutely terrific after the first 24 hours of LCing? I expected to feel yucky for the first week. I know that may come eventually, but in the meantime I feel slightly wired and am having trouble sleeping. I am so excited about this new WOL. PP mentions that sleeplessness may occur, but since it wasn't really written with people with bipolar disorder in mind it doesn't give a solution, or address how serious that side effect can be for some people. I have been on Sonata (prescription sleep med) for some time but it doesn't seem to help much anymore.

The most serious manic episode I ever had (it occurred nine years ago, before I had a diagnosis and medication) occurred a week or two after I made a serious change in my diet, so I am a bit worried. I will talk to my doctors, but obviously my psychiatrist doesn't know much about weight loss and my weight loss doctor doesn't know much about keeping moods stable...

Thanks for your help,
Susan

Hi Susan,

I was the opposite for the first week. Extremely tired and down. But after the 1st week I started feeling better and was a little manic. Sleeping pattern changed again and I wasn't sleeping more than a couple of hours straight. I sometimes take ambien but it doesn't seem to work all the time either but when it does, I get about 4-5 hours without waking. I also use seroquel (25mg) on the nights I don't use ambien and I usually sleep really good...sometimes 6-7 hours and if I wake up I can go back to sleep pretty easy. Only prob is, is that sometimes if I take it too late, (past 12) I don't want to get out of bed in the morning...not that I can't, it's just that it feels good to get good sleep.

Strange thing....I don't like to go to bed at night and in the morning, I'd rather stay in bed until I wake up on my own. Sometimes that's too early though.

All in all, since starting LC'ing, I have alot more energy and feel better. Still have up's and down's but as long as I take my meds, the swings are usually bearable compared to no meds. What would be real nice is that I could stay in a constant manic with a sound mind and actions. Love that feeling...."I'm on top of the world Ma....on top of the world" (old Cagney film) I miss that feeling.

Take Care!

Sorry I didn't see this post sooner - I had to raise my meds about 5 days into induction. I went totally MANIC!! I felt like my skin was crawling, and it came on really suddenly. I had to take Seroquel in the middle of the day to come down from it. It was very scary, as I haven't had a manic episode in 3 years!

i tale lithum amoung my other 5 drugs to control my bipolar does that slow weight loss?

What drugs are you taking? I take depakote and seroquel, and they both cause a gain. I don't know if they make it hard to lose.

Thank you everyone for your replies!!! Speaking of medication-related weight gain, I gained 75lbs in the first six months I was on Depakote - it is the worst one for weight gain that I have heard of. I have two friends who each gained 40lbs on it, one who gained 50 and one who gained 100. I learned too late that Tegretol (the mood stabilizer I'm on now) is one of the only stabilizers that doesn't cause wt gain. At the time I was on Depakote, I thought I had no choice and would gain weight on whatever I was on. Now I am low-carbing trying to get rid of this huge chunk of weight (I was somewhat plump BEFORE I started the Depakote).

What kind of a drug is Seroquel? Is it a stabilizer or an anti-psychotic?

Susan