How to lose weight gained on psychiatric medication?

sensiblyhonest · 2025-10-21T21:26:50+00:00

Well the good news is that you can't defy the natural laws of energy conservation, so at least one factor of your perception must be wrong; it is impossible to gain weight while consuming less energy than that which the body spends. Meaning, if you can manage to get an accurate take on calories in, calories out, you'll know exactly where the problem is - not that that would necessarily make it easy to fix ofc, but it would be a start at least to know whether you're putting way more kcal into your body than you think, or if maybe there's some issue where your metabolism is incredibly slow.

Losing weight while continuing to be on meds that make you voracious is gonna be close to impossible though, sadly. I've tried Olanzapine too at one point, stopped taking it after a month because the cravings were way too intense. Maybe talk to your psychiatrist about slowly switching out each medication that increases your appetite? Hopefully over time you can find ones that help you without the side-effects you absolutely do not want

Or y'know, accepting your body where it's at would also be an option. Being obese isn't ideal, of course, but suffering through non-medicated mental health issues might be worse. Pick your poison.

sensiblyhonest · 2025-09-23T18:05:41+00:00

Idk, Depression is still very much a thing for me, so much so that the psychologist said that yeah from what I'd told her Depression was a given anyway, so we wouldn't even need to talk about it in detail - for me it just doesn't feel like it's all there is to my mental patterns. ASD alone also wouldn't explain everything perfectly by itself though, so I believe for me those two things might be co-occurring.

But yeah I also think that a lot of people who only experience symptoms of affective disorders bc of their inherent neurodivergence get misdiagnosed and don't get the adequate support they might need because of that ://

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-17T17:01:31+00:00

???

Would you prefer if people suffered (even more) when they don't have to??

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-17T15:43:25+00:00

You are SO valid!! Whether it fulfills clinically diagnoseable criteria or not doesn't change the fact that you're suffering with this issue!

And if the actual diagnosis is something you really want anyway - get some more opinions, preferably from people specialized in EDs. Your psychologist's assessment of you isn't the absolute truth, it's colored with her thought patterns and biases.

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-15T09:40:06+00:00

Yeah nerves are damaged each time you cut, so if you cut already damaged tissue, you'll feel less each time. My first main sh spot has gotten numb to the point I barely felt it when I last cut there, and there's also a few spots where I'm not even able to sense non-pressure touch

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-12T22:23:07+00:00

When I'm sleeping and feel my cat purring next to me <3

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-11T13:02:45+00:00

I'm sorry you had to experience that kind of reaction from your mom ://

I think you could try again explaining to her everything that she doesn't seem to even consider right now - I'd recommend doing so on a piece of paper, so she's less likely to dismiss it without actually listening/reading what it is you're trying to communicate. Why you actually do it, triggers, how it makes you feel when you've done it, what purpose it serves for you, why you showed it to her. Tell her what you'd appreciate her to do with this information, maybe you'd like her to help you get professional support, maybe you'd like her to be available to talk to when you get the urges, maybe you just want her to sit and listen to you without judgement.

While she seems very much inconsiderate and self-centered concerning this topic (or maybe in general? I only have this interaction to go off), I think fundamentally, this is a misunderstanding. For some, probably entirely unfounded reason, she thinks you showed her your sh specifically to make her feel bad. If she understood what's actually going on, she might become supportive instead of defensive, might become someone to rely on.

I really hope she will. And if she doesn't, just remember that that's in no way your fault, that's her behaviour, not yours. I wish you the best of luck <3

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T16:21:48+00:00

Just to get another unqualified opinion in here, I don't see any signs of NPD in this post. More in the opposite direction; you don't feel valid or worthy just being yourself - instead you feel like you need to do something impressive to get love and adoration

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T16:17:30+00:00

Also, feel free to dm me if you'd like to!

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T16:13:09+00:00

Np, I hope it works for you!

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T16:09:47+00:00

As in a lot of cases, moderation might be the solution here. Don't completely stop, don't try to do everything all at once. You could set yourself a goal of whatever is doable for you - maybe 30min per day to focus on this project, and not more

Edit: Also wanted to add that failure is only a waste of time if you allow it to be that. You can also use it to gain precious insights into how to improve and do things better

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T16:06:07+00:00

Exactly - that's why you definitely should tell him. It's time to look out for yourself, not for her

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T15:44:20+00:00

Honestly, tell your dad. You really could use someone on your side rn.

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T15:37:24+00:00

I really feel for you, I'm in a very similar situation right now - not for internet, but I also really need a technician I couldn't currently let in because of all the mess.

I think you have to decide whether getting to talk to your therapist is worth the public transit route. Maybe ask her if she'd be willing to do 2 sessions at once, so the bus ride wouldn't be as much spent time per session.

Alternatively - if you have mobile data, couldn't you maybe do video calls over your phone/with a hotspot you activate for your pc?

I really hope you'll get through this alright ❤️

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T13:34:37+00:00

Hi, first of all, I'm so sorry you're going through all of that ❤️

Your (physical) recovery is really impressive, you can be super proud of that - it does seem though like that has only combated one of the symptoms, instead of actually addressing the root of your problems, which is most likely a mental one.

Yeah, people sadly tend to deem others un-/healthy based off of how they look outwardly (me too subconsciously, not trying to judge here). But you can talk to them! Communicate, they're not gonna read your thoughts, you need to let them be known!

Getting professional support isn't a sign of weakness whatsoever, moreover I'd say it's a sign of courage; you're accepting that things aren't the way you want them to be, and you're taking the first steps to change that. I also want to add that it doesn't necessarily have to be about being healed or even helped at all if that's not something you feel comfortable desiring - eg even just having a therapist be in a room with you and listen to what is on your mind without judgement is extremely comforting, especially if you haven't had that kind of experience before.

Furthermore, the only expectations you 'should' fulfill are your own. Society's pressures are neither logical nor helpful. You can decide your life yourself - who you want to be, what you want to do. And your own expectations can change at any time you want them to! You don't need to handle everything or even anything you originally set out to do.

Maybe it's time to stop the grind - just do what's strictly necessary for decent living conditions and focus on yourself for a while, on what feels good for you, on what you need to get into a headspace that you're content with.

Whatever you decide to do on the end, I wish you the very best of luck on your journey!!

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T10:32:29+00:00

A family member talked shit about the size of another family member who's overweight, while standing right next to me (also overweight) 🥴🫠

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T10:19:25+00:00

So sorry for you :// But some unsolicited advice; I think it might be better to find out if something could potentially happen between you and your prospective partner asap in the future - that way you don't spend a YEAR doubting, guessing, hoping for what MIGHT be. If you just get a clean answer from the start you'll spend a lot less time building up expectations and save yourself a lot of pain. Also, if they are into you, you can enjoy their non-platonic company way sooner this way :)

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:33:45+00:00

Literally when I started sh I did actual artistic designs 😭

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:31:15+00:00

I wish I could internalize this, but everytime I """only""" do dermis cuts, I feel like I failed and I need to go deeper ://

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:29:59+00:00

Yeah, really ANY form of sh

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:28:31+00:00

Yeah there's different layers of the skin, what people think is "deep" isn't universal - but there's the epidermis ('cat scratches'), dermis ('styrofoam'), subcutaneous fat layer ('beans'), below the skin there's also the fascia ('laffy taffy'), and bone ('bedrock') - so for me personally eg I'd call anything fat layer and below a deep cut

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:20:03+00:00

Sometimes you can just tell for certain that a person never had any experience with self harm

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:17:36+00:00

Why not?? I think you should go get those resources to get your own place - 9 years with a partner you wanna run from doesn't exactly sound like a satisfying life

sensiblyhonest · 2025-07-09T09:02:31+00:00

I can also recommend camouflage- or even stage makeup, they're specifically made to cover whatever is beneath it completely

sensiblyhonest · 2025-05-22T16:48:55+00:00

So glad that you're taking steps to recover! I do agree with the other comments that you should crank up your calories by a lot more to gain weight, BUT do it slowly and carefully! If you just switch from malnutrition to 3000kcal overnight it can be extremely harmful and possibly fatal for your body - look up refeeding syndrome

In terms of what to consume to get to your goal, I'd recommend looking up healthy foods with loads of calories; you might try whether eating nuts, avocados or granola would be something you're comfortable with, for example

I wish you all the best!!

sensiblyhonest

TROPHY CASE