Is Medication Management for Weight Loss Right for Me?

When you’re dealing with any kind of mental health disorder, life can get pretty tough. Luckily, there are many different medication options out there to help you get your symptoms under control. Some of them, however, have side effects such as weight gain, which most people don’t want. So how can you successfully treat your symptoms while still managing your weight?

At Carolina Wellness Psychiatry, our team is here for all your mental health needs, whether it’s through medication therapy or cognitive therapy. Our team is headed by three skilled psychiatrists, who each are able to help you tackle your weight through medication management.

What is medication management?

When you’re suffering from some kind of mental health disorder, our doctors routinely recommend a mix of medication therapy with talk therapy to help get the problem under control. Because your brain is a very complex organ, it may take a few different medications to get the desired effect. This is where medication management comes in.

Psychiatric medications can be very helpful in managing your mental health diagnosis. However, these medications all work differently, and finding the one that yields the best results sometimes takes a few tries. Our doctors take a lot into account when prescribing you a psychiatric medication, including your condition, symptoms, and side effects of the medication.

When our team gives you a diagnosis and starts medication therapy, it’s imperative to track your progress over the next weeks to months. This is not only to make sure you’re getting the desired effect of the medication, but also that you’re able to deal with any side effects. To monitor your wellbeing, our doctors:

• Record your progress
• Adjust dosing
• Evaluate your response
• Order blood tests

Medications such as antidepressants and mood stabilizers all work differently inside your body to produce results — which leads to a lot of variables. You also metabolize each medication differently than other people on the same drug, so monitoring your progress is essential to getting the desired result.

Does it help with weight loss?

Psychiatric medications are like other medications in that they come with some undesirable side effects, one of which can be weight gain. Although weight gain and other side effects aren’t what you want, our doctors likely decided that the benefits the medication could convey outweighed any negative side effects.

However, it’s completely understandable that weight gain is a huge concern when it comes to controlling your condition with medications. This is especially true if you’re already overweight and don’t want to tack on extra pounds. But should you change your medication just for the sole purpose of losing weight?

The answer isn’t a straightforward one. For example, if the medication you’re on is suppressing your psychiatric symptoms and you’re happy with the results, our doctors may advise against switching medications for the sole hope of losing weight. They may recommend other strategies, such as:

• Setting weight loss goals
• Exercising more
• Exercising portion control
• Making healthy food choices
• Journaling your food intake

However, if your psychiatric medication isn’t working for you, and you’re putting on extra pounds, our doctors can use medication management to help you find the right medication for your symptoms while not impacting your weight as much. Since there are many different options in each medication category, our doctors have the flexibility to give you more than one option for the best results.

Ultimately, though, the medication needs to work for your specific condition; and if it does, other strategies for weight loss may be a better answer than switching medications. Weight loss is possible while taking psychiatric medications, and our doctors help you navigate your symptoms to get you as happy as possible with your results.

If you’re in need of medication management and are curious how it will affect your weight, call Carolina Wellness Psychiatry at 919-446-3232, or request an appointment using our online booking tool.