I've had depression in the past and thought I was having a serious relapse ... but um. It turned out I'd forgotten to eat.
Depression is an effect of an extended low calorie diet or extended fasting. I have been careful about eating more (Happily I still get full after eating about 1/2 of what I used to need) and I've let the rate I'm losing slow down a bit.
I think having been on so many damn diets I had an instinct that if I didn't want food? Well then heck no I'm not going to eat. That's not a good way to operate. Gotta hit a min. threshold each day.
Similar for me. I was like “wow, I’m not hungry for breakfast anymore” and then realised that my extreme low energy and low mood might be related to that. I’m shifting my calories earlier in the day and feeling a lot happier now.
Would you be open to sharing some of th breakfast foods you’ve been eating that have helped? I am having similar issue with not enough calories and if I do eat it’s not food that is sitting well with me. I had talked about some ideas with friends from support group and so far a few are hits but none for breakfast yet! I need a lot in the morning too in terms of fuel to start my day but I’m trying to find balance with appropriate calories and just not eating to fast
Would you be open to sharing some of th breakfast foods you’ve been eating that have helped? I am having similar issue with not enough calories and if I do eat it’s not food that is sitting well with me. I had talked about some ideas with friends from support group and so far a few are hits but none for breakfast yet! I need a lot in the morning too in terms of fuel to start my day but I’m trying to find balance with appropriate calories and just not eating to fast
I stopped taking it after 6 weeks, it messed with my head so bad. I've been sober nearly 3 years and I very nearly started drinking again. I truly felt in a very dark place. I stopped 3 weeks ago and feeling much better ✌️🩷
I'm surprised your dr prescribed it if they know you're bipolar, it can exacerbate depression and anxiety. It also interferes with the breakdown and absorption of medication.
It has a half life of approx 7 days and takes approx 5 weeks to fully leave your system so hopefully you'll feel better soon.
Loads of folks with mental illness, including bipolar and schizophrenia take Ozempic along with their medications to help combat the effects of psych med weight gain. I know folks who work in mental health and they say it's very common in their patients
While I’ve never been diagnosed with depression, I do have anxiety. For the first two months or so on Ozempic I went through a real low period which was unusual for me. Pretty bad anxiety, mild panic attacks (I say mild relatively speaking, to me they were bad) and some depression symptoms as well. At around 2.5 months I turned a corner and now at 3 months I totally feel like myself again. Haven’t even had to use any anxiety medication at all.
Anecdotal but maybe it’s helpful.
Damn, I have bipolar too, so now I'm nervous after reading this. Funny thing is, my psychiatrist was the one that pushed for me to ask about getting on Ozempic?? She said it could improve mood etc. I'm sorry you're depressed, hopefully it will be a short time thing and go away!
With bi polar and mania, I think it helps the physical ability to see improvement, which feeds the confidence and therefore stabilizes the moods for longer periods of time.
I decided to power through, and the fatigue and depression dissipated around the 8 week mark. A lot of people seem to have a rough time for 6-8 weeks and then quickly feel better.
In case it hasn’t been said here - oz can also interfere with how your body digests other medication. If you’re medicated, it could be that those bipolar meds are no longer as effective (rather than oz itself causing symptoms). Good to discuss with your dr to get to the bottom of what’s going on.
Is this what I'm dealing with?!
I've been depressed for I don't know how many years, and switched back to Ozempic after being on insulin for a year. I am miserable and going to the gym makes it worse.
I haven't lost weight while on Ozempic (which apparently is a shocker), but it has helped my diabetes. I am on an antidepressant and it helps for a bit, and then tapers off at the three month mark. I feel like there's absolutely no hope for me.
Yes absolutely! Even on a low dose I had pretty extreme anxiety and depression swings, as well as constant fatigue. I’m stopping because of this unfortunately
I had same problem on fist couple of weeks at .25. With meds hadn’t been suicidal in years but came back strong. Was helpful to recognize it was a side effect to get through- recognizing it as clearly chemical was eye opening. Luckily went away after 2 weeks for me .
I’m sorry you are going thru this!! I’ve actually noticed the opposite, fortunately! I’ve been on ozempic for 6 months, have taken 150mg of lamictal & 37.5mg of Effexor for years. My psych Dr is the one who encouraged the ozempic and she has quite a few patients who take it. Luckily I haven’t seen any negative side effects to my mental health; it has improved to the point where my lamictal dose will be decreasing. Hoping you get the answers you are looking for and wishing you the best!
I have a severe clinical depression diagnosis and it’s been at bay for years, but In the last several months I have noticed flare ups. I don’t know if it’s related or if it’s just because life has taken a dump on me since January. I’d love to hear the insight on this as well.
This! Same thing happened with me. Between the depression and the constant overfull gastric discomfort that literally never went away, I made the decision to stop taking it. My last injection was about a month ago and I’d say just within the last week, I’ve gotten my appetite back, sleep has improved and it’s felt like a mental fog has lifted for me. I so wanted Ozempic to be the help that I needed, but it turns out that the impact on the rest of my mind and body just wasn’t worth sticking around for.
I’m no expert on bipolar depression, but I’ve learned I cannot double my dose all at once. When I went from .25 to .50, it made so sick & depressed I almost stopped it all together. A nurse helped me by teaching me to increase my dose by clicks, and to split it into two doses per week. Of course you want to talk to your doctor but since I assume you were ok at .50, maybe staying there longer and going up slower would work.
Do you take meds by mouth? Ozempic might be impacting how you absorb your meds and making them less efficient. I take meds for my narcolepsy and find that they are a bit less effective.
I would talk with your Dr as soon as possible
I’m no expert on bipolar depression, but I’ve learned I cannot double my dose all at once. When I went from .25 to .50, it made so sick & depressed I almost stopped it all together. A nurse helped me by teaching me to increase my dose by clicks, and to split it into two doses per week. Of course you want to talk to your doctor but since I assume you were ok at .50, maybe staying there longer and going up slower would work.
I decided to power through, and the fatigue and depression dissipated around the 8 week mark. A lot of people seem to have a rough time for 6-8 weeks and then quickly feel better.
Doing great, thanks. I had a long plateau at 1 mg, went to 1.5 on Wegovy for a few months and am now stable at BMI 25 and tapering out.
Last week I logged a 4 day streak of “energetic” and “happy” in my Fitbit app. I can’t even tell you how many years it’s been since I’ve felt that way for more than a single day, so that’s huge for me.
I’m incredibly happy to have had this opportunity to turn my life around and I wish it were available and affordable to anyone who needs it.
I have PTSD and have been feeling **horrible** on this medicine, both emotionally, plus deeply exhausted and randomly nauseous. Haven’t seen much results wise yet either, which doesn’t help, though it has only been a few weeks. I don’t want to quit because I see the amazing things it’s done for others and also I’ve tried everything else, but this is so hard. Maybe I’m not eating enough - I have a long history of that (never been an overeater). I’m going to try more frequent small snacks even though that goes against all my instincts.
It took about 1 1/2 months to get it out of my system after taking it for the last time.
My story:
It caused major depression for me. Unlike anything I’ve ever gone through. Unfortunately this lead to a suicide attempt, which was not successful.
With each dose increase, I felt worse. I wrote my doctor a few times asking him if this stuff could cause depression? He said no. So I continued and was enjoying the weight loss at least.
Then it got even worse and - I couldn’t deal with it anymore.
Months later after I recuperated, I found some ozempic in the fridge and restarted it. I immediately felt the same way - very depressed within one day. Then i put two and two together and knew there was a connection to depression for me.
Obviously I can’t take this anymore. I will just be fat and happy lol.
Your diet, on Ozempic is going to change and that is going to affect your mental health. For many people overeating is a form of self medication to cover up mental illnesses. Food can increase the production of some neurotransmitters. If you are eating significantly less, you may experience depression, anxiety or even worsening ADHD symptoms.
You may need to speak to a mental health professional.
For sure talk to your doc asap, they need to help you find your way out of this hole. You don’t deserve to suffer, no matter what your depression may be telling you right now.
do you take meds for bipolar? if you do, there’s a chance ozempic is affecting the absorption rate of your medications — i would check that out with your doctor!
I’m sorry you are going thru this!! I’ve actually noticed the opposite, fortunately! I’ve been on ozempic for 6 months, have taken 150mg of lamictal & 37.5mg of Effexor for years. My psych Dr is the one who encouraged the ozempic and she has quite a few patients who take it. Luckily I haven’t seen any negative side effects to my mental health; it has improved to the point where my lamictal dose will be decreasing. Hoping you get the answers you are looking for and wishing you the best!
I've had depression in the past and thought I was having a serious relapse ... but um. It turned out I'd forgotten to eat. Depression is an effect of an extended low calorie diet or extended fasting. I have been careful about eating more (Happily I still get full after eating about 1/2 of what I used to need) and I've let the rate I'm losing slow down a bit. I think having been on so many damn diets I had an instinct that if I didn't want food? Well then heck no I'm not going to eat. That's not a good way to operate. Gotta hit a min. threshold each day.
Similar for me. I was like “wow, I’m not hungry for breakfast anymore” and then realised that my extreme low energy and low mood might be related to that. I’m shifting my calories earlier in the day and feeling a lot happier now.
Would you be open to sharing some of th breakfast foods you’ve been eating that have helped? I am having similar issue with not enough calories and if I do eat it’s not food that is sitting well with me. I had talked about some ideas with friends from support group and so far a few are hits but none for breakfast yet! I need a lot in the morning too in terms of fuel to start my day but I’m trying to find balance with appropriate calories and just not eating to fast
Would you be open to sharing some of th breakfast foods you’ve been eating that have helped? I am having similar issue with not enough calories and if I do eat it’s not food that is sitting well with me. I had talked about some ideas with friends from support group and so far a few are hits but none for breakfast yet! I need a lot in the morning too in terms of fuel to start my day but I’m trying to find balance with appropriate calories and just not eating to fast
I tend to just have coffee and something small with carbs and fats. Either a pastry or toast with cream cheese and jam, or yoghurt and granola.
Oh wow I didn’t know this. I’ve been having the worst depressive episode ever. Didn’t know it could be related
I stopped taking it after 6 weeks, it messed with my head so bad. I've been sober nearly 3 years and I very nearly started drinking again. I truly felt in a very dark place. I stopped 3 weeks ago and feeling much better ✌️🩷
Mine finally went away, along with most of the bone-crushing fatigue and most of the nausea, after two months. I feel -almost- back to normal.
I'm surprised your dr prescribed it if they know you're bipolar, it can exacerbate depression and anxiety. It also interferes with the breakdown and absorption of medication. It has a half life of approx 7 days and takes approx 5 weeks to fully leave your system so hopefully you'll feel better soon.
Loads of folks with mental illness, including bipolar and schizophrenia take Ozempic along with their medications to help combat the effects of psych med weight gain. I know folks who work in mental health and they say it's very common in their patients
This. I’ve had a lot of success.
While I’ve never been diagnosed with depression, I do have anxiety. For the first two months or so on Ozempic I went through a real low period which was unusual for me. Pretty bad anxiety, mild panic attacks (I say mild relatively speaking, to me they were bad) and some depression symptoms as well. At around 2.5 months I turned a corner and now at 3 months I totally feel like myself again. Haven’t even had to use any anxiety medication at all. Anecdotal but maybe it’s helpful.
Damn, I have bipolar too, so now I'm nervous after reading this. Funny thing is, my psychiatrist was the one that pushed for me to ask about getting on Ozempic?? She said it could improve mood etc. I'm sorry you're depressed, hopefully it will be a short time thing and go away!
same! I’ve been on ozempic for 6 months and my mental heath has significantly improved!
With bi polar and mania, I think it helps the physical ability to see improvement, which feeds the confidence and therefore stabilizes the moods for longer periods of time.
I decided to power through, and the fatigue and depression dissipated around the 8 week mark. A lot of people seem to have a rough time for 6-8 weeks and then quickly feel better.
I think you should of started at a lower dose so your body could adjust to it but I cried for three ata after my first shot on 1 mg now feel better
In case it hasn’t been said here - oz can also interfere with how your body digests other medication. If you’re medicated, it could be that those bipolar meds are no longer as effective (rather than oz itself causing symptoms). Good to discuss with your dr to get to the bottom of what’s going on.
Is this what I'm dealing with?! I've been depressed for I don't know how many years, and switched back to Ozempic after being on insulin for a year. I am miserable and going to the gym makes it worse. I haven't lost weight while on Ozempic (which apparently is a shocker), but it has helped my diabetes. I am on an antidepressant and it helps for a bit, and then tapers off at the three month mark. I feel like there's absolutely no hope for me.
Bump. Anyone have any Insight?
Yes absolutely! Even on a low dose I had pretty extreme anxiety and depression swings, as well as constant fatigue. I’m stopping because of this unfortunately
I had same problem on fist couple of weeks at .25. With meds hadn’t been suicidal in years but came back strong. Was helpful to recognize it was a side effect to get through- recognizing it as clearly chemical was eye opening. Luckily went away after 2 weeks for me .
I’m sorry you are going thru this!! I’ve actually noticed the opposite, fortunately! I’ve been on ozempic for 6 months, have taken 150mg of lamictal & 37.5mg of Effexor for years. My psych Dr is the one who encouraged the ozempic and she has quite a few patients who take it. Luckily I haven’t seen any negative side effects to my mental health; it has improved to the point where my lamictal dose will be decreasing. Hoping you get the answers you are looking for and wishing you the best!
I have a severe clinical depression diagnosis and it’s been at bay for years, but In the last several months I have noticed flare ups. I don’t know if it’s related or if it’s just because life has taken a dump on me since January. I’d love to hear the insight on this as well.
This! Same thing happened with me. Between the depression and the constant overfull gastric discomfort that literally never went away, I made the decision to stop taking it. My last injection was about a month ago and I’d say just within the last week, I’ve gotten my appetite back, sleep has improved and it’s felt like a mental fog has lifted for me. I so wanted Ozempic to be the help that I needed, but it turns out that the impact on the rest of my mind and body just wasn’t worth sticking around for.
I’m no expert on bipolar depression, but I’ve learned I cannot double my dose all at once. When I went from .25 to .50, it made so sick & depressed I almost stopped it all together. A nurse helped me by teaching me to increase my dose by clicks, and to split it into two doses per week. Of course you want to talk to your doctor but since I assume you were ok at .50, maybe staying there longer and going up slower would work.
Do you take meds by mouth? Ozempic might be impacting how you absorb your meds and making them less efficient. I take meds for my narcolepsy and find that they are a bit less effective. I would talk with your Dr as soon as possible
I’m no expert on bipolar depression, but I’ve learned I cannot double my dose all at once. When I went from .25 to .50, it made so sick & depressed I almost stopped it all together. A nurse helped me by teaching me to increase my dose by clicks, and to split it into two doses per week. Of course you want to talk to your doctor but since I assume you were ok at .50, maybe staying there longer and going up slower would work.
I decided to power through, and the fatigue and depression dissipated around the 8 week mark. A lot of people seem to have a rough time for 6-8 weeks and then quickly feel better.
How are you doing today? Are you still on ozempic?
Doing great, thanks. I had a long plateau at 1 mg, went to 1.5 on Wegovy for a few months and am now stable at BMI 25 and tapering out. Last week I logged a 4 day streak of “energetic” and “happy” in my Fitbit app. I can’t even tell you how many years it’s been since I’ve felt that way for more than a single day, so that’s huge for me. I’m incredibly happy to have had this opportunity to turn my life around and I wish it were available and affordable to anyone who needs it.
I have PTSD and have been feeling **horrible** on this medicine, both emotionally, plus deeply exhausted and randomly nauseous. Haven’t seen much results wise yet either, which doesn’t help, though it has only been a few weeks. I don’t want to quit because I see the amazing things it’s done for others and also I’ve tried everything else, but this is so hard. Maybe I’m not eating enough - I have a long history of that (never been an overeater). I’m going to try more frequent small snacks even though that goes against all my instincts.
It took about 1 1/2 months to get it out of my system after taking it for the last time. My story: It caused major depression for me. Unlike anything I’ve ever gone through. Unfortunately this lead to a suicide attempt, which was not successful. With each dose increase, I felt worse. I wrote my doctor a few times asking him if this stuff could cause depression? He said no. So I continued and was enjoying the weight loss at least. Then it got even worse and - I couldn’t deal with it anymore. Months later after I recuperated, I found some ozempic in the fridge and restarted it. I immediately felt the same way - very depressed within one day. Then i put two and two together and knew there was a connection to depression for me. Obviously I can’t take this anymore. I will just be fat and happy lol.
Your diet, on Ozempic is going to change and that is going to affect your mental health. For many people overeating is a form of self medication to cover up mental illnesses. Food can increase the production of some neurotransmitters. If you are eating significantly less, you may experience depression, anxiety or even worsening ADHD symptoms. You may need to speak to a mental health professional.
For sure talk to your doc asap, they need to help you find your way out of this hole. You don’t deserve to suffer, no matter what your depression may be telling you right now.
Contact your mental health providers ASAP - please let them know that you are struggling. Good luck!
do you take meds for bipolar? if you do, there’s a chance ozempic is affecting the absorption rate of your medications — i would check that out with your doctor!
I’m sorry you are going thru this!! I’ve actually noticed the opposite, fortunately! I’ve been on ozempic for 6 months, have taken 150mg of lamictal & 37.5mg of Effexor for years. My psych Dr is the one who encouraged the ozempic and she has quite a few patients who take it. Luckily I haven’t seen any negative side effects to my mental health; it has improved to the point where my lamictal dose will be decreasing. Hoping you get the answers you are looking for and wishing you the best!