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eating and drinking

jazzyCasual Contributor14 Nov 2014, 5:46 am AEDT

eating and drinking

Hi&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;im the mother of a son who has schizophrenia and suffers psychosis. He is extremely intelligent and understands his illness. My concern is his uncontrollable eating and drinking. Mainly the eating. We discuss it daily but he cant seem to curb it. He also drinks if he gets the chance. Ifeel like im on 24 hour watch for the fridge being raided. Hes put on 30 kg in a year and is only 23. Im worried for his health. At the moment hes studying online so is a bit isolated. I take him out and try get him to excersise also make fruit and vegie smoothies but he still has uncontrollable cravings for soft drink and other food. He takes medication when he needs to and I know it increases appitite but how can we decrease it? Does anyone have similar issues?&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;Thanks

5 replies

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In response to: eating and drinking

MaudeSenior Contributor14 Nov 2014, 5:39 pm AEDT

Re: eating and drinking

Hi Jazzy, I wonder whether the insatiable appetite has anything to do with your sons meds? Weight gain can be a side effect of some meds. Would be worth asking whoever is prescribing for a review.

In response to: eating and drinking

jazzyCasual Contributor14 Nov 2014, 5:57 pm AEDT

Re: eating and drinking

Yes Im sure it does. But its the only meds that helps him. I feel like a food hound hes in the fridge all day. Hes tried others and nothing works as well. We recently moved so nedd to find a new doctor as the one we go to just gives him what he needs but doesnt know much about mental health.

In response to: Re: eating and drinking

MaudeSenior Contributor14 Nov 2014, 6:33 pm AEDT

Re: eating and drinking

Unfortunately Jazzy your comment, "need to find a new doctor as the one we go to just gives him what he needs but doesn’t know much about mental health" is an all too common scenario.

Someone I am supporting has also experienced significant weight gain as a side effect of their meds but the meds have had a better therapeutic effect than any others so it’s a catch 22 situation.

One of the things that we’ve tried is making a rule of having to walk around the block after a stipulated number of hours of inactivity and, of having a glass of water at regular intervals. It’s not “the” answer but has helped a little.

In response to: eating and drinking

jazzyCasual Contributor14 Nov 2014, 7:22 pm AEDT

Re: eating and drinking

Yes I get my son to walk to the shops nearly daily. Also drink lots of water. He is pretty good with it but when im not around buys loads of soft drink. It sure is a catch 22. Thanks for your response. ☺

In response to: Re: eating and drinking

NikNikSenior Contributor19 Nov 2014, 10:32 am AEDT

Re: eating and drinking

Hi Jazzy,

It's absolutely frustrating, isn't it?!

Does you son see it as a problem? If he doesn't, I would assume it's harder to get him to change is diet.

The advice I've heard in the past is to replace one bad thing with something not as bad, that the person still enjoys. So one example is replacing sweets with dark chocolate. So it's not a huge change - but an improvement. And if you make those small adjustments to a number if things, it adds up.

It sounds like he's trying 🙂 It's great you're getting him out of the house and walking.

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