Does The Gastric Sleeve Surgery Help Reduce Depression? Did You Reduce Or Get Off Of Meds?

[ladylovely 0]

I am new here and awaiting to get surgery date from Portmouth Naval Hospital. I want to know if any have reduced or was able to stop depression meds. Did the VSG help with depression?

[juliarh 35]

It's weird that you brought this up right now -- I was just commenting to my husband that I am not depressed or bad humored or bitter or angry or anything anymore -- and it seems to stem from the fact that I am thinner ??? I don't know, but I haven't been this content EVER. Weird.

[Valentina 2,642]

Just being in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital is enough to make a body depressed! My daughter was born there. However, I do hear that it has changed for the better over the years.

I would hope that weight loss would reduce depression. One would not have all of the body aches and pains, one would have more energy and as we all know one would be more "accepted" to the general populous!! (ignorant a**es!)

I, personally am looking forward to the day when I can just look "average". That will make ME happy. How about you? What will make you happy??

Valentina

I am new here and awaiting to get surgery date from Portmouth Naval Hospital. I want to know if any have reduced or was able to stop depression meds. Did the VSG help with depression?

[AutumnBlueCarmen 4]

I have depression...and I think mine is hereditary. Both mother and father had it and dad took his own life. So, I think in my case....I will be on depression meds the rest of my life. I may need a lower dose though since I will be healthier and happier with my self. One day at a time...there is nothing wrong with taking depression meds. Once you lose some weight nothing wrong with trying to go off them! BUT!!! don't live your life miserable because you want to be pill free for one reason or another. Good luck to you! =) Please let us know if you try and how you are doing!

[Amanda131 214]

I've read somewhere, I'm sorry- I can't remember where!- that depression can slightly worsen in the early stages with dramatic weight loss. It had something to do with all the hormones released due to the fast weight loss and coming to terms with the lifestyle change. This might be something to look into and possibly discuss with your mental health professional. As for me, I don't feel depressed at all but I've noticed a heightened sense of anxiety at times. I've battled depression a few times so I am constantly vigilant. Best of luck to you!

[Day Dreamer 23]

Well I was not depressed pre op - no meds, nothing. But since my surgery on 6/6/11 I have been kind of depressed. I think it is the lack of food, watching people eat, seeing stalls.. you name it. So for me, no VSG brought on depression. It shoudl clear up though!

[Rootman 1,101]

As always YMMV, I was on anti depression and anti anxiety meds for about 10 years pre-op and was spiraling down and down and required double the dosage near the end just to get by. I elected to quit the meds and take my chances, it was hell on earth for about 2 months. After this I found I was low on testosterone - which the antidepressants were masking. So I started on testosterone replacement therapy.

Since then it's been a real roller coaster ride with a lot more dips than high points. Right in the middle of this all I had the VSG surgery. I can honestly say this last month has been a doozy with a lot of things wanting to drive me deeper and deeper into depression. I am now struggling with the choice of trying to go back on them after about a year off them. My weight had ballooned rapidly while on them and I have other factors other than just "feeling good" to consider in the choice to start again or not.

I personally would not count on them being reduced or eliminated and advise that you tread carefully when making the choice to go off them, stay in constant contact with your physician to monitor your behavior and mood.

We all wish you the best of luck.

[KellyL 173]

As someone else posted, I have read of people being depressed early out, whether it is mourning for their previous relationship with food, or the temporary hormone imbalance, some people do have it. I have struggled with depression off and on for yrs, and my depression has improved post-op., I am very happy with my new lifestyle with the sleeve. It may come later but right now, I am very happy with how everything is going. My sleeve has given me my life back, my type 2 diabetes has gone into remission, and I am already much more mobile. I love my sleeve.

[Penpen 28]

Hi!

I struggled with depression off and on for the last 20 years or so. I haven't been on meds for 6 or more months and have felt fine. I had my surgery June 23, 2011, and have struggled with emotional ups and downs. It has been hard. I will tell you that I seem to feel good when my clothes are a tab bit looser and I'm able to get out of the house. But I think the lack of energy, the constant intake of Protein and liquids AND sometimes pain medication can take it's toll. I've had days were I wake up and I feel great. Then I have days were I wake up and I just want to cry....can't even explain why. Then, I have days like yesterday, were I woke up and felt fine. I took one dose of pain medication and started feeling very nauseous. Really nauseous! So my husband gets the nausea medicine out and I take it. It knocks me out! I slept ALL day until around 5. Then dosed off and on until 7 p.m. or so. I was sooooo depressed because I'd slept my day away.

I think what I'm getting out of this is that the hard days after surgery are what get you down. I can understand why someone who is really sick long term can get really depressed. My body feels so out of energy...not sick...but just out of energy. I don't feel like myself and I'm sick of only having liquid. I will chew on ice just to feel like I'm actually eating something. It's just hard! The physical, emotional, and all the change that this surgery brings on is a life change which of course, I knew and read all about before surgery but there's just no preparing yourself for the first couple of weeks after. It's hard to see past what's happening right now and how I feel right now. But in the back of my mind, I know that in just a little over a week, I get to start eating some normal foods...not all liquid. I also know that in 4-5 weeks, I actually get to focus on weight loss and not so much drinking just to survive...drinking to not lose my hair....drinking when I don't want to drink.

So I think that depression could definitely be something that you want to keep in mind and talk to your doctor about for the first month or so after surgery. I feel like for myself, that once I get past this initial stage, I will be happy. Like I said before, staying focused on hydrating, not losing hair, and mustering up some energy is gruel-some at times. Each day for me...or for the most part, each day gets a little better. I know once I'm really able to focus on weight loss...I will feel the life breathed back into me.

[Beth323 13]

I am thankful I found this topic. For the past couple of months I have been not feeling myself, Tired, not wanting to do things etc. I am on an antidepressant already for menopause. Right now I am in the Presurgical phase scheduled to meet with the dietician next week. I have always been a private person with my feelings, so admitting even to myself I think I am clincally depressed is a tough one. Right now I am attributing it to my weigh 320 I am at my all time highest and find it affecting every part of my life. The things that I enjoy and help me destress I struggle to do, Go for a leisurely walk,, ride my bike, garden. I am hoping when a get my VSG and the weight starts coming off I can find myself again.

[bleelawry 0]

This is a great topic. I've also struggled with depression for the last 20 years +. I believe I've always been depressed even as a child, but was only diagnosed as an adult. Anyway, over the years I've been off and on the anti-depressants and have finally accepted that I will probably need to take meds the rest of my life. It took a while, but after several failed attempts at coming off, I was convinced. There is no shame in this disease, it is like having diabetes and if you are sick, you take the medicine right? Well, the same goes for depression. You may have situational depression which will come and go over a normal lifetime and you may need to take the meds temporarily or you could be like me and have a more chronic form of the disease. In either case, acceptance is the key.

One of the things that I did before surgery is to discuss it and my current mental health state with my PCP as well as my psychiatrist. A lot of my depression lately has been added to because of the excess weight and not being able to be as active as I like to be and I went into this surgery with eyes wide open. Losing weight will not cure my depression but it may allow me to adjust my meds down. That is a win for me.

In addition, adding pain meds to depression can and most always will make it worse. The pain meds are depressants after all. I don't think I was affected as much because I was still on my anti-depressants and I tried not to overdo the pain meds because I knew what they did to my mental health state. The key here is to educate yourself about how depression, meds, situations affect you. Everyone is different.

Hoping things get better for you. One day at a time and reach out to whatever resources you need to help. You do not have to do this alone.

Bridget

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

I had been on Prozac for about five years before my surgery. I had decided to wean myself off of them prior to surgery - after discussing this with my PCP. I haven't felt like I have needed them since surgery. I have been hormonal since the surgery (see my post "I'm in puberty hell") but that has moderated. I haven't been depressed since surgery - I have been TIRED due to low blood pressure and being anemic - but not depressed. I am in touch with my feelings enough to realize I have experienced some grief since the surgery for the loss of my previous relationship with food - but that isn't depression. I may need meds again at some point in my life - I will practice vigilence to make sure if I need them - I will get back on them.

I think once of the things that drives me to depression is feeling out of control about things in my life. Having the sleeve and working the tool successfully has given me a great sense of control, which takes away a big trigger for me.

Good luck.

[lisaenidok 2]

Everything has evened out...but at the beginning ...oh say first 5 months or so.....I became a nervous wreck! Turns out that the med I was on for depression had become too strong for me due to my weight loss. So yeah, if anything doesnt feel quite right, please do consult your doctor. A simple med reduction can make a world of difference HUGS

[italianlady13 80]

well, I have read that in some instances it actually increases depression, however when you are slimmer you can participate in MORE physical activities which could actually give you the natural high (endorphines) which could essentially boost your mood....that's just a guess:)

[TiffanyC 7]

My mother is trying to get her insurance to approve WLS (the bypass is all it covers- it is Medicare Texan Plus) - and the psych eval found her to be depressed even though she has been on medication for depression most of her life. They gave her an additional script and told her they want to eval her for 3 months before approving her for surgery - only if she seems to be out of depression. Apparently it's a pretty big deal the depression one can get after the surgery so they don't want her depressed going into it. Her severe depression right now is mostly due to her excess weight making her immobile. We both feel if she looses weight she won't be as depressed So it's difficult to to accept that though the surgery might eventually help her out of the depression some, it could also make her worse initially when she has to break her food addiction relationship. She is a heavy snacker and so I know that part will be difficult for her. I am torn between wanting her to hurry and get her WLS so she can break free from the eating addiction, and be healthy (I worry she is about to keel over her health is so bad- literally!) - and wanting her to be successful and not have more severe depression - so waiting....waiting is so hard! I waited 10 months for mine to get approved! 2 more months for her to wait is nothing I geuss when you're talking about the rest of your life (which will hopefully be longer since she will be a healthy weight!)