Struggling With Major Depression

[Anewman 2]

I had my surgery in March of 2011 and I was over 390 pounds. I'm now holding pretty steady at 225 pounds but went through a major depressive episode a year ago, was actually hospitalized for a Rx drug overdose. I couldn't believe this happened to me...I actually tried to commit suicide and was unconscious on my bathroom floor for nearly ten hours. The docs couldn't believe I survived and said I must have had an angel with me. My wife and daughter found me and my son has been so confused by what happened. They thinking had a brain aneurysm not a psychiatric episode. The depression has remained. I'm on meds and go to counseling but I struggle every day. I have stopped exercising, am smoking again, and throw up nearly every day. I am hiding how poorly I'm doing from the world because I still get positive accolades for my weight loss. Can anyone relate?

[Sissy Kay 39]

Dear Anewman,

I wish I knew what to tell you to make everything better for you. You have made tremendous improvements in your life (so very few peple can lose 165 pounds and keep it off!) but it's hard to keep all those plates spinning in the air, isn't it?

I have suffered from depression for over 20 years and would have probably committed suicide if not for modern anti-depressants. If you're still struggling, I'd say that your doctor hasn't found the right medication for you yet. Demand to try a different med or to adjust the amount you're taking. (BTW -- What medication are you on?) You may need to go to a psychiatrist who really knows his/her pharmaceuticals, because a combination of different meds may be what you need.

One thing that will really help your mood is exercise. Don't make a big deal of it and think you have to run 3 miles a day. Just start with going for a non-stressful walk. You'll feel SO much better about yourself. I'd say that my mental attitude is improved a good 25% if I'm getting in regular exercise.

The throwing up you're doing everyday sounds awful. You've got to talk to a doctor about that soon -- you're probably damaging your stomach and esophogus lining. Losing weight is important, but that has to be combined with a healthy mental attitude. Find a doctor you respect and who is willing to take the time to look at your total health and well-being.

You sound like a pretty intelligent guy and sometimes it's tougher on the smart ones. Smart people are too aware of everything going on; you can't just say "Awww" and flip your brain onto some other funner topic.

I don't know if any of what I've written will be helpful to you, but please know that I understand and can relate to several of the challenges you're facing right now.

[Anewman 2]

Dear Sissy,

You are very kind to share your personal experience with me. It is of some comfort to know I am not alone with this debilitating illness. I've struggled with anxiety for years and years and the depression was very mild in the past and then after surgery; I just completely fell into a deep depression. I take Zoloft and neurontin and I believe the meds have done all they can do for me physically and chemically. I know the rest of the work must come from within me. Exercise, better habits of mind and body and real mental health work are what I must do but I am so tired that it has become much harder to do the real work. The thanksgiving holiday was especially difficult...I have come to dread the holidays but do all I can to give my family the best I can so that keeps me going.

[amytug 996]

I haven't read he replies but k wanted to subscribe so I can read them all later.

I suffer from intermittent depression and it gets to the point where I consider ending it all. Though I've never tried Because I know when the depression ends, I am happy with my life. And I am mommy to six beautiful children who need me.

The thing that has worked the absolute best for me is some natural nutrients called empowerPlus from truehope.com. They also worked wonderfully for my bipolar friend. We are not well off, but I still made it a priority for a time, to buy these. They have great customer support. The first two weeks are very very hard, but when you finally even out its so beautiful. It's very expensive, but SO worth it. I can't afford it at all now so I just started back on antidepressants.

If you ever want someone to talk to, I'm a good listener.

[lessofmeismore 1,405]

Hey Amy, what are the natural nutrients called?

I wasn't sure if its just called power plus or something else.

Thanks!

[amytug 996]

Oh, I just reread my post and saw all the typos. It is called emPower plus, from true hope.com.

I am very skeptical About a lot of things and was very skeptical about this. But I was blown away at how normal and good I felt on the empowerPlus.

I was surprised at first that you take 5 of them, 3 times a day. Also, now that I'm thinking about this after coffee, I just remembered that you are supposed to go off other Vitamins when you start taking these. They have great customer support that answers a lot of questions, I would not call on Friday though, Unless you really need to talk to someone because they are very busy on Fridays. People wanting to get their questions answered before the weekend.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask

[Sissy Kay 39]

Dear Sissy,

You are very kind to share your personal experience with me. It is of some comfort to know I am not alone with this debilitating illness. I've struggled with anxiety for years and years and the depression was very mild in the past and then after surgery; I just completely fell into a deep depression. I take Zoloft and neurontin and I believe the meds have done all they can do for me physically and chemically. I know the rest of the work must come from within me. Exercise, better habits of mind and body and real mental health work are what I must do but I am so tired that it has become much harder to do the real work. The thanksgiving holiday was especially difficult...I have come to dread the holidays but do all I can to give my family the best I can so that keeps me going.

Dear ANewMan,

(I just went back through and re-read this message -- sorry it's so long. I usually don't have the patience to write quite so much, but I just had a lot I thought needed to be said!)

We all know that this surgery really messes with your hormones and it sounds like it did quite a number on yours. Not very fair, but it's good that you can recognize where this thing got so out of hand. (I wonder if surgeons will start tracking patients with depression symptoms in the future and realize this can be a real issue.)

Unless you've tried a lot of different drugs, I wouldn't be that sure that a different drug might not work better. There are so many drugs out there and they all work differently, which is what makes it tough for psychiatrists to know what to prescribe -- they're going to normally just prescribe the ones that seemed to work for their other patients. I know it's a pain to have to try new meds, but I think it could be important for you.

I was probably depressed starting in childhood, but was able to put-on-a-happy-face until I had my children. At that time, I finally sought help. I went through 6 or 8 different kinds of antidepressants my first few years of therapy, and I saw no relief to my depression until I got Effexor (-- please note that I'm NOT recommending it, it just happened to work well for me, but everybody is different). I've been on Effexor for over 18 years; for the first 6 or 8 of those years, I had to take the maximum dosage, which I believe was 300mg/day. Things did eventually get better for me (don't know why), so that I gradually got down to about 150mg/day. But the best thing that happened is that I finally learned enough about my own head to be able to say to myself: "Yeah -- this time/incident (or whatever) really hurts. But it's not such a big deal that you should let it take over your life -- This is a chemical imbalance that's making you hurt this bad, not the incident. You need to increase your meds a little until you feel better." And sure enough, by increasing the meds that worked for me, by the next day, I wouldn't feel like life couldn't go on. Things just weren't so overwhelming. That is what I would wish could happen for you, NewMan.

The reason I worked hard to be able to lower the dosage of my meds is because my meds, while they helped me so much, they played knick-knack with my sex life. I'm now down to 75mg per day, and sex is SO much better. My husband can attest to that!

Yes -- you have a lot of work to do, and it ain't for the weak-of-heart or weak-of-mind! (While it really has nothing to do with your particular situation, did you ever see the movie "A Beautiful Mind"? Wow -- I'm sure I could never do what that guy did without meds!) So, where do you start? Depression can be such an overwhelming and debiliating condition. My psychiatrist used to always tell me, "If you'll just make yourself exercise, you'll feel better, but you usually CAN'T make yourself exercise until you feel better." (She was a really brilliant lady who has since retired, unfortunately.) If I could only get you to start exercising, NewMan . . .

You say that you're so terribly tired and NO WONDER! (Sorry -- I really like to take advantage of capital letters, exclamation marks, underscores, etc. because I want you to realize when I have raised my voice.) If you're throwing up nearly everyday and smoking and not exercising and suffering from depression and anxiety, ANYBODY would feel run down. Even more important than exercising, you need to get your stomach issues straightened out immediately (I resisted underlining "immediately", but it should be). Get in to see your doctor NOW. This isn't a good thing and it's not going to get any easier to solve if you put it off for a few more months . . .

It's really great that you try to do what you can for your family during the holidays and all -- that can be very tough. Unfortunately, one of your kids may inherit your tendency to anxiety or depression. Wouldn't it be great if you can solve this problem so that they will learn how to also deal with such an issue if they have to when they grow up?

Please let me know how things go for you, NewMan. I try to check my home email once a day on weekends, but only a couple times during the weekday. (My own sleeve surgery is Dec. 3rd; I'll be home for 3 weeks, but I have no clue what to expect for me, being an older gal. )

Your friend,

Sissy Kay

[CAS621 2]

I had my surgery in March of 2011 and I was over 390 pounds. I'm now holding pretty steady at 225 pounds but went through a major depressive episode a year ago' date=' was actually hospitalized for a Rx drug overdose. I couldn't believe this happened to me...I actually tried to commit suicide and was unconscious on my bathroom floor for nearly ten hours. The docs couldn't believe I survived and said I must have had an angel with me. My wife and daughter found me and my son has been so confused by what happened. They thinking had a brain aneurysm not a psychiatric episode. The depression has remained. I'm on meds and go to counseling but I struggle every day. I have stopped exercising, am smoking again, and throw up nearly every day. I am hiding how poorly I'm doing from the world because I still get positive accolades for my weight loss. Can anyone relate?[/quote']

I am diagnosed with Major Depression and have been on medication for almost 20 years. Throughout the years I have had to have adjustments to my meds. While my depression is biological it is certainly made worse by stress and life events - good or bad events. Remember that you have had a major life change. The surgery effects our mind and body. I am newly sleeved but my mom who also has depression had a gastric bypass 10 years ago. She had to go through several medication adjustments. She mostly does really well but occasionally needs a change. This is also typical of the medications for depression. Over time, they may not work as well.

Even without surgery our medication needs to be adjusted from time to time. It's the nature of the condition. Don't give up on finding the right combination and working with a good psychiatrist.

I also recommend counseling. I do not go regularly but do go often if I am having more depression than usual. It helps. Know that you are not alone. Many of us with depression experience the same feelings. And the surgery is the type of life event that can send you spiraling. Even positive, good things can make negative changes in our mental health. I went through a bad time before my surgery and have had some hard days since.

As hard as it is, try and get yourself to do things you enjoy, walk a little, talk to others. I know from experience that is easier said than done. I much rather curl up with a book and forget but then in the end I feel worse. I just can tell you that I understand, I really do.

[Gracie39 9]

I deal with Major Depression and Anxiety and am almost 3 years post op. I've been on antidepressants for 16 years and they worked great for me until after my surgery.

I've been researching recently and have found that our stomach is our "2nd brain" and that 95% of our serotonin is found there. So having 85% of our stomachs cut out can cause major chemical embalances. I'm also reading people discuss this and say not to take the XR version of medicines and the crush the meds up or take them out of their capsule, chew them up and take them. They are saying they get better absorption like this. I am willing to try it and plan on calling my doctor this week to try the regular Effexor... Not XR...

Google "stomach 2nd brain"... Very interesting information

[Changing39 33]

Thanks for the Google idea Gracie.

I also suffer from depression and have done a small amount of research on Proteins in the stomach and how it would effect me if my stomach was 85% gone. I quickly read a tiny portion of an article in your Google search idea. Along with reading various topics from this website, I'm really worried about my depression getting worse or my meds (or any meds for that matter) not working any longer.

How soon after surgery can you start taking meds again?

Gracie, would you have this surgery again if you knew how it would affect your depression?

[Gracie39 9]

Changing39,

After researching and calling my Walgreens pharmacist for suggestions, I have been chewing up my Effexor and taking it with juice. Chewing it up helps it absorb and because we are lacing stomach acid the acid from the juice also helps with absorption. It's been 1 week since I've been doing this and I feel SO much better!!! I also take Vyvanse for adult ADHD and I simple undo the capsule and put the powder from the capsule under my tongue. Both meds are working again and I'm SO happy I am figuring this out. I take 150mg of Effexor and the pharmacist suggested taking Regular, not XR, 2 times a day in 75mg each.

Would I have the surgery again... Yes;)...

I was so unhappy before. It's been 3 years and I've gone from 200lbs down to 135lbs

It's one less struggle in life. It's a huge weight off my shoulders! I don't think about food all the time anymore and I can just throw on clothes and go and not worry about how fat I look.

The surgery comes with its risks, but so does being overweight. It's definitely been worth the risk for me!

[Changing39 33]

Thanks so much Gracie. That was very helpful!

[Gracie39 9]

Changing39,

I continued taking my meds in the hospital after surgery even though my nurses told me not to. My Effexor has a very short life and if I didn't take them in the hospital I would have started major withdrawal symptoms. So, I chose to take my meds and it did not hurt my stomach at all. If your meds are crushed up it will be even easier on your new stomach.