Antidepressants not working after my gastric sleeve surgery

[rensterness 375]

I had a gastric sleeve surgery almost 3 years ago. Ever since my surgery my Effexor 150mg (antidepressant/anti-anxiety med) is not working as effectively. I have been researching and seeing that there is a problem with SSRI absorption after gastric surgery. Has anyone else had this problem? Any solutions?

Effexor was on a list of meds of meds from my doctors office that patients were not allowed to take after sleeve or bypass to to absorption. I was not on it, but I do remember it being on the list as well as being mentioned in my local support group. An effective med that seems to really work and be more and more popular is called Pristiq. Check it out

[Hannah55 79]

I'm taking effexor and I don't have any problems. It's working just fine for me.

[angiem1973 11]

Great thread!! I have been on antidepressants for 14 years (13 years Prozac and switched to Zoloft one year ago). I am two weeks until surgery and my biggest concern was the depression meds.

I know there may be some absorption issues, but not as much as the RNY (that's why I am choosing sleeve). I hope everyone gets the right mix of meds. I always tell people

I'd rather be fat than deal

With depression and anxiety. Hugs to you all

[Susysleever 265]

I asked my shrink if medication becomes ineffective after 3 years. He said he's heard that before.. All that crap they prescribe didn't do a damn good because I was really bipolar 1. A side of lithium as well as side of lamictal seems to be working better

Edited March 13, 2014 by Susysleever

[DSwitcher 35]

Lots of supposition going around here. Opinions and hearsay are not a good way to determine psych med efficacy. I have been on Seroquel XR and regular, depending on the stressors, weather and other factors that affect meds, and klonopin, but four years out on the sleeve, I have never heard of or experienced absorption issues re psych meds...

[rensterness 375]

Lots of supposition going around here. Opinions and hearsay are not a good way to determine psych med efficacy. I have been on Seroquel XR and regular, depending on the stressors, weather and other factors that affect meds, and klonopin, but four years out on the sleeve, I have never heard of or experienced absorption issues re psych meds...

We are answering the questions based on our knowledge and from what we may have experienced or heard from our doctors, just as every other forum.

[FocusOnMeNow 599]

I am replying to this old thread to see if some of you veterans can help me. I feel I am in a catch 22 with my sleeve and my antidepressant Effexor ER which I have been taking at various dosages for about 10 years. What I struggle with is the following: I cannot take XR (capsule) version with the sleeve. I can only dump the capsule's contents into a Vitamin Water shooter (like any other med). Thing is: my sleeve does not like it. Number one side effect of effexor and reason they made it xr to begin with is nausea. I am only 6 days out and do not need any additional nausea in my life right now. In fact, my nausea was so severe that from the moment I woke up from surgery I refused ALL narcotics because my nausea was greater than my pain. I took only tylenol both in hospital and at home and pretty quickly weaned off that as well because even drinking the tylenol made me nauseous.

On the other hand, I may be becoming a shrew. I have a lot of anger that has been bubbling up since I started the pre-op diet. I have heard that becoming a grouch is somewhat a side-effect of many of the weight loss surgeries. Go figure that when we are not stuffing our feelings with food any more they tend to bubble up.

I am definitely going to call my shrink tomorrow but I would certainly love to hear any words of wisdom from those who have been there done that. I believe it is about 8 weeks till I can take the capsules again

[SuperRoo 1]

I am replying to this old thread to see if some of you veterans can help me. I feel I am in a catch 22 with my sleeve and my antidepressant Effexor ER which I have been taking at various dosages for about 10 years. What I struggle with is the following: I cannot take XR (capsule) version with the sleeve. I can only dump the capsule's contents into a Vitamin Water shooter (like any other med). Thing is: my sleeve does not like it. Number one side effect of effexor and reason they made it xr to begin with is nausea. I am only 6 days out and do not need any additional nausea in my life right now. In fact, my nausea was so severe that from the moment I woke up from surgery I refused ALL narcotics because my nausea was greater than my pain. I took only tylenol both in hospital and at home and pretty quickly weaned off that as well because even drinking the tylenol made me nauseous.

On the other hand, I may be becoming a shrew. I have a lot of anger that has been bubbling up since I started the pre-op diet. I have heard that becoming a grouch is somewhat a side-effect of many of the weight loss surgeries. Go figure that when we are not stuffing our feelings with food any more they tend to bubble up.

I am definitely going to call my shrink tomorrow but I would certainly love to hear any words of wisdom from those who have been there done that. I believe it is about 8 weeks till I can take the capsules again

Great surgeon! Dr. Moazzaz was my surgeon in 2010 for the sleeve. I also had the same reaction to narcotics after surgery as well but I got to the point of throwing up before I realized that it was the narcotics causing the nausea.

I don't have words of wisdom, but I can share my experience. I followed the Bariatric office recommendations and switched to the IR version of Effexor for the surgery. It never seemed to work as well as the XR for me, so I eventually switched back to the XR version, and just dumped the pulvules in applesauce or straight on my tongue (making sure not to bite them). I've been taking XR this way for years now, but within the last couple years, it seems I've become more hostile,intolerant than I had been before. Work is a lot worse and more stressful and I'm getting older and am working in a young mind's field (IT).

Originally I was taking the Effexor for headache prevention but it eventually turned out to help lessen my anxiety. Recently, my anxiety spiked into an anxiety attack due to a bad combination of decisions, assuming too many risks at the same time and job insecurity, so I have started recently seeing a psychiatrist (to control my anxiety, and determine if I am bipolar or if I need a mood stabilizer). Her question to me was why was I taking XR if the surgeon recommended no XR, and we switched me back to the IR for the Effexor 3 weeks ago. One major thing I noticed with the IR is that I was no longer irritable (what a relief!). But, I was really sad and down at the end of the IR dose window especially in the evening. The psychiatrist asked me to follow up with the surgeon to find out if XR really is proscribed. I think she is worried about my sadness and wants me to consider XR again, but I'd much rather put up with being sad/down than be so irritable that I keep annoying my work lead. I didn't talk with the nurse practitioner directly. She did leave me a message saying that XR was not contraindicated since the sleeve procedure did not change the intestines, but that the medicine effect could change based on where it is absorbed (she was not answering specifically for Venlafaxine). If a sleeve patient does take XR, they should closely monitor the medication effects on themselves. Sometimes dose amounts or intervals will need to be adjusted.

Since you are so fresh from surgery, maybe the nausea will go away when you are more healed. I personally would treat the XR like strawberry seeds, and not take XR until I was past the point of healing that I could eat strawberries. Until then, I would take the IR (tablet form). But of course, that is just an opinion.

The nurse practitioner sounded so lovely, sensible and full of great information, that I might go back to BPSG office for a follow up.

Good luck with your call. I hope you find something that works for you!

Andrea