Weight Loss Surgery right for me? Which one? Mental Illness Concerns

[Butterfly512 115]

Hi everyone, I am new to the boards after lingering awhile back when I was first considering wls

At that time (a couple years ago) after going to the consultation & beginning to start the process, I changed my mind but now after getting married, having my son, etc. I think it might be a better time to do it now anyways, & after several more attempts at several different diets ..again, I need a solution to the constant struggle with my weight.

Fyi, I am 35yrs old, 5'4 & weigh 200 pounds...it may seem less overweight than some people getting wls and I feel like I might hide some of it well (from what I am told) but in the end I am miserable, depressed and discouraged constantly about my weight :-( everything else in my life has been finally great for 3 years now but I still have this void that being overweight and unhappy with myself causes, it affects everything in my life, it consumes me everyday when I constantly start different diets only to fail, & feel horrible and beat myself up everytime I get off track. It puts a strain on my relationship even though it's a great one, I am still hard to deal with when I am always moody back n forth depending on how I am doing with the diet I am currently on :-/ and I get crabby when I am always hungry and feeling deprived when trying to limit my calories/carbs, etc.

I really feel that my weight problem started when my mental illness problem came out & after being put on bipolar meds 15 years ago..I gained weight from certain meds, then lost and gained again, had my first child, then have been overweight ever since with only a couple successful attempts to lose weight only to gain it back from not sticking to good eating habits & exercise plus I always went for a quick fix with diet pills mostly :-/

My concerns with wls are mostly my bipolar disorder, I am definitely an emotional eater, but I feel like my only emotion that causes overeating, binge eating, possible food addiction (especially after quitting smoking), etc. All of those are caused by my feelings about my weight and hating the way I look, I eat to comfort myself, feeling better only temporarily until I beat myself up about failing another diet and being depressed about my weight again.

It's a vicious cycle. But I Think WLS could be the answer finally.

I only worry about the mental part of it with the bipolar, I am stable after being on the right medication for years but there are still symptoms I deal with everyday. And I don't want those to interfere or cause me more distress, but I feel like the constant stress & discouragement I have been dealing with for 10+ years with my weight can't get any worse..only better with wls as a solution/tool.

I want to lose weight like yesterday though lol.. I want to get skinny now & my impatience, always ruins any attempts too..but only because I keep failing, procrastinating, and prolonging losing the weight that way. Every event I want to lose weight for, stresses me out because it comes and goes without me losing weight, I feel stressed and depressed leading up to it..and vicious cycle again !

So, I am considering the lapband (several family members had success with it)..but I have been looking into the sleeve also, not sure which would be best for me until I talk to a Dr again, But I am worried the band might not be enough for me to lose/keep the weight off with my other problems?

I also don't have support from family, they think I am fine how I am, or should be able to lose weight with diet and exercise, etc.

And my husband is supportive in a way but he's fine with how I am and doesn't like my mood swings when I am dieting :-/

Any advice on all of that is appreciated, sorry for rambling..

I had to keep stopping and starting typing the post while my 7 month old needed me too lol

Thanks :-)

[gowalking 10,790]

Talk to your doctor about all the concerns you wrote us about. I won't offer any advice other than to say that changing the head is harder than changing the body. I've lost all my excess weight and am now on year two of therapy to fix the inside of me now that I've fixed the outside.

Good for you that you understand some of your behaviors so that you can work on changing them. I think we're all guilty of wanting instant results but know that with the band, it can take a while. You really need to focus on long term success rather than immediate results. If you follow the program, you will get there...it just may take some time.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.

[Debbie Jean 406]

Being bipolar is a medical illness that as you know has no cure, only treatment. People who are not bipolar or who have never loved someone who is bipolar really cannot understand the unique challenges of undertaking WLS of any kind with this illness.

Talk to your treatment team, psychologist and psychiatrist. If you are relatively stable WLS may be a possibility. You will definitely need to be very closely monitored as you lose so that medication adjustment can be made and your moods can be watched.

I understand the problems with bipolar medications and weight gain. It's so frustrating! One doctor said to me that you gain 10 lbs just taking the script to the pharmacy to be filled! A psychopharmacologist told me that this is because it takes the lid of hunger and you just can never feel satisfied. This is one area that WLS surgery can help since physically you can feel full on much less.

Youalready have a DH who can be supportive. That's so important.

I'm sending big hugs your way and wishing the very best! It sounds like you have so much happiness already in your life. Hopefully you can put this one last piece in place!

[Puppypaws57 137]

{{{HUGS}}} I have bipolar and am also fat. I hate being fat. I didn't get the gastric bypass and got the band instead (that was all that was offered back them) strictly due to my mental illness.

It has taken me years to get on the correct medication and I just couldn't take a chance that they might not work correctly anymore. The thought of suffering like I had before I was adjusted properly was scary. Everyone advised that there was no evidence that the medications might not work as before, but it was MY Illness and I couldn't take a chance of suffering if they wouldn't work.

Unfortunately, it is only your decision and it is a lonely one at that. I am 57, so that might be a factor too. I haven't lost like I had hoped with the lap band. It is reallly only my fault because I don't work "the program" like I should.

I chose to be mentally healthy rather than thinner. You know your experiences.

Please contact me if you wish to talk further.

[terrydumont46 1,954]

I am bipolar. I have type b where I lean towards depression. I am on 5 different medications for my disease. I have a healthy relationship with my psychiatrist and he was one of my support persons prior and during wls. none of my medications were changed. I have some real lows and we were about to change one of them but I pulled out of it without tweaking my med's. yes you may have a harder time losing wt. but being overweight and doing nothing about it I think, would cause me to be more depressed and out of control. wls is having control of that aspect of your life. it will make you feel better. but don't expect wls to correct your bipolar. or your med's you are on. I wish I could take those medications out of my life but I know I never will be able to. you have to be very compliant with the lap band. if you don't think you can you need to go to another surgery. I have the band but might be revising. I had the band fail, my doctors both pcp and surgeon fail which caused depression so I have failed too. it is very very depressing. I cry when I talk with my husband about what is going on with me. but now I am looking forward to talking with my surgeon and the possibility of revision to a malasorbtion type of surgery. I wish you luck. as long as you put in the work the band is terrific.

[blondebomb 580]

this is strictly my experience and journey...I have several dx's ..mine has changed soo many times depending on the psych I seen over the past 25 yrs. It's been Bipolar, MDD, PTSD, and then back to Bipolar/with MD...I understand I was reading your story and my goodness I thought I was reading mine. bless your heart. I lived through that vicious cycle the past 30 yrs. But mine went further. after 25 yrs of battling weight (up and down up and down) and many specialist I was also dx with hashi's. ( autoimmune disease) that destroyed one side of my thyroid I was put on armour a yr ago right before going through the process of getting the sleeve. I also dx with insulin resistant, pre diabetic. I ate also out of all emotions and craved simple carves to no end! I ended gaining like 30 some pds within a 6 wk period that's when my endocrinologists dug deeper with extensive BW and ended up doing US on thyroid and biopsy. I also had already been through 12 yrs under dr care for the "mental" issues and treatment with psycho therapy which done me wonders got other perspectives and causes of my underlying eating issues and I hadn't even thought about the sleeve bc I had no idea it was even being done. yea I thought about WLS in the past yrs but I always thought I didn't qualify till 2 of my specialist directed me to my surgeon. after being put on armour for my thyroid and I got my BW in the normal range before I was accepted for the sleeve , I was on a cocktail of 4 drugs for the mental diseases over the past 12 yrs it was 2 yrs ago I got weaned down to 2 and now I am at 1 and doing great. since getting my thyroid levels at optimal levels my mental issues has improved so much(for me) I was released by my psych and endo to have the surgery my highest weight was close to 275 and without the surgery I was headed to the 300 plus and I was miserable where I was. it does make you have a more depressive attitude toward yourself and it turns to being angry and disgust with yourself (talking about me and how I treated myself and myself internal dialogue) which made me a very outward moody person I hated life and could not stand the idea of facing a day which I know the MDD/Bipolar also had its affect on that thinking as well. But I am 10 months PO over 100 pds down. I no longer turn to food for that self comfort you mentioned that only last a short while till I bottomed out again and repeated this cycle to numb myself and how I was internalizing and it was a vicious cycle. I understand. I am soo thankful my 2 specialist directed me to the sleeve. my internist said I was candidate and the sleeve with me on daily meds there's no malabsorption issue and no redirecting organs and has a huge success rate as long as I DO MY PART and STICK TO MY PROGRAM. I had already started the lifestyle changes 2 yrs prior to this. I had already removed all processed sugars, breads, pastas etc bc of my autoimmune diseases and I had already dropped the calories while doing this of eating the less the 600 cal a day and yes for those who doesn't understand the starvation of this reduced cal intake and still kept getting bigger and bigger it happens. I am the testiment and charted. I was hungry all the time! but my body was in war with itself and it got to where everything I ate it stored. now I eat to live and have been released from prison and loving life. I am 51 and my life is just starting. do your research and I am so glad you asked this question. talk with your dr's you trust and that will support you. there's alot to the process. but SOOO worth it. I have found myself and relearning each day. as long as I am stable which I have been for a while I'm doing great. am I perfect? heck NO! but my awsome days totally outweigh my bad days now. my self esteem is out the roof. I have a dear friend who is over 300 pds and she came over one day and asked me how I have been losing weight. she is bipolar (not sure if its actual dx from a psych or self dx) but she has stood by that for over 40 yrs and I told her about my stopping the sugar addiction a few yrs ago and her words were "I don't see myself losing weight or getting off the sugar addiction wagon" and of course I said strict portion control..(her and hubs lives for food) its their recreation...(Iv been there done that)! I said as long as you tell yourself that it wont change. I am hoping my new life changes will inspire her! sorry such a long post I just wanted to share what I went through and I hope this helped. keep us posted dear and best wishes..xx

[Butterfly512 115]

Thank you for sharing your story & encouraging words, and thank you to everyone for the replies & advice

I am meeting with a bariatric surgeon this Wednesday to discuss my options and concerns.

[Madmax68 227]

Hi there - I have Bipolar II and was stable for two years before WLS (I had the VSG almost 6 weeks ago). I don't think I would have been ready for surgery if I had not had the healing I have with my current psychologist and psychiatrist. They were both very supportive of the surgery and wrote recommendations to that effect.

That being said, I opted for the VSG to ensure that there would be no problems with absorption of my meds. I know weight loss might be slower, but value my mental health over anything else.

Please discuss this with your healthcare team - I'm sure together, you will come up with the option that is best for you.

[Puppypaws57 137]

Butterfly - please let us know what your doctor says. :-)

[Butterfly512 115]

Ugh, so I asked my psychiatrist for her input..she thinks wls should only be for a medical condition & keeps suggesting weight watchers and said therapy with that is best.

This bums me out because I really wanted her support.

I have tried every diet including ww over & over.. yes I need behavioral help with the weight problem too, but diets aren't working with the constant hunger & emotional eating, etc.

[Puppypaws57 137]

so sorry to hear that.

What are you going to do?

Terry

[Butterfly512 115]

Well it's not up to her...I will do what I think is best, just not sure if wls is the best option yet..but I am out of options and exhausted from so many years of struggling with this.

[Puppypaws57 137]

Both obesity and bipolar are b*&(hes aren't they?

[Butterfly512 115]

Yes they are, and anyone that hasn't gone thru it doesn't understand :-/

[woo woo 872]

Well. She's a psychiatrist and not a bariatrician. So, I wouldn't weigh her input on wls all that heavily if it was me.