Anxiety about surgery anyone?

[KatallacStrong 49]

Hey y'all so I went for my first consultation with my surgeon last Tuesday. I really like him and have come to terms with making the decision to move forward with the VSG surgery. I have an anxiety disorder and even though I am excited to have this surgery....I feel like I have been in a pseudo anxiety/panic attack about it for the last two days. I have gone to my doctor for the past 4 months (my 5th apt is next week) so things are moving much faster than normal since I have all those documented visits so we scheduled my endoscopy for next Friday. Does anyone else suffer from generalized anxiety disorder? IF so did you panic months and weeks before surgery? I hate it, it is SO damn hard to breathe and I feel like there is nothing I can do to help it. My doc gave me some meds for serious attacks (that I took yesterday) but it doesn't seem to help much; I was only able to sleep because I put a heating pad on my chest.

Any insight would be great......or really just to know it's not just me that others have experienced this as well.

Thanks

[Letsgetgoing2018 448]

6 minutes ago, KatallacStrong said:

Hey y'all so I went for my first consultation with my surgeon last Tuesday. I really like him and have come to terms with making the decision to move forward with the VSG surgery. I have an anxiety disorder and even though I am excited to have this surgery....I feel like I have been in a pseudo anxiety/panic attack about it for the last two days. I have gone to my doctor for the past 4 months (my 5th apt is next week) so things are moving much faster than normal since I have all those documented visits so we scheduled my endoscopy for next Friday. Does anyone else suffer from generalized anxiety disorder? IF so did you panic months and weeks before surgery? I hate it, it is SO damn hard to breathe and I feel like there is nothing I can do to help it. My doc gave me some meds for serious attacks (that I took yesterday) but it doesn't seem to help much; I was only able to sleep because I put a heating pad on my chest.

Any insight would be great......or really just to know it's not just me that others have experienced this as well.

Thanks

Hi. I suffer from anxiety and have had many panic attacks. They are horrible. Key for me was getting on the right meds to control them. I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow and I am panicking because I didn’t hold my Vitamins. Didn’t know I had to. Get a good psychiatrist who will be patient with you until you find the right med combo. Best of luck.

[lucidreverie 13]

I also have anxiety and it made the decision to elect a surgery very difficult. I had Gastric Bypass one month ago today and I survived 😁. The hardest thing after was nausea. The pain was fine I was on a pain pump. It's a challenge but I'm down 25 pounds the first month. Try to focus on the positive outcome and do plenty of things to relieve stress. Best of luck!

[Matt Z 4,139]

Anxieties about surgery (any) are normal. Don't worry about any fears or anxieties, they are natural and normal and there isn't a need to worry about worrying! I have anxieties as well, lots of them. Just find peace in your decision and the fact that these folks are professionals. You have to surrender to the process a bit, but it's well worth it!

[KatallacStrong 49]

On 07/09/2018 at 12:45, Letsgetgoing2018 said:

Hi. I suffer from anxiety and have had many panic attacks. They are horrible. Key for me was getting on the right meds to control them. I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow and I am panicking because I didn’t hold my Vitamins. Didn’t know I had to. Get a good psychiatrist who will be patient with you until you find the right med combo. Best of luck.

Thank you! I knew I wasn’t the only one but it’s nice to hear it from other going through the same thing as me you know? Congrats on surgery! I would be panicking too if I didn’t know I had to hold my Vitamins, hang in there💜

I do have meds that I take daily for my anxiety along with some others that I’m to only take while in an attack. I took them yesterday but it was only a bandaid sadly.

[KatallacStrong 49]

4 minutes ago, Matt Z said:

Anxieties about surgery (any) are normal. Don't worry about any fears or anxieties, they are natural and normal and there isn't a need to worry about worrying! I have anxieties as well, lots of them. Just find peace in your decision and the fact that these folks are professionals. You have to surrender to the process a bit, but it's well worth it!

Thanks Matt,

I have tried to let go and leave it in the hands of professionals which has works thus far, but I'm not sure what happened this weekend. It was like one minute I was swimming with family and the next I had to get out cause of chest pains. The last time I felt that was when my husband took me to the ER where they thought I had Pleurisy since the symptoms are virtually the same.

Once I got to my PCP he told me I didn't have Pleurisy that I had just experienced an anxiety/panic attack. If my chest would stop hurting I could probably start to move past it; I just don't know how to make it stop hurting or how to reduce my heart rate. My Fitbit told me at lunch today that I hit my 30 minute activity for the day goal and I hadn't done anything relative to exercise or exertion at all today; I am actually going to skip it today since I am struggling to breathe as it is.

[ChellNC 162]

You got this! You already made it through 4 months of the program!

Meeting with the surgeon is a big deal. For me it made it this whole thing more real, even though I've been in the program since January. Last Monday I had my visit and my husband had to go along with me. Since that appointment I've had a number of mini panic attacks. I'm excited to have the surgery but then my mind starts swimming and overloads on all the thoughts, worries and fears. Then I remind myself that this is worth it and I need to be excited for the future.

Hopefully that helps you see that you aren't alone with the anxiety.

Part of my mind is scared and afraid of life after a big weight loss. My entire life I've struggled with my weight. Do I know how to function as a non obese adult? Do you think those things too? I try to keep reminding myself that this is a great thing for my body and my future.

[KatallacStrong 49]

On 07/09/2018 at 21:54, ChellNC said:

You got this! You already made it through 4 months of the program!

Meeting with the surgeon is a big deal. For me it made it this whole thing more real, even though I've been in the program since January. Last Monday I had my visit and my husband had to go along with me. Since that appointment I've had a number of mini panic attacks. I'm excited to have the surgery but then my mind starts swimming and overloads on all the thoughts, worries and fears. Then I remind myself that this is worth it and I need to be excited for the future.

Hopefully that helps you see that you aren't alone with the anxiety.

Part of my mind is scared and afraid of life after a big weight loss. My entire life I've struggled with my weight. Do I know how to function as a non obese adult? Do you think those things too? I try to keep reminding myself that this is a great thing for my body and my future.

Thank you SO much Chell! This is exactly how I’m feeling and I suppose since I met with the surgeon last week that’s why made it feel real to me and I just have not coped with that very well at all. Which is so odd because I am excited, I am ready; it’s taken me 2 years to even decide to do this. I too think like you...will I be able to function as a normal sized adult? What will my immediate post-op be like? There are SO many questions I find myself overloading my mind with. Thank you so much for sharing; it gives me a piece of mind💜💜

[ChellNC 162]

22 minutes ago, KatallacStrong said:

31 minutes ago, ChellNC said:

You got this! You already made it through 4 months of the program!

Meeting with the surgeon is a big deal. For me it made it this whole thing more real, even though I've been in the program since January. Last Monday I had my visit and my husband had to go along with me. Since that appointment I've had a number of mini panic attacks. I'm excited to have the surgery but then my mind starts swimming and overloads on all the thoughts, worries and fears. Then I remind myself that this is worth it and I need to be excited for the future.

Hopefully that helps you see that you aren't alone with the anxiety.

Part of my mind is scared and afraid of life after a big weight loss. My entire life I've struggled with my weight. Do I know how to function as a non obese adult? Do you think those things too? I try to keep reminding myself that this is a great thing for my body and my future.

Thank you SO much Chell! This is exactly how I’m feeling and I suppose since I met with the surgeon last week that’s why made it feel real to me and I just have not coped with that very well at all. Which is so odd because I am excited, I am ready; it’s taken me 2 years to even decide to do this. I too think like you...will I be able to function as a normal sized adult? What will my immediate post-op be like? There are SO many questions I find myself overloading my mind with. Thank you so much for sharing; it gives me a piece of mind💜💜

You are very welcome! We can help one another through the journey. It helps me to know someone gets it and understands that my mind is a bit wonky. 💜

[KatallacStrong 49]

18 hours ago, lucidreverie said:

I also have anxiety and it made the decision to elect a surgery very difficult. I had Gastric Bypass one month ago today and I survived 😁. The hardest thing after was nausea. The pain was fine I was on a pain pump. It's a challenge but I'm down 25 pounds the first month. Try to focus on the positive outcome and do plenty of things to relieve stress. Best of luck!

Thank you! I agree that it's definitely a difficult decision and even worse with anxiety on top of everything. I have been thinking about doing this for years now and have finally committed. Thankfully I knew my insurance requirements and am nearly done with meeting them, but that's kind of like a doubled ended sword; it's making the process faster. That's both a good and bad thing; good to get to my surgery date quicker but not so good in regards to processing it mentally.

[KatallacStrong 49]

8 hours ago, ChellNC said:

You are very welcome! We can help one another through the journey. It helps me to know someone gets it and understands that my mind is a bit wonky. 💜

Yes EXACTLY! That was my entire reasoning behind making this post; I knew I could not be the only one. I have finally started to feel better where my chest doesn't hurt and I can breathe normally. I'd definitely like it if we helped each other

[ChellNC 162]

@KatallacStrong Glad you're feeling better! Got my date today for August 23. So glad I don't have to start my liquid diet before my birthday this month. Haaa!

[KatallacStrong 49]

On 07/10/2018 at 18:48, ChellNC said:

@KatallacStrong Glad you're feeling better! Got my date today for August 23. So glad I don't have to start my liquid diet before my birthday this month. Haaa!

Thanks girl! And OMG that’s AWESOME that you got your date!! It would be a dream for me to have it done in late August 🤞🤞🤞

[ChellNC 162]

45 minutes ago, KatallacStrong said:

54 minutes ago, ChellNC said:

@KatallacStrong Glad you're feeling better! Got my date today for August 23. So glad I don't have to start my liquid diet before my birthday this month. Haaa!

Thanks girl! And OMG that’s AWESOME that you got your date!! It would be a dream for me to have it done in late August 🤞🤞🤞

You're welcome! Thank you!!! Crossing my fingers for you!