15 months -- anxiety link?

hi all, just wanted to say HI and happy holidays to all! 15 months gone, can you believe it? I'm down to 126 lbs, feeling great! At my annual checkup, my doctor couldn't believe I didn't have any loose skin. She thought it was unbelievable to lose 100 lbs and not have loose skin anywhere. Thank you, genes! I did start going up on Lexapro (anti-anxiety drug) per my PCP. I believe there is probably a link between having anxiety that is causing me some sleepless nights and this WLS. Before the WLS, I dealt with stress and anxiety by eating. Now that I don't have that option, I'm forced to deal with my anxiety head-on. I think it's a very interesting side-effect. Anybody else notice heightened anxiety post-WLS? Happy Holidays all! Amy

DEFINITELY! I deal with it by exercising or no sleep. I really don't want to start on any drug, so I keep exercising! I'm 2 lbs below my goal and 22 lbs below my surgeon's goal, but I do have loose skin...my age is to blame partly, I'm sure. At 53, and 35 years of being MO, that skin just isn't going to shrink!

Hi pam, you're doing it right if you can stay away from meds, that is the best for sure! i wasn' t MO until recently, about 1 year, although i feel like i've been fat all of my life or at least struggled with it all my life for sure. that's the only reason i don't have loose skin i think. i would like to thank my genes, but i don't think it is that. you can get rid of loose skin with a TT all the same. when my doctor saw me a few weeks ago, she assumed i had gotten one. anyway, thank god for control hose! i haven't told many people about starting up on lexapro because there is a part of me that takes this as defeat that i can't deal with my anxiety on my own. i exercise in the morning but tried to switch it up to night to see if that helped me sleep. i tried everything from baths to sleeping pills my doctor put me on to drinking nighttime tea to sex! nothing put me to sleep. when my doctor became a little perplexed that sleeping pills weren't even helping, she determined that wasn't the root of my problems ,that it was more anxiety-driven and insomnia was just an effect of the anxiety. she was definitely right. thanks for your response, amy

something to think about is your vitamins....I went to a support group meeting and they provided us with symptons of certain vitamin deficiancies..and insomnia or lack of sleep was one sypmtom for several definciancies..i would have to look for the paper but i too have trouble sleeping..my husband being a helicopter pilot in a war zone has something to do with that also i think..but i found it interesting and maybe something to think about if you dont want to take meds..like pam i think had mentioned...just food for thought. congrats on the loss...and the skin...your lucky..i have hardly any after also..but hardly any boobies too....they are mostly skin i think hahaha...so if that counts for saggin skin there ya go... again congrats on the loss.. jennifer r

i just looked it up online and thiamine b1 deficiancy symtoms is anxiety and sleeplessness.(as well as other symptoms listed) When i had labs done at the reguar times it was fine but it can fluctuate obviously as everything does... but maybe concentrate on getting thiamine in your diet. I know you can have bad confussion and tingling of the extremidies because at 3 months out i had the lowest our army hospital has seen in a wls...but it is up to par now...but i found the vitamins alone sometimes dont get the job done...get it with diet ..i think sunflower seeds have thiamine in it...i would check it out on line or ask your wls...i go to an army hospital where they are always researching things so i feel i am getting good informationa nd just wanted to pass it along...but i also found the vitamins and minerals deficiancy list on line... so there is a link...with wls..i think its the vitamins and minerals... jennifer r

hi jennifer, thanks for looking this up! my doctor looked into this and did my labs. the only vitamins/minerals i was deficient in was iron (showed in my lab) and vitamin D (came up in my bone density scan results). my thiamine levels were fine and have been since i started my journey! what made me realize this was not insomnia as the cause, but more a side-effect of something deeper was that even sleeping pills that my doctor had me on (restoril, ristaline, and ambien) were not helping me get some sleep. that's when she said your brain is still on, this is not a sleeping problem at all, this is an anxiety issue. i do think that as former MOs, we used food as a crutch during particulary stressful times. we don't have that crutch, so we're left in the raw to deal with these emotions. i never really learned how to deal with anxiety without turning to donuts! so this is new to me and i'm hopeful that i can get off the lexapro in a few months and learn how to cope with all this stress and anxiety head-on, no drugs, no donuts! anyway, it's all very interesting isn't it?! thanks again, amy

Hi Amy, It is so hard to believe 15 months have gone by. It was so fast. I've been on prozac since before the surgery. (I believe the whole world should be on it. LOL) But with the holidays approaching, the stress level is increasing and just yesterday I was thinking I would have to increase my medicine so I could make it thru the holiday. And I know it is from not having the comfort of food to turn to. It is an interesting side-effect. who would have thought. you did great. You're lucky to have no loose skin. Mine is sagging everywhere but that's o.k. I rather have saggy skin than be like before. have a great holiday. koukla