Antidepressants and VSG

Ok my psych Dr has been discussing with me about wanting to put me on a antidepressant for depression.  I've been trying to avoid this because I don't want to be on them.  My question for anyone is on one that had surgery and if so which one would be ok.  I haven't had surgery yet and I'm planning on having the sleeve done just waiting on my date.

I plan on talking to surgeon about this also but was curious with others results.

I wear contacts to improve my vision, I have my nails done regularly, and I had VSG to improve my health. I take my antidepressants in order to be functional. I am thankful that such a solution is possible.

I have had no problems with my meds since surgery. If a trained professional is suggesting medication, I would listen. Surely, your doctor knows all of your history and symptoms. Listen!

It's a concern I have, too. My husband has been extremely supportive through all of this, but even he has said that I should listen to the doctor on this one. He doesn't like to see me sad, especially about my weight. If you find out more, would you let me know?

Sure! I'm not sure when I see my surgeon next but if I find out something I will post it.  I asked my psych Dr but he wasn't sure which one said I had to talk to surgeon. 

If you are concerned about absorbing them with the sleeve, that isn't really a problem with the VSG like it is with the RNY or DS. You should absorb them just fine and they can change your out look tremendously. I started taking some for pain issues and found they really improved my mood so evidently I had some depression I didn't even know about. I highly suggest taking them they can improve your life so much!

Thanks!

None of the common antidepressants have any significant side effects involving the stomach, so your plan to have VSG surgery would not restrict you in any way in your choice of antidepressants. (This would be different if you had to consider malabsorption with RNY or DS, though.)

It is often "hit or miss" when trying to find the best antidepressant.  What works for one person may cause horrible side effects (or have no effect) for another person.  Many of them take 3-4 weeks to fully kick in, so the sooner you start taking them, the sooner you will start feeling better (especially if you have to try one for a month or so and then switch and try another one).

Lora

Thank you I will think about it.

Yes, I want to put my 2 cents in because for me, it made all the difference. 

I don't use mine for depression as much as to help me keep my stress levels managed.  It started when we as a family were taking care of a family member who was over 100 years old.  We were then dealing with other family members who were making things difficult.  Add that to a high pressure workload and you have trouble on your hands.  One day I snapped at a colleague in a mgmt. meeting and that was my clue that I really needed help.  Of course, due to the family thing, the loss of my husband a few years earlier, I was somewhat depressed so it helped there too.

But it also made the difference in thinking with my emotions vs thinking with logic, it put up a wall between the two in my brain.  Since then, (12 years ago), I cannot imagine what my life now would be like without those little pills!

Do not fear this help!  Your body will soon enough be healthy, allow your mind to be as well.

I was diagnosed with depression when I was 17 (I'm 31 now), and my medication has improved my quality of life IMMENSELY. At first, I didn't want to be on them because I thought it meant I was a bad person, something was wrong with me, and I was worried that the medication would fundamentally change who I was-- it was a great scary unknown. But the good news is that none of those are true! My brain just doesn't quite handle chemicals correctly, much like someone with diabetes has a pancreas that doesn't deal with insulin correctly. And it just needs a bit of help in the chemistry department. And that's OK! Antidepressants don't change you, they don't fix things, but they do make it a lot easier to climb out of that deep dark hole that you can find yourself in sometimes, and they help to keep you from falling in it as often.

With the sleeve, there are no issues regarding types of medication that can be absorbed; RNY patients can't take extended-release medications but there's no such issue with the VSG. (Fun fact: it was my psychiatrist who actually got me to seriously consider WLS!)

Different medications work differently for every patient. It's not like diabetes where you read your blood sugar and know how much insulin to take; your psychiatrist will figure out how you're doing, suggest a medication, and you see how it makes you feel after it's had some time to kick in. Most people spend a fair bit of time playing with dosage, or even deciding "this one really isn't helping my depression, let's try something else" and that is absolutely normal. The important thing is to be honest with your doctor!

If you want somebody to talk to about figuring out the whole medication thing, or just dealing with depression, I've been there and I'd be absolutely happy to listen, drop me a PM any time