Depression

I posted this on another forum I frequent and no one ever responded. I assume the users there must be all giddy as a pig in ____ or people just don't want to talk about it.

Has anyone here, long term post op, experienced issues with depression and/or anxiety? I have always had a little I suppose, but since my surgery it has gotten a lot worse. In fairness, in a four year period my dad died, my grandfather died, my best friend died and I found out my wife was having an affair with a friend. So essentially I lost the two most important men in my life, two friends and my wife. But sometimes its damn near unbearable. I developed a pretty hard drinking problem due to the issues I was having. I have battled sobriety off and on for the last three years and I am happy to say I am over 3 months clean as of today but everyday is a struggle.

I, like probably a lot of gb patients, have used food as a crutch in the past and I still do. I often find myself binge eating, feeling terrible both physical and mentally afterwards. I have over the last two weeks gotten back on the track of healthy eating and exercise and lost about 11 pounds. When I talk to my doctors about it, they always want to put me on paxil, albeit a low dosage. However, on Paxil I am often tired and very groggy (especially in the morning) and I wake up in the middle of the night terribly hungry. Last time my doctor put me on it, I gained 20 pounds in one month, but heck I was eating at midnight almost every night. Also, I have never really had any problems with public speaking or anything of that sort, but now I cringe and clam up every time I am asked to speak in public. I officiated a wedding (long story) awhile back and I had to take a damn xanax just to make it through that.

Does anyone here experience the same and if so, what steps (meds and otherwise) have you found helpful?

Depression sucks! I've been battling it for ages. It's worse lately, but I relate it to life cir****tances, not WLS. Since I had surgery, I was in a long-term abusive relationship, then my abuser passed away; my home burned down and I lost everything; and I've been suffering with chronic pain issues that just aren't getting any better; I thought I found "Mr. Right" and got dumped five month later...I still don't know why.

I've been trying to find a counselor and having difficulty with that... one moved out of state, one failed to show for two out of three appointments, and another just criticized everything I did. I have an appointment with a new counselor next week (keeping my fingers crossed).

It seems you have suffered a lot of losses recently, which I'm sure add to your depression. It's a constant battle trying to stay on track....I have yet to reach goal due to my depression because I'm an emotional eater. I'm hoping the counselor will work out next week. I just started some new medication which I hope will help too.

I hope you can find a solution to your situation. Even though I suffer depression, I am still thankful every day that I had WLS....best thing I ever did for myself

I have bipolar (tending to depression) and OCD, I was diagnosed many years prior to having WLS. I've taken a variety of meds, with varying degrees of success, over the years and I've got a combination now-- Celexa, Latuda, and the very-occasional Xanax-- that works very well without causing weight issues.

There are MANY meds out there besides Paxil, and many people find themselves going through a lot of trial-and-error to find a medication (or combination of several) that helps enough without causing too many side effects-- hunger and weight gain being one of them.

What sort of doctor are you seeing? Are you talking to your GP, or are you working with a psychiatrist? If your current physician is pushing you towards one med only, it may be worth finding another provider who's open to trying other medications. You may need to take a few and see how well they work for you before settling into something that you can live with in the long term.

The best advice I can give is counseling. Try to find someone who specializes in grief counseling and addiction issues (including emotional eating - this one is hard to find a counselor for though in my experience). Losing that many people in such a short amount of time can definitely throw you into a downward spiral - in 2013 my boyfriend committed suicide and 4 months later my dad's prostate cancer suddenly spread like wildfire and he died. I spiraled out of control and gained 100lbs in a little over a year - I fully admit now that I was intentionally slowly killing myself with food.

I can also recommend a book titled 50 ways to soothe yourself without food. It will seem a little hokey at first but it does help.

There are several medications out there to treat Binge Eating Disorder so try another doctor.

And finally, congrats on your sobriety! Every day that you make it through is an accomplishment!

I hope you find a good counselor and can start working on the binge eating and anxiety issues - you may find an underlying issue(s) during counseling that is leading to both behaviors and figure out a new coping mechanism.

Congratulations on being sober three months. It is not easy to see that alcohol can be such a bad part of life after surgery.

I am sorry about the loses you have suffered.

I am sure you have seen me posting about my sobriety. I will be sober a year in 13 days. I never thought I could do it. I did start going to AA. It does help me.

I am not a big religious kind of person so it was very hard in the beginning. I just know there are so many people who I have become friends with that are sober. One man I went to his 50th year party being sober.

It was very humbling. If you are not in a program I say try it out. It does help being with others who have the same battles. It feels good to be at a meeting to share stories that others who are not alcoholics would understand. There are some stories that are not funny to others but to us they are. Just like with WLS. I mean a lot of us can laugh at some of the things we did. When we share with others.

I suffer from depression and anxiety. I take Wellbutrin daily. It helps. Sometimes I really have to pull my head out of my ass and just get out with people.

If you are feeling so badly and not sure what to do. Call AA. If you are not going already.

The feelings of anxiety have gotten better since I stopped drinking. I sleep through the night. I know longer cry over things that are so minute that now I just am like okay I can do this.

Get connected with others.

Medication treats symptoms, but counseling treats causes. Counseling is invaluable for disordered eating, especially with sobriety. I would absolutely seek out counseling.

Many of us continue to experience depression and anxiety. Are you seeing a psychiatrist? Psychiatrists should always prescribe psychiatric meds - they know far more about it than typical doctors.

I completely agree.

Please consider seeing a psychiatrist for your psychiatric meds -- and counseling for your grief, losses, and coping mechanisms.

I sincerely hope you can find help very soon. Depression is awful.

Yes yes and yes.

I should have posted get professional help also.

I wish I could like this multiple times

I've battled depression and anxiety for years...medication helped, but it wasn't until I sought the counseling portion in conjunction with the medication that I finally started getting a grip on my using food as a crutch for dealing with emotional baggage.

I see two counselors, one for my routine therapy and one for managing the medication portion (she's an NP)...and the two of them work together to make sure I'm doing well.