Depression issues after weight loss - Anyone else going through this?
Hey everyone. I am 16 months out after my surgery and have reached my goal weight. I am experiencing depression now, for the first time in my life. Partly due to a break up this past fall and then a series of other unfortunate events the past 4 months. But I am also realizing that I am feeling things much deeper now than I ever have before. Probably due to the fact that I am not all numbed out on food and that my brain is not constantly thinking about food. It's making the painful situations feel that much harder to deal with.
I would really love to hear from any other LGBT weight loss folks who can relate, or simply have words of encouragement. I am trying to pull myself out of this. I'm going to therapy, and I just started taking anti-depressants, though they have not kicked in fully yet (only 1 week). I am also thinking about going to Co-dependants Anonymous, but they do not have an LGTB CODA group in my area...
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or just want to vent about your experience, please holla back! Thanks so much, Ali (hlm).
I would really love to hear from any other LGBT weight loss folks who can relate, or simply have words of encouragement. I am trying to pull myself out of this. I'm going to therapy, and I just started taking anti-depressants, though they have not kicked in fully yet (only 1 week). I am also thinking about going to Co-dependants Anonymous, but they do not have an LGTB CODA group in my area...
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or just want to vent about your experience, please holla back! Thanks so much, Ali (hlm).
Kudos to you lil mister for going to get help like therapy. i think its fantastic that you are trying to seek help instead of turning to food. Look at it this way...you have lost a best friend and someone who was your bestfriend for some of us our whole lives. This is normal being proactive the way you are is great. Maybe you should try taking up a sport or hobby something you enjoy.
hope this helps
Tina
hope this helps
Tina
I often wonder why they don"t address this more aggressively in our pre-op talks. I have talked with my surgeon as well as my ex wife about starting a group here in Ct for folks who are trying to adjust to life without the crutch we have always used. It is like getting sober and then being asked to walk right back into a life you never had to confront unless you were numbed out on booze. I am really glad for you that you are in therapy as well as trying an antidepressant. So many things change after his surgery... not all for the good. Be brave, have faith in yourself and lean on this crazy and wonderful bunch here on this board.
Jill 
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate hearing from you. Yah, it's puzzling-my Gastic surgeon and support group rarely, if ever, address the emotional side of what we are going through. And in as much as the physical changes and loss of food itself are a lot to go through, the emotional changes and feelings and all I am experiencing are far harder than all the rest. And I've lost 170 pounds! I can't believe that has been easier than dealing with feelings!! Oy.
Well, I am hanging in, and I hope you all are too. I still want to hear from more GLBT peeps on this, I know we can get each other through and I am soooo glad I've found you all on OH! Ali
Well, I am hanging in, and I hope you all are too. I still want to hear from more GLBT peeps on this, I know we can get each other through and I am soooo glad I've found you all on OH! Ali
I think its perfectl normal to feel depressed, it sounds like you have had quite a year. Myself I know before weight loss surgery if I was ever upset or emotional before I would quiet it with taco bell or some chips. Now I actually have to deal with the feelings. I thought if I exercised more that would help and as long as I remember my ipod it does. I hope your medication starts to help 
~Erin
~Erin
YES yes and YES,
Five years ago, they did not address it well at all,
(i am reposting an older post of mine)
I am 4.7 years out, and within months after my bypass i actually went "crazy". I got so depressed, and all that, and my doctor never saw it, they just assumed that it would go away or that i was in fact crazy. This lingered on for years, of feeling very jumpy,very negative and "unbalanced". Our systems are totally out of wack, and this is normal, but I do believe that there is a lack of understanding in the medical community. ASK for the Help, this is MAJOR surgery. Please don't put yourself, what i went through for years. Even at one of my check up the staff saw how depressed i was, and only offered me to stay the night... I can not describe how i felt - just feeling lost, and well I was malnourished - as we all are... TAKE lots of B-12 and the others..
GET the therapy you need, heck and meds if you need them, the suffering is INhumane. I could not concentrate, i could not focus, I was so desperate and well cold all the time. No one understood me, and my being so irritable did not help.
Now the 2009 Update, i was prescribed a NOREPINEPHRINE reuptake inhibitor, BAM! It also acts as an antidepressant, as well as a hunger antagonist, check up on this med,(Strattera).
Please don't wait for 4 years like I did.
Five years ago, they did not address it well at all,
(i am reposting an older post of mine)
I am 4.7 years out, and within months after my bypass i actually went "crazy". I got so depressed, and all that, and my doctor never saw it, they just assumed that it would go away or that i was in fact crazy. This lingered on for years, of feeling very jumpy,very negative and "unbalanced". Our systems are totally out of wack, and this is normal, but I do believe that there is a lack of understanding in the medical community. ASK for the Help, this is MAJOR surgery. Please don't put yourself, what i went through for years. Even at one of my check up the staff saw how depressed i was, and only offered me to stay the night... I can not describe how i felt - just feeling lost, and well I was malnourished - as we all are... TAKE lots of B-12 and the others..
GET the therapy you need, heck and meds if you need them, the suffering is INhumane. I could not concentrate, i could not focus, I was so desperate and well cold all the time. No one understood me, and my being so irritable did not help.
Now the 2009 Update, i was prescribed a NOREPINEPHRINE reuptake inhibitor, BAM! It also acts as an antidepressant, as well as a hunger antagonist, check up on this med,(Strattera).
Please don't wait for 4 years like I did.
Dear Ali;
Depression hits us all after this surgery. It is just a fact. You are doing all the right things it sounds like to take care of yourself. I am surprised it actually took this long. I am I am seven months and depression has reared its ugly head often already. You are right on track with the antidepreddants as they do take time, depending on which class you were prescribed, how long it might take and how your now body will react to them. I have had both of my parents die in the last 18 months and that with RNY and two other surgeries has been enough to cause depression for me. I can possibly add one other dimension to your already positive upswing from this tough time. Have you considered meditation ? I find it helps me immensely and keeps me on the right track as a regular part of my healthy routine. Also journaling is a way to get some of the negative stuff out of your head and onto paper where you can take a look at it and then put it away and move on. The most important thing is to be kind to yourself , give yourself time and space to adjust to your new self and just continue to do the thingss you know are healthy. CODA can also be of great help for many folks, if not an LBGT one than maybe a regular one would be okay for now. Take Care Ali.....Hope your feeling lighter by the day......Bliss
Depression hits us all after this surgery. It is just a fact. You are doing all the right things it sounds like to take care of yourself. I am surprised it actually took this long. I am I am seven months and depression has reared its ugly head often already. You are right on track with the antidepreddants as they do take time, depending on which class you were prescribed, how long it might take and how your now body will react to them. I have had both of my parents die in the last 18 months and that with RNY and two other surgeries has been enough to cause depression for me. I can possibly add one other dimension to your already positive upswing from this tough time. Have you considered meditation ? I find it helps me immensely and keeps me on the right track as a regular part of my healthy routine. Also journaling is a way to get some of the negative stuff out of your head and onto paper where you can take a look at it and then put it away and move on. The most important thing is to be kind to yourself , give yourself time and space to adjust to your new self and just continue to do the thingss you know are healthy. CODA can also be of great help for many folks, if not an LBGT one than maybe a regular one would be okay for now. Take Care Ali.....Hope your feeling lighter by the day......Bliss
Hi there,
I am not in the same situation but can definitely relate. On top of food (which I probably do use to cope to some extent but it's not my main mechanism) I have a disorder that causes me to pull out my hair when confronted with basically any type of overwhelming emotion, even good ones. This has been my primary coping mechanism for 18 years and I have recently been able to stop for the most part (about a year now.) What I felt is similar to you, all of a sudden I had to feel emotions that I would normally zone out when confronted with. It has taken time and a lot of patience and acceptance but at least for me it's become a little bit easier just to "feel" and not try to wash away feelings with other sensations. Similar to a drug or alchohol addiction, food or hairpulling in my case, is something we've relied on to keep us safe and when it's taken away it's almost as if you're back to being a child emotionally sometimes and having to learn for the first time how to handle them. I cannot say it's not a problem for me at all and sometimes when things are just THAT bad I let myself pull my hair because I know it's something that I can count on to relieve or at least distract me from whatever the problem is. But it's not a longterm solution and its not in line with my goals of HAVING HAIR! So, hopefully at least knowing other people have the same issues even when the "issue" is different, helps.
I am not in the same situation but can definitely relate. On top of food (which I probably do use to cope to some extent but it's not my main mechanism) I have a disorder that causes me to pull out my hair when confronted with basically any type of overwhelming emotion, even good ones. This has been my primary coping mechanism for 18 years and I have recently been able to stop for the most part (about a year now.) What I felt is similar to you, all of a sudden I had to feel emotions that I would normally zone out when confronted with. It has taken time and a lot of patience and acceptance but at least for me it's become a little bit easier just to "feel" and not try to wash away feelings with other sensations. Similar to a drug or alchohol addiction, food or hairpulling in my case, is something we've relied on to keep us safe and when it's taken away it's almost as if you're back to being a child emotionally sometimes and having to learn for the first time how to handle them. I cannot say it's not a problem for me at all and sometimes when things are just THAT bad I let myself pull my hair because I know it's something that I can count on to relieve or at least distract me from whatever the problem is. But it's not a longterm solution and its not in line with my goals of HAVING HAIR! So, hopefully at least knowing other people have the same issues even when the "issue" is different, helps.
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