Since WLS, about 7 months ago, I find myself getting angry a lot.  My tolerance for the the things that irritate me are much lower.  I talk back more and put up with less.  I think it is partly do to the fact that I no longer have food as a buffer/soother between me and the world. So I am lashing out.  I also think I used to shove so many feelings down prior to wls, and now I don't want to, or they are just coming out on their own.  I feel more assertive, but also more aggressive, and I have mixed feelings about it.  I feel like my personality is changing and it is strange, exciting, and scary.  Has anyone else felt like this?  Has this happened to anyone else?

I am one of those who had serious concequences from having rny surgery.  While I believe the surgery saved my life, there was little attention paid to the mental, emotional, and relationship problems it brought on.

I had my surger on February 4, 2004, 8 years ago.  I did not have any physical problems at first, but by June 2006, I was suffering from a deep depression and was fighting persisting thoughts of suicide.  After an aborted suicide attempt I was hospitalized.  My antidepressant medication was changed.  This seemed to help...for about a month.  Then the suicidal ideas became stronger and more persistent.  I attemtped suicide, and required a stomach pump.  Because I was the only person in the room who know about the gastric bypass surgery and I was in no condition to tell anyone, they used a tube to pump my stomach that was way too big.  I ended up with an abrased esophagus and a hernia.  What finally helped me?  I left my husband.  The more weight I lost the more controlling he was of my time.  He would expect me to account for every moment I spent away from home, and started accusing me of infedelity. 

When I was preparing for the surgery, I was told about the health benifits that losing the unwanted 200 pounds would bring about.  During this time, almost as a side note, it was explained that there were two things the surgery would not help with: thyroid problems and depression.  Thyroid problems seemed self evident to me.  However I remember laughing at the thought that the surgery would not help with depression.  After all, I was depressed because I was fat, right?  Well, it turns out that I was fat because I was depressed.  The surgery took away my way of coping with daily problems, food.  But I did not have coping mechinism in place to replace food.  Once the major weight loss was over, the daily problems came back, plus I had a jealous husband who did not trust me anymore (by the way, there was not reason for him not to trust me, there still isn't).

Hi Karen,

I'm not sure which meds you are taking and how long you've been on them, so this might not be 100% relevant.

If you are taking a benzodiazapine for anxiety (like klonopin, ativan, xanax, etc), people tend to build a tolerance and need more to get the same effect.  One med that seems to help some with anxiety but doesn't have this problem is buspar.  It didn't work for me, but everyone is different.

Some antidepressants just stop working after a time.  This seems to be especially true of ssri's.  The technical term for this is antidepressant tachyphylaxis.  I prefer to call it med poop out.

Neither of these are weight loss surgery related.  Its just how it goes.  Talk to your prescriber and see if they have any ideas.  They may increase the dose.  They may add another antidepressant that works on different neurotransmitters.  They may switch you to a different med completely.

I took lexapro successfully for a long time when it stopped working the way it used to.  We increased, but once I maxed out on the dose with no improvement, we ended up switching to a different antidepressant.

Until you find a med (or med combo) that works well for you, continue doing everything you can on your own to help boost your mood.  Exercise is good for both depression and anxiety.   I know that sometimes its the last thing I feel like doing, but even short bursts of doing just a little *something* help a bit.  Also I noticed when depression creeps in, thats when i start craving those processed refined carbs-- the last thing that I need to be eating.

So while this may not be related to weight loss surgery, doing the things we're supposed to be doing since surgery anyway may help.

--Becca

 


 

It definitely is a struggle with these meds--Seroquel was a bad one for me as far as weight gain before I had surgery.   I feel your pain.

I'm now up to 3 mg of risperdal per day.  I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any more either.  I would like to lose another 20-25 pounds but I guess right now, mood stability is more important.

The mood instability causes issues with eating too.  I seem to crave the foods that I shouldn't be eating at all (and then give into the craving).    Or I have days where I don't want to eat anything at all... which isn't good either.

I'm doing the best I can to keep up with exercise to get those feel good chemicals flowing, and also to help counteract some of the lapses in good judgement about eating.

Quitting meds was not one of my best ideas, although it felt like the right decision at the time.   Getting back to 'stable' is a hard path.   At 14 months out, now I have to worry about finding the right meds for me and  that intense fear of regain every time I try a new med, and fighting those food demons that want to take over.

 

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