For those of us who are on anti-depression or bi-polar medication.

So many bi-polar and pt with depression are on medications which tend to cause weight gain.

How did you surgeon council you on that?   Did he allow you to stay on the meds and go ahead with the surgery, or did he request that you work with your Psych to change out medications (one that does not put on weight) prior to doing the surgery.

Tx

I just went to short acting meds.

I'm going to have surgery in December, my psych doctor told me that I can stay on my current meds but I'll have to split my dose up and take it during the day instead of at one time like I am now.  I think it depends what you are on and what your psychiatric doctor says more than what the surgeon says, the surgeons may not be that familiar with these types of drugs as much as the psych doctors are, so we have to work with them to figure this out.

I went on one about 15 months Post WLS. I immediately gained 40-45 pounds super fast. MY doctors didn't think the medication had anything to do with it. when I stopped taking it, the weight gain also stopped. Problem? the psych never consulted with the bariatric group. So annoying.

I'm not bi-polar, but do take meds for depression & anxiety.  My surgeon did not change my meds or advise me to stop taking them.  He did caution that, due to the malabsorption issue, I should be on the lookout for any changes to the effectiveness of my meds - that my dosage may need to be changed post-op (my family doc advised the same).  I'm 4 & 1/2 months out now and so far so good.  Fingers crossed it stays that way and that you don't have any issues either.

I'm on meds for bipolar, and I did gain a lot of weight on them-- even the ones that supposedly didn't have weight-gain as a side effect! But ultimately it was my fault, not the meds', for the weight gain.

It can be very hard to find meds that are considered "weight-neutral" because people tend to react very differently to them. I took Topamax, for example, and gained a few pounds. My sister takes it for migraines, and lost about 30lb. Go figure! So you can't really rely on that.

My surgeon's approach is to have patients with mental illness keep their current meds, since there are enough other changes to deal with after surgery. The only exception is if you're taking long-acting or extended-release formulas, you'll need to switch, but you can usually take a standard-release version of the same med twice a day.

I did have to make an adjustment to one med, which was Lamictal. That med happens to be made less effective in the presence of estrogen, so you need to increase your dose if you go on birth control. Apparently, you ALSO need to adjust things when you're experiencing the infamous "hormone dump" that occurs in the first few months after surgery. (Estrogen is stored in fat cells, so you get a rush of hormones when you lose weight rapidly.) I increased my dose temporarily, then went back to my normal amount afterwards.

Thank you for such a thorough overview with good insights.   I am on seroquel (not time released) which is notorious for weight gain.  I was worried I would be told to go off the seroquel because of the weight gain issue prior to surgery.  But, thanks to your information, I will not worry about it.  I see the surgeon next week along with the diet and behav group, so am trying to gain as many answers as possible prior to meetings so I am prepared with my own set of questions for them.

Thanks again.

I've been on Seroquel in the past and gained weight as well. The good news is that I seemed to gain when I started taking it, but once I got stable on it I didn't gain any more. So hopefully you should be just fine!