depression after surgery

 hey everyone my name is nikki. had my surgery on 10/24/11 by my boss in miami. lost so far 23 lbs. should be excited and happy but instead im severly depressed. i was already diagnosed with depression long before surgery so this is nothing new. i know i cant eat solids until the time comes but sometimes i long for food so bad. and its not even junk like mcdonalds or cake or even halloween candy (even though i wouldnt have minded a kitkat) but its actual like chicken or a salad or even a piece of bread. and i end up so depressed that i dont wanna leave my room cuz theres food. i dont even wanna look at people who can eat normal. i almost feel like im grieving the death of my friend. i know its only for a short while but it feels like forever.


anyone felt like that? what did you do about? ive tried talking to family and friends but they dont understand ...

 i had my surgery on 10/10/11 And i have been feeling depressed to it started around my second week for me if i get out and see people and just talk to any one it helps

you aren't alone.  For 2 weeks after surgery all I could do was cry and I was so depressed I thought I had made a huge mistake and that maybe it would be better to give up because I would never feel normal.  But please if you don't have a therapist to talk to you should really find one.  Mine saved my life.  I was so depressed but you know now 4 months out.. I can't eat nearly as much as others but I don't feel deprived or sad or like I am not normal.  You are grieving, you are grieving the loss of a friend that helped you get through tough times and happy times.  It's ok to grieve but you need to find other things to take the comforting food's place.  Good luck to you .

I am brand new on here,- my surgery was the same day as yours! I am not as depressed as you but have been experiencing some anxiety - not unusual for me. Seek help with someone you can trust - and don't discount prayer if you are so inclined - it sure helps me! All the best,

I had surgery the same day! I remember telling my husband on Day 2 that "I'm going to cry today" because I was so depressed. I'm back on my anti-depressants now so I feel much better but I agree totally with Kathy, don't discount talking to a great therapist and the power of prayer.

I'll be thinking of you.

BTW, last night my husband made his dinner and it was so fragrant and smelled so wonderful I just about cried again. It is really hard right now-and I'm on 3 weeks of clear liquirds! I have to do clear liquids until November 15! I'm doing the best I can just taking it day by day.

 Hi Nikki. I've heard people calling it their big divorce from food or grieving the loss of a friend. It's kind of true. Your head doesn't get to make your food decisions anymore. Your pouch does. And pouch knows best.

My favorite food on the planet before surgery was spaghetti. I love it! I ate a tablespoon of sauce a couple nights ago, and I was sick in the bathroom for an hour. I made an "approved" chocolate pudding, and I had diarrhea. Not fair! The side effect is that I don't crave chocolate or spaghetti anymore, because I'm scared of getting sick again. 

The surgery restricts your intake of normal food for a while, but it also provides excellent negative reinforcement so you CAN'T eat the foods. 

Those in my support group swear by sugar-free popsicles to help with the cravings in the first couple of weeks. Having something tangible in your mouth can help reduce cravings for food. I ate two a day my first week. 

There's always the mantra "this too shall pass." It's true, but it's hard to focus on that when 1. you're depressed and the pain of "now" is overwhelming you from seeing the future, and 2. "this too" is taking a long time to pass. In my head I've told myself that this restricted post-op diet is like being pregnant. You really really want the morning sickness to pass so you can eat stuff again, but you just have to take it minute by minute and hour by hour. And eventually you'll have a new body at the end of the tunnel!

Hi,before my surgery I was diagnosed anxiety and depression and one thing that was required for me after surgery was to have a therapist .  Because after surgery I was depressed, second guessing my self and having what I call "buyers remorse" which I have gotten over with the help of medication and my therapist and also my close friends. I would try and seek someone out to help.  It does not last forever but talking to someone about it helps alot

what you are going thru is NOT uncommon.
See a Dr for help, you have started a major life change, it can be like a roller coaster, fun scary and exhilarating

It has been many months since the post op depression article was a topic thread.  I am pasting the article here and starting a new thread to share this with everyone.  There are wonderful articles located in the blog area of this page.  Check them out when you can.  Here's the article on post op depression.  Hope this helps.


Many of us experience some changes in our emotions after weight loss surgery. There are a few things that contribute to this occurance, But, here's one reason you may not have even been aware of.

First, we all have "fat cells" in our bodies. Even thin people. When you are not overweight, these cells are flat, meaning not filled out. As you gain weight these fat cells become more filled out and larger. Your body actually does not create new fat cells. The ones you do have are just no longer flat and basically empty.

So, whats very interesting here is that when you are obese, and begin to lose weight, you are not actually losing fat cells, rather you are losing the "stuff inside" of those fat cells. What I find extremely interesting though, is what exactly some of that "stuff" in our fat cells actually consist of, other than just fat.

When you first began to pack on the pounds, many of your hormones were actually stored in your fat cells. The longer you have been obese, the more hormones are stored in these fat cells. As you begin to lose weight and your fat cells begin to shrink, they excrete hormones that have been stored in these cells for as long as you have been over weight, thus releasing these hormones back into your blood stream.

Once they are back into your blood stream, you begin to feel the effects of these newly released hormones, and it can really get you in a state of upheaval. Did you begin to gain weight during the time of puberty? Remember how hard that time in our lives were? You were going through many hormonal changes then. Now, as your fat cells release these hormones, you begin to feel the effects of them, but more subtly than during puberty.

So it is believed that this is one of the big reasons many wls patients go through mood changes, and emotional changes especially during the rapid loss phase. The good news is, this does not last forever. And as the weight loss slows, so does this release of hormones that have been stored up over the years in the fat cells, as these stored hormones get flushed from our systems.

It can be helpful to enlist the assistance of an antidepressant during you loss time, to help stabilize the emotional effects of this process. If you are currently on antidepressants, you may need the level temporarily increased during this time.

Which, leads me to another point. After wls, you are in a state of malabsorbtion, unless you had the lapband procedure. This being said, any current medications you are taking at the time of your wls procedure, may need to be adjusted by your physician post-operatively. This applies to not only anti-depressants, but all medications. This is something that will be important to discuss with your surgeon, and (s)he may refer you to your pcp after surgery to manage your medication levels.