Question:
Severe bouts of depression and memory loss
I'm almost 3 years out now and have pretty well stabilized. Lost from 290 to 155-165 (I'm ok with keeping a 10 pound area to bounce). Anyway, I was on Wellbutrin prior to surgery and continued to take it after surgery, only changed from the XL to a generic version to take 3 times a day as I was afraid I wouldn't get enough in my system by taking an extended dispensing drug. I told my internist that I was still have bouts of depression (he's the one who prescribed Wellbutrin) and sleeping. So in addition to Wellbutrin, he added Xanax to help the depression and sleep. Helps the sleep very well but I feel I'm on a yoyo for my mental health. Go off the deep end over nothing a lot and have considered ending it all. On top of that, I'm having memory problems. Yes, I'm almost 60 years old but I don't think that would explain the severe memory loss (ordered things twice over the phone and very surprised when I got 2 of the same item because I had ordered twice). I know my diet isn't the best, don't dump from sweets and tend to eat too much of that and still am not hungry most of the time and can only eat small portions at meals. So it's probably a mix of all that. Can a vitamin deficiency be causing any/all of this? I do take my multivitamin every day, extra E and C, dont always get in all my calcium and my E. Can take any advise you might have. — lharbison (posted on January 7, 2006)
January 7, 2006
Linda,
I just had my RNY August 2nd. Right from the beginning I felt Wellbutrin
wasn't doing what it was prior to surgery for me. I was very depressed,
wasn't sleeping well, and just didn't feel 'right'. I talked about it
right away with my psychiatrist and he switched me to Paxil. That really
made a difference. Please talk to your doctor, perhaps he/she could
prescribe you something different. Memory problems can happen from lack of
rem sleep. How is your B12 level? Low B-12 can cause memory issues. I
hope you feel better very soon. HUGS.
— jstatkus
January 7, 2006
Linda,
Girlfriend! You need to join the Grads list over on Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG If anyone can help, they can!
Blessings,
dina
— Dina McBride
January 7, 2006
I don't know about the wellbutrin but the memory loss according to my doc
is caused by not taking your vitamins. He says if you don't take your
vitamins then you will have memory loss that can get very severe where you
don't remember your family and it is irreversable. I hope this helps I
would go and see your doc.
— nalani
January 7, 2006
My personal opinion..family docs and are not equiped to assess the nuances
of depression/anxiety/emotional disorders. A good psychiatrist is needed
to assess these nuances. Since I have had clinical depression and mood
swings all my life I can safely tell you that Xanax is a wonderful drug and
has saved my life, however, it is not prescribed for depression...it is
prescribed for severe anxiety and panic attacks and it can be combined with
antidepressants to help, since anxiety is a component of depression.
However, if you are not on the absolute correct antidepressent for your
problem the xanax can cause to exacerbate depressive moods. Please find a
caring equiped psychiatrist who can give you the meds you need to balance
your problem. Xanax, antidepressants and sleep aids are great when they
are designed specifically for you. Please feel free to email me anytime.
I know how tough this can be. I care!
— Karen Renee
January 8, 2006
I strongly recommend that you work with your doctor to find different
treatment options for your depression. I also have suffered from
depression before my surgery, but have been fortunate to have my treatment
continue to be effective.
Regarding B12 - if you had an RNY, your multi-vitamins will not pass
through the section of your intestant where the B12 is absorbed anymore
(just below the old stomach). My doctor recommends sub-lingual B12 every 3
days or weekly b12 shots.
— aferda
January 8, 2006
Linda, Before I had my surgery I was put on wellbutrin to help me stop
smoking an depression with in 3 weeks I was crying all the time over every
thing an was more depressed them then I started I also had memory lost an
couldn't sleep it was terrible. It took about a week for it to get out of
my system an the I started to feel better. My depression was caused about
worrying about quiting smoking before surgery. Wellbutrin was not for me so
maybe now that you've lost so much weight you need something different our
bodies an chemical levels change when we lose weight. Good luck
— amygirl
January 8, 2006
I strongly recomand that you check with a psychiatrist who will go over all
the medications you are taking including the vitamins. He will make the
proper adjustments and dosages and may change some of it. I am sure once
you are under the proper care things will get better for you. I hope you
feel better and you'll make the change to the right specialist ASAP.
— Dani96
January 8, 2006
Thanks to all of you. I'm scheduled for a follow up with my internist in a
month and will have my full blood work up. I guess I need to say that I
was doing my vitamins (including the sublingual B-12) pretty religiously
until Katrina turned my life upside down. I guess my health got put on a
back burner. Now that the main crisis of hurricane recovery is over, I'll
try to get back into my routine with vitamins and going to the gym. And I
guess I'll try to locate a psychiatrist to oversee my meds for depression.
I had tried several of the others over the years but had side effects from
most of them. I just need to see which one will be most beneficial and
that I can live with the side effects. Unfortunately, my surgeon left the
area within a year of the surgery so I can't even ask for a recommendation
for the name of a psych who may have experience with our specific problems.
Anybody know of anyone in the Metairie, LA area?
— lharbison
January 8, 2006
Xanex can be wonderful..be very careful though. I would take the advice of
other posters and see a psychologist. To get a good referral, you might
want to try consulting your health insurance. I'm sure they have several
favorites. Also..somewhere on OH there are lists of all different kinds of
Doctors. Good luck.
— Carol S.
January 10, 2006
YES. As I was reading, I was mentally checking off the vitamin deficiency
that matches the symptoms. Dina already sent you to Grads, so there will
be plenty of help there from people who are where you are, or have
recovered from those places.
— vitalady
January 26, 2009
I am 2 years out from my surgery and have experienced a lot of memory loss.
I know this is an old post but I was surprised to find that memory loss is
somewhat common among bypass patients. If you google "bypass and
memory loss" there is a lot of information and a diagnosis I can't
spell or pronounce but it's basically a defficiancy in Thamin (B-1). I
myself am very upset that this wasn't mentioned to me as a possible side
effect as now I have to see a nuerologist and am mostly upset at the memory
loss all together. I have a new boyfriend and it's hard telling him I
don't remember what we talked about the night before!
— kimmiekins80
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