I'm wondering when depression sets in post-op? I've actually been feeling really good, and haven't had any incidents of depression, weepies, etc. I know I'm almost a week out, so I was curious as to when it started for some people? Do some people not even experience it?

MANY people don't have any post-op depression.

Lora

 That's good to know! Thank you! 

My PCP and psychiatrist were stressing that since I'm pre-disposed to depression that I need to be very careful of it post-op. 

If you have struggled with depression in the past, your chances of becoming depressed are greater than some who has never experienced depression, but is still no guarantee that you will experience it. For some people who DO experience the depression, it sets in within just a couple of weeks, for some it takes longer.

Lora

 Very true! Thank you for your insight--I appreciate it!

There is no guarantee that every post op will have depression. BUT, many post ops do have anxiety or depression post op. Worries about following protocol, missing you previos diet or ability to eat foods in larger quantity, family support issues, inabiliity to drink enough water, not finding a protein powder you like, etc.,, etc. can cause these issues.  Hormonal issues bother women too with mood swings, often causing depression.  When depression sets in, in can be a few days post op, or many months later.  No set time. DAVE

Be sure you are not confusing sadness with clinical depression. Unless you have been thoroughly evaluated  by professionals not TV advertisements and your PCP, you may only get sad. Clinical depression is a whole new ball game. Many people these days are convinced they have depression because they see the symptoms on TV and demand that their PCP treat them for depression and in too many cases the doctors just push them pills with no more evaluation than that. 
Cases of depression have sky rocketed now after pharmaceutical companies started advertising on TV. If you have been evaluated properly, then for heaven sakes get help, but just don’t think because you have some regrets or sadness about WLS that you are depressed or will get depressed. 
I don’t get depression, I depress many people who know me.   

 Nope, no influence from TV. I've been diagnosed with depression for a few years now, and I manage it with medication. I am hypervigilant about the depression possibly spiraling into addiction since that has been a family history thing. I just want to stay ahead of it before it becomes something very ugly. 

And, I'm glad to hear you're depressing people with your awesomeness! LOL

                                                   

Just the other day I overheard someone telling a mutual friend *****cently lost her husband to cancer that she was depressed and she should go ask her PCP for X, Y and Z.... I told that person that our friend is sad having suffered such a great loss ... that she was going through the process of mourning for a loved one ... that being sad after such a recent loss (a week ago) is only natural and does not mean that she is clinically depressed and in need of medications to mask her feelings/emotions ... Our friend herself stated that she has never been clinically depressed .. does not feel depressed only sad and lonely for her partner and that she did not want to start popping anti-depressants that she herself stated that she did not want ... She wants to go through the process without masking or medicating her emotions .... I rather go through the process too until closure ... I do not want pills to mask my emotions when I am not clinically depressed (I have never been and do not knock anyone who is and CAN and DO benefit from medications like my son) ... oftentimes sadness is misconstrued for depression ... without going through the process of mourning her loss giving this person pills will not help ... when the effects are gone the sadness of her loss returns until she completes the process IMO...

Now I hope what I wrote made sense because I have to rush off here and can't even check it...

very well said, both of you.. too many people want to medicate their emotions away. Feelings are ok to have.

As someone who IS and HAS been diagnosed with clinical depression I agree with all of you. 

Depression is not a minor disease.  It is complex and confusing.  It doesn't have a blood test that can tell you that you are depressed and medicating it is very difficult. It open can take months or years to find a medication or combination of medicines that work.  (and then when you least expect it - a new study shows that your medication has serious cardiac side effects... and then you start the process all over again - ugh, I'm just going through that now!)
 
I hate that the Rx's are advertised on TV, it almost makes light of the disease that is so difficult for many of us to handle.  It also gives people that impression that it is NOT a serious condition.  

I think the drugs are way over prescribed.  I can even say that they can over prescribe to us who do clinical depression - my first doctor had me taking NINE pills a day - I was basically a zombie.  Thank god for finding a doctor that can help and my medications were severely cut back.   

 Yes, it makes total sense. :)

This is definitely not wanting to feel my emotions--I've been feeling them for too long and it became overwhelming. In my situation, the medication has helped me see things more clearly, and more willing to face things without that black cloud hovering over my head. ;)

i'd say that likely most people don't experience post op depression. Stop waiting for it to happen, if it doesnt, yay!

I am so glad you are feeling good and upbeat ... how awesome is that! Many people do not experience post op depression at all ... a bit of anxiety and sometimes even frustration may be experienced the first few days/weeks while adjusting ... even a bit of sadness or sense of loss may be experienced occasionally but it is not clinical depression.  I was not depressed at all .. I did wonder though 'what the heck did I do to myself?' the first few weeks out...LOL

 LOL I can see that. 

I never had ANYTHING I could complain about - no pain, nausea, depression, difficulty eating etc ...  

I do feel that sometimes because you read these forums it could be almost disappointing that you don't have anything to moan about - especially as some people seem to get all the complications and therefore all the attention!!!!

We should congratulate ourselves for doing well!!!!

 That's awesome! I hope to be in the same boat! :)

Well said. I havent had any complications either. I am thankful and I don't "invite trouble" by expecting something to go wrong. Be greatful. Youre doing great.

I am not a doctor of any kind so please do not take my comments to the bank. But I have a retired friend who was in private practice in the Chicago area and now lives in Arizona. I talk to him for an hour almost every day via amateur radio (Ham). He does not offer me medical advise, but just gives me his opinion which anyone in our country can do. And I simple repeat his opinions here so I am not giving medical advise when I give my opinion. But he did relate to me several times that before the suppliers started advertising heavily on TV he seldom had people coming in complaining of depression. After the ads started, it was like the flood gates where opened.  He said most people were simply sad about something in their lives but because of the influence of the TV advertisements, they demanded medications. 
People will say I have been diagnosed with clinical depression for years, if so OK, but just because your PCP gave you medications does not equate to a complex evaluation by someone qualified to do so. Remember once on the drug, it may be very difficult if not nearly impossible to get off them with warnings that you may be susceptible to suicide if you stop. 
Have you ever heard, “I am so depressed my dog died“. “I am so depressed I did not lose any weight this week“. “I am so depressed my hair is falling out“. Lets us resolve to replace the word depressed with Sad, to try to eliminate the confusion. True depression is very very serious and it is not sadness. If you legitimately feel you are depressed please go to specialists who will do a complete workup on you and verify that you have a condition that only medications can help. Maybe counseling or other treatments will be of more help in the long run. 
Again this is just my opinion yours may be different I am not a doctor just an old man who has watched the depression spiral our of control, real or not.    
 

 Nope, I totally agree! It has been overly diagnosed, just like some other health conditions. TV ads have not helped, IMO. 

I was diagnosed by my psychiatrist and therapist, and I really should have been diagnosed when I was much younger. I hid my symptoms very well, so no one ever thought I had any problems. I finally had a break, when I couldn't keep things together anymore, so that's when I sought out expert diagnoses, rather than through my PCP. My PCP is very hands-on, so she likes to keep tabs on how I'm managing my depression, but she doesn't prescribe for me. She agrees with me to see the psychiatrist for medication maintenance. 

I took medication for about a year and a half, and then weaned myself off. Then I had my daughter, and the hormones made me very anxious and set me back to being on meds again. I'm actually hoping that I can get off of them in a while. There's nothing wrong in those who need to take them, but I don't want to take them forever, honestly. That's just my opinion. ;)