Anti-depressant post-op
So I don't have a surgery scheduled yet I am still waiting for insurance approval and psych clearance but I was wondering if anyone had any insight or experience with anti depressants and their effectiveness post-op. I am on a really good combo of three different meds... They help me feel amazing and I don't want to stop taking them permanently after the surgery. I know that I probably can't take them for the first week or two after surgery.
Any thoughts?
Not only CAN you take them immediately after surgery, you probably should. Some antidepressants can cause very severe withdrawal symptoms if stopped suddenly. I missed only one dose of my meds - I didn't take any the morning of my surgery. But I took them in the hospital that night, about 12 hours after my operation.
It's usually recommended that RNY patients not use extended release drugs, because they are not absorbed fully in us since our digestive tract is now shorter than normal. Many antidepressants are commonly prescribed in an extended release form, but many of those are also available in non-extended release forms. They just need to be taken more often, like three or four times a day instead of once a day. Talk to the doc that prescribes your meds about your options, but definitely don't just stop taking them for a week or two when you have surgery.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Thank for the info Kelly. I don't think any if mine are extended release. None of them have EX or ER at the end. I take them all at night before bed and can feel them all "kick in" and make me sleepy within 30 minutes. I am on Trazadone, Zoloft, and Rispiradal, if you know anything about those.
emily
Ditto what Kelly said.
Just to emphasize something she already mentioned... do NOT stop taking antidepressants suddenly! You can have terrible withdrawal symptoms.
Most antidepressants are just as effective after surgery as they were before surgery.
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
I have been on Prozac for 20 years. I have tried at different intervals to get off them but to no avail. My dr said I just need them to feel normal. I skipped my dose on the day of surgery but resumed the next day. The only change I had was my dr increased me from 20mg to 40mg as he said the maabsorbtion would make the dose change. I have had no problems since and I am 10 weeks+ out.
