Anyone else pursue surgery with pre-existing anxiety attacks/depression like conditions??...

Hello, I do realize there is a mental health board for these sorts of questions but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of traffic there so I thought I'd post this here.

I am restarting my journey due to insurance problems the first time. Last time I passed all the psych stuff just fine, my personal psych doc and the bariatric team were all in agreement that I was stable enough for the surgery.

Great right? Sorta, except now I'm the one nervous about how this process will effect my mental health.

I have a history of disasociation, generalized anxiety, depression, and mood issues.

I have been medicated for these issues for about 12yrs, but as I'm sure you know, medication doesn't make these conditions non existent.

I'm nervous, that #1 the surgery itself, anesthesia etc will mess with my head and #2 that during the recovery I will fall into a depression along with anxiety attacks worrying about my healing process and being in pain.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong woman, I've endured alot but anyone who's experienced anxiety attacks knows how bad they can break a person down.


So what do you all think? Is it normal to have these concerns? Have others dealt with anxiety attacks/dissociation and gone through with surgery?

I'm open to all opinions, don't worry about hurting my feelings.

Thanx so much for reading!

I have a history of clinical depression (first diagnosed 16 years ago) and had been taking medication for it on and off for years.  Because of some crappy side effects from my most recent medications, I stopped taking them about a month before surgery and felt fine.  But after surgery I had about 6-7 weeks of severe depression/disassociation and it was scary for me. However I had additional stresses in my life (selling our house - 12 years of memories - the week after surgery -, moving into an small apartment temporarily) in addition to surgery recovery and the hormonal imbalances caused by rapid weight loss.  I guess that everything changing so quickly made it very difficult for me and it took awhile for me to attach to a new reality.  I went to a counselor and tried to go back on meds.  The meds really didn't seem to help to I stopped them after 2 weeks but going to the counselor and having someone to talk about the changes I was going through helped.  Then sometime in week 6 post-op I started feeling better. 

Now, I am still not quite myself, but, I have been dealing with some complications of hormonal imbalances (I had my period for 3 weeks and was put on progesterone for 10 days which made me an emotional wreck) but no signs of the clinical depression recurring. I plan on going back to a counselor again this summer as soon as I find a new one.

It is great that you are asking these questions and will be able to prepare yourself for this possibility. It is possible that recovery from surgery can create a challenge for those of use with depression and anxiety, but you can prepare for it or prevent it from happening to you.

 

 I too deal with generalized anxiety/depression and have been on some sort of antidepressant or anxiety med or both since 1997.  I had VSG on 5/4/11 and so far have dealt really well with all the changes in diet and lifestyle.  Everyone is different of course.  I too had concerns of my own thinking "are my emotional states going to sabatage something I want so very badly."  Truth is, I think my own fears and detemination that I can beat all this, to improve both my health and outlook on life in general, and wanting so badly to do this for myself have put me in the mindset of doing all I can to make this a mission that I will not fail.  I have taken my own usual nerves ect. and used it to read books, watch online videos and discussions, and learn all I can about what to prepare myself for so that I feel more control over myself physically,  emotionally and spiritually than I have been in a really long time.  I still take my antidepressant daily, and anxiety med if I feel on edge.  I have made myself realize I am only human, I will make mistakes along the way and learn from them, and mostly "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13)
Always looking for someone to share this journey with either in person or on discussion sites.  It really halps to talk about both the not so great and the amazing things I am seeing in my life since my new start.  If you believe you can do this....You can and will.  Good luck, you will be in my prayers.  

Thank you to you both, your words are absolutely encouraging. Even hearing of your struggles encourages me. It helps me to see that yes, it may be rough, but there are others who survived it.
Something different for me this time around is that I have now turned my life over to god. So feeling the comfort of his strength is also something I can relate too.

Emily -- such good questions.  don't know if you were trying the m.h. forum or group (which i created having not found the forum -- dumb!) but you're right they're a little slow.  i'm trying to speed things up!

anyway, i've had major depression/generalized anxiety/ptsd etc, for many years, am medicated for them and have been for quite some time.  i'm pretty stable on them and lucky that i haven't have any other traumatic life changes, aside from my mom selling our family home) since surgery.  i will say that a few weeks after surgery i had a period of what i would say was a passing depression.  sucked at the time, but it went away.  it's natrual to freak out about the surgery before having it, i think, b/c it is a major undertaking, but i think all those psych folks know what they are talking about in passing you and that as you said, you are a strong woman to have gotten to where you are!

of course, it's your choice, ultimately, but i felt no different after the surgery than before and have only had positive feelings about it, especially after i got past the 1st 3 weeks or so, which kinda suck.  PM me if i can help!!!!!!  (((((((((hugs)))))

I started having panic attacks about 10 years ago, in my mid 40's. Dunno why. I'm a mental health professional, diagnosed myself, took myself to see a shrink, who agreed. Had two weeks of heart testing to make sure it wasn't physiological, and started taking paxil. Took 60 mg paxil until about 5 years ago, when I started backing off on meds. Am down to 20mg a day; but if I go lower, I have breakthrough panic attacks.

I had my VSG on a Tuesday. I took my paxil in the am instead of pm that day, and was able to swallow one the next evening. I didn't even miss a dose ! (All with surgeon approval, of course) Not a problem at all for me. But I do not have the depression or disassoc. issues.

I suggest working with your shrink, and surgeon to balance out changing needs pre-op (during any pre-op diet), during the actual surgical proceedure and recovery time, and post op as your body (and it's chemistry) changes.

i have a history of panick attacks and generalized anxiety, well controlled. the 3 days post op i had to take some xanax along with my pain meds and during the first week i felt a little seritonin deficient and just took a little extra paxil with good results. my trouble was very temporary well worth it. i'd say 'have your meds on hand just in case and go for it'.