I am confused about who is "requiring" you to have therapy? Was this suggested after your pre-op psych eval? What did they tell you abuot why the felt you needed therapy?  Do you have a surgery date already scheduled or are you already post-op?
I know of several folks that therapy was strongly encouraged before their WLS. It was NOT to suck money out of the insurance company, instead it was about the therapist feeling uncomfortable recommending someone go ahead with WLS when there appeared to be significant issues that needed to be addressed.
I know that my being in therapy and addressing my issues as it related to food, eating, self image etc is to a huge degree what allowed me to be as successful as I have been over the past year.
I am had pressed to believe a therapist wants to hold you hostage just to get money out of you.

I am so glad I came across your post.  I am only 3 weeks post-op, but I am completely repulsed by eating.  Nothing tastes good, the textures gross me out, and I am avoiding the high calorie foods I use to love.  I am drinking about 4-6 cups of 1% milk daily and taking 3 Flinstones chewables.  I add calcium supplements to my milk about every other day (this is up from only once the previous week, it is my main focus at this point). 

Did anyone else experience this repulsion to food??  Does it go away?  If not, I want to get help now before this becomes a hard to break habit, do I just go to a nutritionist?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions anyone has.

I would encourage you to seek therapy for a lot of different reasons.  Therapists are not doctors who prescribe meds, so they should not be telling you to take meds.  They can, and often will, refer you to a psychiatrist for an evaluation for medications, as mine did, and I have done.  Often, meds need to be re-evaluated, and adjusted, as we go through different life stages, or stresses. 

But, therapy is about learning your thinking patterns and behavior patterns, and how to change them, so that extremes in emotion and behavior become lessened, and life becomes more stable.  In therapy, I am learning coping strategies, and examining self-defeating patterns.

As for diagnosing you, only a mental health professional can do that for you, AFTER, you have been evaluated.  It is not an exact science, and there are often differences of opinion.  My therapist has never said I am bipolar.  He has diagnosed me with boderline personality, eating disorder NOS, and depression.  My psychiatrist has never said I am borderline.  He has diagnosed me with first depression, then bipolar disorder.  They did not disagree, just emphasized different things in my treatment.  As it is, it took months before my therapist even diagnosed the borderline personality.  To add to my complicated life, I am also an alcoholic *****lapsed after years of sobriety and am now in outpatient treatment for that as well.

I would encourage you to seek therapy, especially as you approach the changes that will take place with surgery.  A lot of emotions come up in the first few years, as food is no longer an outlet for dealing with things.  Learning the whys of eating is so helpful.

Feel free to PM me if you need to talk.

Trish

Glad to hear the session went well.  For the most part, it is the compliance factor that they look at more than anything else.  Anxiety is normal for everyone, not just us bipolar patients.

Keep us posted on your journey.

Trish

You are right about both things.

Hugs,
Trish