Anxiety and Irritability

[Brown Eyed Girl 5]

I was sleeved this past February and doing great with 62 lb weight loss. I took a low dose of Effexor XR for five years prior to surgery. I have found in the last month that my anxiety has Increased and am increasingly more irritable. I hate feeling this way. Should I consider a higher dose? Has anyone else had these type of symptoms?

[suejersey 263]

It's interesting that you bring this up because I notice that lately I have been more anxious and I can't figure out why. There really is no reason. I have OCD and have been on Paxil for about 15 years. In thinking about it I wonder if the anxiety is the anticipation with the weight loss, the heavy focus on it that is causing it.

I do find that I am more irritable if I get hungry. I notice it especially before dinner. If I eat too late I don't necessarily feel super hungry but am totally on edge.

Just wanted to throw that out there. Not sure it is helpful but wanted you to know you're not alone and perhaps something to consider.

[yazzy 105]

OMG...My anxiety was crazy after surgery ,,I am not on any steady medication for it ,nor have i ever been , but i did think about going to the dr. because it was making me crazy .. I think it had a lot to do with having to make sure i got in all fluids and Protein in .. I was having lots of trouble right after surgery with the thought of not following the correct rules... It gave me much anxiety ,,then i sat back and said I only can do what my body will let me and things have gotten better. i still get anxious but its getting better..

[eyengo 4]

It's interesting that you bring this up because I notice that lately I have been more anxious and I can't figure out why. There really is no reason. I have OCD and have been on Paxil for about 15 years. In thinking about it I wonder if the anxiety is the anticipation with the weight loss' date=' the heavy focus on it that is causing it.

I do find that I am more irritable if I get hungry. I notice it especially before dinner. If I eat too late I don't necessarily feel super hungry but am totally on edge.

Just wanted to throw that out there. Not sure it is helpful but wanted you to know you're not alone and perhaps something to consider.[/quote']

I also take paxil, a girl I work with use to take the Effexor she said the shelf live of that med is half of what paxil is. She said Effexor is 4-5 hrs and paxil is 12-14 hrs. My question is for both of you, did you notice a difference with your meds. Effect? Did you take it right after surgery ? Do you think it gets broke down the same? I have not been sleeved yet hoping for June. I am afraid of my paxil not working after VSG :/ did you crush your meds or get liquid?

[Brown Eyed Girl 5]

I continued taking the Effexor after surgery. I did not modify it simply kept taking the capsule per my doctors instructions.

The Effexor has always worked miraculously for me. I haven't felt this way since before I started taking it five years ago. I think some of my anxiety is related to weight loss. But most is irrational. I HATE feeling this way. My family and friends have agreed or brought up that I seem "on edge" and "direct" as of late.

Most of the time I feel exhausted, nauseous and / or light headed. I know this has probably contributed to my irritability. Ugh. I don't regret having the sleeve but I do hate feeling this way and hope I feel better soon!!!

[eyengo 4]

I continued taking the Effexor after surgery. I did not modify it simply kept taking the capsule per my doctors instructions.

The Effexor has always worked miraculously for me. I haven't felt this way since before I started taking it five years ago. I think some of my anxiety is related to weight loss. But most is irrational. I HATE feeling this way. My family and friends have agreed or brought up that I seem "on edge" and "direct" as of late.

Most of the time I feel exhausted' date=' nauseous and / or light headed. I know this has probably contributed to my irritability. Ugh. I don't regret having the sleeve but I do hate feeling this way and hope I feel better soon!!![/quote']

Best of luck to you. I also hate that feeling of being so irritable that my skin crawls. I'm my own worst enemy at times. Maybe ask your doc. For adivan or zanex. To help take edge off at really hard times.

[karritous 17]

Quite frankly with no mental health issues this surgery is enough to make anyone nuts and irritable and anxious. .. Until you get used to all 5 million rules. This truly is a life change. I underestimate it. So be patient with yourself

[barbmeow 92]

I am having the same exact feelings happening to me. I am also on a low dose effexor, but find myself angry and short with people, especially my boyfriend of 26 years. I yelled at my best friend the other day granted she was rude, but I usually handle rudness with rational talk not yelling. I think it is because I do not have the food to mellow me out like I used to do. I used food to stuff my feelings. Now what do we do. I want to take up boxing to get my aggression out safely. I do not want to be a mean person.

[Brown Eyed Girl 5]

I am having the same exact feelings happening to me. I am also on a low dose effexor, but find myself angry and short with people, especially my boyfriend of 26 years. I yelled at my best friend the other day granted she was rude, but I usually handle rudness with rational talk not yelling. I think it is because I do not have the food to mellow me out like I used to do. I used food to stuff my feelings. Now what do we do. I want to take up boxing to get my aggression out safely. I do not want to be a mean person.

Barb,

It does get better as you adjust and work through you emotional satiation from food. To me, the emotional component of this I totally underestimated and felt not relevant. BUT I was wrong! It is huge!! It's an addiction. And detox sucks!!!! I don't think we can promote products on this site but I did try a supplement that has helped with the edginess. Email me if you want more info meremaynard@gmail.com. Hang in there, take your Vitamins and remind yourself it will get better!!!

[lirri 40]

I ran into massive anxiety 6 months ago and was put on a ton of meds. I was so over-stimulated the entire world hurt to experience. Sights, sounds, smells, food, interactions all were too much for me and finally led me to get help.

I'm now coming out of it. I found that I didn't really know how to experience the world with my changing body. It gets better and talk therapy is great.

[par1959 470]

Go talk with your doc. I use to take the same med for years. Since surgery, I am off all medications. Always use to be a sleep problem for me and now I sleep great.

[barbmeow 92]

This discussion could not be more timely. I have continued to have anxiety and irritabllity. I finally talked to my Dr. and he discussed the aspect of fat, as a storer of estrogen and other hormones. So we have less hormones and this can cause the anxiety.

I also did some research on the release mechanism of long acting effexor. The release mechanism is lipophylic, in otherwords it works in fat. So less fat means that the effexor does not break down as well as it did when we had lots of fat. Therefore we are not getting the medicine as we used to.

I am now on a TID dose. Hoping this will fix the anxiety. It has only been a few days and maybe a small amount of relief. Will keep you all posted.

[atelux17 135]

I've had increased anxiety, irritable at times. My hands shake sometimes in situations where I had no problem before. I feel hypoglycemic at times. I snap more often. The hormone question post wt loss is interesting. Am I just hangry? Hangry=hungry+angry. Is this why fat ppl have such better personalities?

[barbmeow 92]

I suspect there is also the demon that part of the reason we ate was to calm our anxiety down. We did it subconsciously and food soothed us, made us in a sense, happy, at least for the momoent. Now we do not have that soother in the form of food. This is also part of the picture I feel. That is why I have gone into therapy to learn to wrestle this dragon so I do not go back to being the fat person I had become.

As to the hands shaking, and feeling hyoglycemic, are you getting your Protein? Keeping sugars out of your diet? I find when I even have a small amount of sugar as in non fat frozen yogurt, I have periods of hypoglycemia until I get more Protein into my system.

I think this is a really under analyzed portion of weight loss, the increased irritablity and anxiety can lead to weight gain and I feel should be acknowledged and studied. I for one am going to fight it daily, I am down 114 pounds in 10 months and never want to be fat again.

[Miss Mac 6,261]

For three years prior to my sleeve in December 2013, I was taking Zoloft for post-stoke anxiety and depression. With the surgery, I had an unexpected increase in symptoms and was switched to Wellbutrin. When my Wellbutrin was doubled about three months ago, my improvement increased. I am O K with that.