Sleeve and Mental Illness

[adiposehysteria 0]

I am seeing a bariatric surgeon at the request of my psychiatrist on Tuesday and I have some reservations about it. I think this is mainly because there is a lot of conflicting information out there about the safety of WLS for patients with mental illness.

I have Bipolar I and between the medications that I have to take for that, along with PCOS and severe arthritis in my knees that makes it difficult to walk, I am now over 300 pounds. My metabolism is horrible and I can barely even move because of the pain in my knees, meaning that even maintaining this weight is next to impossible.

What I am concerned about is that there seems to be many doctors out there that will not even consider doing WLS of any type on patients with bipolar disorder because of an increased chance of later complications with depression.

So what I am hoping for is that there is someone else out there who had the sleeve surgery done who also has either bipolar disorder or major depression so that I know what I can expect when it comes to absorption of medications or any other complications when it comes to mental health (especially in the case of hospitalizations).

If anyone else has issues with mental illness and WLS, please let me know what I should be looking out for.

[joliemarie88 4]

I have severe anxiety and depression. My surgery is scheduled for november 25th. Most things that I have read say that it improves your depression and anxiety. I do not know about bipolar disorder. It does not change the effectiveness of the medications. I have talked to my surgeon about it. If you haven't had a consultation, I would go to one. I was very nervous before I went to one.

[It's Allgood 30]

There are a lot of us who have been sleeved with little to no problem. My psychiatrist and I went through my medications and changed the ones that are extended release to regular. I am 5 weeks out and have not had a downward change in mood.

I hope others will also respond, but I believe my experience is typical.

[adiposehysteria 0]

I have an appointment with a surgeon that was recommended by my psychiatrist this Tuesday because he feels the most comfortable dealing with this particular issue with him. I was told already by another surgeon in town that they won't do WLS on anyone with a history of mental illness, regardless of what the status of that was now. I was also told that was standard procedure for all bariatric surgeons and that the insurance company won't even consider approving me if I have a history of BPD. My psychiatrist, on the other hand, told me he has found the opposite to be true as long as there is strong support that the mental illness could possibly improve or at least be able to be handled.

I guess I don't want to get my hopes up that WLS is a possibility because I really need this.

[chasingpolaris321 214]

I have bipolar II that is well controlled by medications and I haven't encountered any difficulty with surgeons or managing my medication post WLS. I had the sleeve done in early August and have found that there hasn't been a significant change, although I have met with my psychiatrist more frequently than usual to monitor everything in case adjustments need to be made. I will say that post-op it was a struggle to take the liquid medications that I was given because they made me feel incredibly nauseous, but I got through it and am back on normal meds now. I really haven't heard of surgeons being unwilling to do the surgery on stable bipolar patients, and would be surprised if that was the standard that you mentioned. Part of why I gained so much weight was the medications, and the sleeve has really helped me to continue to improve the management of my disorder. Good luck and feel free to message me with any questions!

[I'mDoingIt! 88]

I have depression and anxiety. My psychiatrist was fully behind me doing the surgery. I am 3 months out and no issues with my medication. Losing the weight has helped me be more relaxed and social because weight was always one of my issues. It is still a struggle but I find myself more motivated to work through my emotional eating issues because I am succeeding. I can't speak for BD but don't understand why they think the surgery would lead to depression for you. I have had no absorption issues with my meds. The only change I had was making sure all my pills were small enough so I could easily swallow them (nothing bigger than an m&m).

Good luck to you. I hope it works out for you.

[dashofsunshine 876]

I take nine pills every morning for a variety of major depression/anxiety/ADD issues. I have my pre-op appointment on November 4th and have to bring all my pill bottles so that the psychiatrist can talk to me about what I can and cannot take normally leading up to and after the surgery. I am so prayerful that getting the sleeve and finally losing some weight will get me off of some of this medication. I am only 26 years old and my depression/anxiety is so debilitating sometimes that it makes me sick. My doctor had absolutely no issues with my mental state and thinks that the sleeve will hopefully help with my disorders. However, I am self pay - insurance would not approve me for several reasons, although I don't know if any of the reasons had anything to do with my depression. I hope you figure things out, and good luck!!! ????

[#9grammy 274]

I am Bipolar and social anxiety, I am getting sleeved on the 27th Oct. I see a psychologist twice a month and psychiatrist every 3 months. They are both on board with this. I had to have a psych eval and a release for the surgery. But so many others having this wls done also get a psych discharge.

[muzikgal21 12]

It seems like this post was about me, to the "T". I have bipolar disorder, among a few other mental health disorders, PCOS, arthritis really bad in both of my knees, and I weigh almost 250 lbs. but, I'm getting sleeved tomorrow.

If you are controlled, with the right medications, there is no reason why you can't have the surgery and live a normal life.

[adiposehysteria 0]

Thank you all for replying. Because of all the health problems, losing weight has been impossible. When I was told by one surgeon a few months ago that no one would do the surgery on me, I lost hope. Now I see that it is possible to have it done, which eases my mind.

[nancykat150 4]

I'm bipolar, had my surgery 5 weeks ago. I've had no problems with my meds or any relapses from surgery. I've had no problem losing weight either. I lost a bunch pre surgery and losing post op.